Milwaukee Rep goes 'Zing' with powerhouse Judy Garland show, 'Get Happy'
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Doing a show about the life and career of Judy Garland, or at least doing such a show well, takes theatrical sense and a female singer with some serious vocal abilities.
“Get Happy,” which opened at the Milwaukee Rep’s Stackner Cabaret on Thursday, is a thoughtfully constructed show about Garland, and one that balances strong singing, musical meaning, and a spot-on impersonation of some of the iconic singer/actress’ trademark vocal stylings, with some artfully balanced storytelling.
Singer/actress Angela Ingersoll, who created, wrote and directed the production, is also the headliner. But she is more than just a mimic. She’s a powerhouse singer who captures many of Garland’s vocal nuances and some of her more famous deliveries of familiar songs but never lapses into a campy, nightclub impersonation.
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Ingersoll weaves her own story and her lifelong fascination with Garland into the show. Rather than creating and maintaining the character of Garland, she creates a fourth wall as she sings, but then speaks directly to the audience between songs, sharing her own fascination and respect for Garland and offering a narration that follows Garland’s career path from MGM to her later years on the concert stage.
Ingersoll also included details about Garland’s personal life, mixing that narrative with her own experience of meeting and working with Joey Luft, Garland’s son.
The frank-but-respectful telling of Garland’s story, as well as the bits of Ingersoll’s story, moved with energy and purpose from one of Garland’s Great American Songbook hits to the next, backed by the onstage trio of pianist Chuck Larkin, bassist Jeff Hamann, and percussionist Charles Heath, who formed a tight, consistently tasteful ensemble.
Ingersoll’s take on Garland was supported by the fact that she bears a resemblance to Garland, both in height and in facial features, and by the fact that none of the bits of Garland’s vocal style that she incorporated into the music seemed to get in the way of her solid, polished vocal technique.
She gave big, roof-raising renditions of quite a few tunes over the course of the evening, including the title song. But she also pulled back and delivered intimate musical moments that pulled the audience deep into what she was singing.
The show’s playlist included “Smile,” “The Trolley Song,” “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart,” and, of course, “Over the Rainbow.”
But this show is more than great songs and a sketch of Garland’s life. It looks at the enduring impact the singer has had on several facets of American life, reminding the audience why, 100 years after Garland’s birth, she is still such a well-loved figure.
If you go
"Get Happy: Angela Ingersoll Sings Judy Garland" continues through July 1 at Milwaukee Repertory Theater's Stackner Cabaret, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, visit milwaukeerep.com or call (414) 291-7605.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Rep goes 'Zing' with powerful Judy Garland show, 'Get Happy'
