Love From Judy finally crosses the pond

With a tuneful score by an American songwriting team, a story adapted from a popular American novel, a show stopping turn by a celebrated Harlem vocalist, an overnight star performance by its leading lady and a two year run in London you would think a New York transfer for the 1952 hit musical Love From Judy would be inevitable. But sometimes the business of theatre makes the distance between the West End and Broadway seem an ocean wide. Fortunately Musicals Tonight!, the smallest but by far most adventurous of the three New York theatre companies regularly producing readings of rarely-revived musicals, is now offering the North American premiere of this charmer in a limited run through November 23rd.

The first partnership of High Spirits collaborators Hugh Martin (music) and Timothy Gray (lyrics, and co-authorship of the book with Eric Maschwitz), both were making their London debuts. Although Gray was a musical theatre novice at the time, Martin had already won acclaim for his work with Ralph Blane, co-authoring both music and lyrics for the classic film Meet Me in St. Louis (Oscar nomination for "The Trolley Song") and the stage and screen versions of Best Foot Forward. Previously unknown Jean Carson was such a smash as Judy that she was offered (and turned down!) the role of Eliza Doolittle in the London premiere of My Fair Lady, and Cotton Club favorite Adelaide Hall was embraced by West End audiences in a supporting role.

Based on Jean Webster's 1912 romantic novel Daddy Long Legs, Love From Judy's first scene strikingly resembles the opening of Annie, which would hit Broadway 25 years later. The titular Judy is a spunky, strong-willed 18-year-old resident of a New Orleans girls orphanage, complete with a mean supervisor ("If I had my way the whole race of orphans would be wiped off the face of the earth!") and a pretty, young trustee (named Grace!) who takes her under her wing. Though Judy has romantic fantasies (The lovely ballad "I Never Dream When I'm Asleep" establishes her character as effectively as Annie's "Maybe".) she's also a bit of a trouble-maker, and teaches her buddies the tongue-in-cheek anthem of their own hard knock life, "It's Great To Be An Orphan" ("We're rowdy/We're rotten/Because we're all forgotten."). Enter Jervis, the new trustee (and, conveniently, a handsome young millionaire) who, impressed with Judy's determination to make something of herself, offers to pay for her college education on the conditions that his generosity be anonymous and she write him once a month (c/o Grace) to update him on her progress. In one of those coincidences that musical comedy thrives on, Judy's snooty college dorm mate winds up being the millionaire's niece, providing ample opportunity for her and her secret benefactor to spend time together and hesitantly fall in love.

Definitely a product of its time, Love From Judy boasts old-fashioned qualities like a well-structured book with empathetic leads and charming comic relief characters. Though no hit songs came from the show, the score is nonetheless an enjoyable mix of light ballads, genuinely funny comedy songs and even a bit of blues and operetta, often reminiscent of the glory days of MGM musicals. In "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" a pretty blonde co-ed proves she has brains by quoting complex mathematic equations. And Gray proves he has skill by managing to rhyme them. While Rodgers and Hammerstein might provide a clam bake or a box social as a substitute for sexual hijinks, the healthy young college students in Love from Judy let off steam with a musical husking bee, where if a boy shucks a red ear of corn he can kiss any girl he likes. (This may have provided the inspiration for Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne's "The Husking Bee", sung several years later as a satirical production number in Say, Darling.)

With scripts in hand and limited rehearsal time, Thomas Mills' skeletal direction provides hints of what Love From Judy could become in a full-fledged production. Most importantly, he has the energetic cast diving into the material with unabashed sincerity and nary a wink. In the title role, Vanessa Lemonides is an incandescently appealing performer who can lovingly phrase a tender ballad or kick up her heels and have more fun strumming a fake banjo than anyone has a right to. As her wealthy leading man, Julian Rebolledo has little to do beyond gazing at his co-star with moony-eyed admiration, but he does so with warmth and dignity, and when called upon to sing he exudes a strong romantic tenor.

Musical theatre buffs will certainly want to see this one, if for the curiosity factor alone. But Love From Judy will give even the casual theatre-goer something to smile about or whistle the next day. Stripped of their spectacle, how many of today's Broadway musicals can pull that one off?

For more information on Musical Tonight!'s production of Love From Judy, visit http://www.musicalstonight.org

For Michael Dale's "mad adventures of a straight boy living in a gay world" visit dry2olives.com