Peter Mac Makes Judy and Company Soar

Who is Peter Mac? Calling himself a tribute artist Mac dons the dresses of Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Peggy Lee, Tallulah Bankhead and Kate Hepburn, to name a few, and through each character, he exudes a dose of charm, a splash of sweetness, a whole lot of warmth, intelligence and a superabundance of humor ... all of which add up to one glowing personality, one creative force of nature, one uniquely infectious style, one dynamic talent that is ... Peter Mac. If you don't believe me, go see for yourselves! Mac unquestionably puts on one helluva satisfying show. It's cabaret, but much, much more. There's singing, there are amusing anecdotes and even a scene or two that make for ... a truly spectacular evening of theatre. It could be on any stage, but on October 21, 22, it just so happened to be at the Gardenia in Hollywood.

October's show, as it's a monthly engagement, brought us Judy and Company with all of the aforementioned ladies of screen, theatre and TV sharing top billing. Garland opened with a bevy of her hits including, "Almost Like Being in Love", "This Can't Be Love", "The Man That Got Away", "You Made Me Love You", "For Me and My Gal", "The Trolley Song" and "By Myself" from the film I Could Go On Singing. Garland was in rare form, never missing a beat, even getting in a little dig about "Man" losing the Oscar for Best Song from A Star Is Born to "Three Coins in the Fountain". Next came Miss Tallulah Bankhead SINGING an outrageous "Too Old to Die Young" and "Como te gusta mi pinga...", with Spanish making the obscenity sound acceptable, actually quite delicious. Jokes came flying out of her trashy mouth "Like Mary Magdalene I wanted to get stoned, but this is ridiculous". Following Tallu came a hilariously, talk about stoned, Peggy Lee who gave her all to "Is That All There Is?" and the politically incorrect "Manana". Lee's synthetic blonde wig gave Mac some great dish lines. Then, like a tornado from QVC, in flew the one and only Liza Minnelli - ablaze in red sequins - giving us not two but three numbers "The World Goes Round", "Cabaret", and "Maybe This Time" with quite an interesting anecdote about how the former was a trunk song for Kaye Ballard, which went nowhere for her, so Kander and Ebb pulled it out for Liza to great success. The final guest was Kate Hepburn who treated us to her inimitable rendition of "Coco" and "The Glory of Love" honoring her Spence.

Judy returned for the finale in the dress designed for her by Trevilla for Valley of the Dolls, which of course she never did, but ended up stealing the elaborate pants suit and wearing in many concert gigs. Judy ended with the song written for her for the Dolls film "I'll Plant My Own Tree", and closed with "Over the Rainbow" and "After You've Gone".

There was hardly a false move from Mac throughout. I adored his aged, drugged out Peggy Lee, and his Hepburn has gotten better and better. His Liza was deliciously vibrant... and Judy, to say the least, was impeccably performed. Mac is one fantastic entertainer who will return to the Gardenia Thanksgiving weekend as himself with holiday songs in a show called Home and in December for four performances (15-18) with The Judy Garland Christmas Show, which he promises will be extra, extra special with guest stars galore, including, I'm told, an appearance by Miss Bea Arthur. Don't miss it!

 

 

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