"When Judy Garland Sings You Hear The Voice of God"

The quote above is from Whoopi Goldberg. I  am a Judy Garland addict, but not to worry, I start rehab soon. JudyGarland went on to become known as "The world's greatest singer & the world's greatest entertainer" Still has that title. Her concert at Carnegie Hall in '61 is still called "The greatest night in entertainment history". Still is - just youtube Judy Carnegie Hall. No video as cameras were large then & took up too much space & blocked sight lines. 

But just listening to it, you will agree.

To begin - youtube Judy Frank Dean & choose the 6 videos. You will plotz & become flakempt, for sure. It is all so good you may decide to quit your day job & just listen to Judy ALL DAY & you will say "I made a good decision".  She will take care of you financially. I will work it out with her wealth consultant. 

She is the ONLY person in history who has a book written about every day of her life I know, Jesus got a bible & some churches - but no book on every day of his life. That's how interesting Judy Garland is.  Some say Judy Garland had a tragic life! Oh, really? Starred in the most popular, beloved movie of all time, The Wizard of Oz, sand the most popular song of all time "Over the Rainbow", is still known as "The world's greatest singer & entertainer". She was friendly with not only stars of her day, but regular folks also, like JFK. In 1951, The Palace Theater, in Times Square, had been abandoned for 18 year - it was vacant!  Sid Luft, who became Judy's 3rd husband was in Times Square & saw The Palace Theater was abandoned He knew the owner, called him & asked he renovateknew Judy Garland had been the greatest star. 

Donald Weiss

dweiss5348@aol.com

917 923-2441 (prefer texts)

Proposed Show Layout - Only videos & stills will be used with some dnnce numbers & sing-a-longs.  Words of the songs to be sung will be inserted in the program. Guest singers can do dests with Judy.  All duet partners will b organized in advance (all scale pay) but any BIG start can come, even at last minute & sing with Judy + sing a Judy song as a solo.  The show will begin with the fabulous Judy Garland Inroduction Orchestration (sound only - can not afford a live orchestra - hope th unions won't bitch & prevent this)        

Who might show up?  Her daughters, Liza Minnelli & Lorna Luft? Maybe they would love to sing with their "mama" on The Palace Theater stage. Her son, Joey? (only if he takes voice lessons), Barbra - their duet is the greatest duet ever sung - Judy & Barbra Get Happy; Whoopi Goldberg? She said "When Judy Garland sings you hear the voice of God". She can sing too! Barry Manilow - He already had a duet with Judy - Ziig! Went the Strings of my Heart - choose the 2.50 minute one. Who else might want to sing with "the greatest singer & entertainer who ever lived?" Maybe Lady Gaga, maybe Tom Cruise (can he at least carry a tune - if not, it's ok - just looking at him makes anyone sing!) Maybe Beyonce with her diamond ne cklace that she wears singing Ape Shit in The Louvre Museum (great name for a song!). Oh, maybe EVERYONE wants to sing with Judy. I always do & she never complains about my voice!

People will be encouraged to come in costume - anything from a munchkin (The Lollipop Kids ?) to Judy herself (maybe in her wonderful poppy field dress).  Would Liza mind if people came as her?  Don't want to insult her.  Oh boy - where is this going. Not to Mar-a-lago, I hopek!

All pay is “scale” - performers are there to give homage to Judy& sing with her & maybe sing a solo a song of hers, not for the $, honey. 

Since ANY "star" can show up to sing alone & duets w Judy, I think that will be part of the excitement of the show - not knowing who is going to show up. Barbra? Whoopi? Liza? Barry M? Lady Gaga! Any star can come last minute as long as they are prepared to sing a duet with Judy & they can choose any JG song to sing. They just need to bring their own background music, if they want it - or they can sing all alone. Wow! will the unions kabosh this? Someone - it might be Simon Cowell - can choose people from his show or other young and up-and-coming singers to participate (it can change often) and they probably don’t care about getting paid. I think they will just be happy to be on stage on Broadway and to sing with the greatest singer of all time - your friend of mine, Miss Judy Garland.

Note: The Palace Theater was raised (not razed! to create retail space on Broadway (good location!).  I am proposing 2 uses for that space - 1 - A "kool" 50's styles restaurant, ala Ellen's Stardust, to have singers perform Judy Garland songs with sing-a-longs.  There will have to be a time limit to dining otherwise all will stay forever!  In addition, I am proposing a retil store to sell Judy Garland & Wizard of Oz merchandise.  I hope the owners of The Palace are excited about this idea - Judy Garland Returns to The Palace!

Proposed show - I have not calculated the time yet, but probably 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Never too much Judy Garland!

1 - The show will begin with the Judy Garland Orchestral Introduction with still shots on the screens on the stage. I hope unions don't kabosh this.  Maybe a "deal' can be made, if the show is a success, there will be a live orchestra.

2 - MC: Introduces him/her self & tells a little of their "relationship" to Judy 

(Me) The two basic reasons I am a Judy Garland addict is 1.   I never hear a song of hers that is less than wonderful and 2 - Her life story is so remarkable and so inspirational It has given me a lot of inspiration for my own life. Maybe you will find the same for yourself. So now let’s just go into the show. I hope you have a good time. 

MC - There will be some sing-alongs - the words have been printed for you. I guess u know something about JG - she stared in the most popular & beloved movie of all time - The Wizard of Oz. She sang the most beloved & popular song of all time - Over the Rainbow. Her concert at Carnegie Hall (just youtube Judy Carnegie Hall) is still called “The greatest night in entertainment history”. She is the only person in history to have a book written about almost every day of her life. Too many more Judy Garland accolates to go over here.

3 - 1st video - JG on Ford Star Jubilee with Judy Garland - Start @ about 12.40 minutes - check out the exact time. It can begin with the announcer talking about the Palace being vacant - right before she sings. Sing a longs after Shine On Harvest Moon. incl all the parts of songs she sings - after just Judy has sung. Her singing will be replayed w the audience participating. End about 17.60 minutes.

3 - MC - (still shots will be shown on a large screen relating to the story below.) WOW - wasn’t that amazing - The Palace Theater had been vacant & abandoned for 18 years and her soon to be third husband, Sid Luft, in 1951, saw it was abandoned when he was in Time Square. He knew the owner & called him & asked him to renovate the theater for her. He agreed. She performed for 40 weeks, 2 shows a day - all sold out - all rave reviews. 

Large crowds came to Broadway just to get a glimpse of her. She was the biggest, most beloved, highest paid movie star of her day! John Kennedy came to opening night. He “fell in love”with her, as most do - it’s hard not to. He started calling her once a week to say hello and ask her to sing part of Over the Rainbow. She spent a month 1 summer at the Kennedy compound with her three children - she literally had to sing for her supper. She campaigned with Kennedy when he ran for president & she was in the White House often. Judy Garland and John Kennedy had a love affair. It was platonic, but they loved each other as just two human beings! When he was assassinated in ‘63 she had The Judy Garland show on CBS TV. Her original contract was for $24 million - the highest amount paid an entertainer on television through today. She wanted to sing Battle Hymn of the Republic to commemorate him. The CBS Execs said no - it was too controversial. So she conspired with her orchestra leader to sing it at the end of one of the shows and they didn’t put it on the playlist that they gave to the CBS execs. Before she sang it, on the show, she said “this is for you Jack”. I cried (me!) when I heard it the first time, it is so powerful - here it is for you. Play Battle Hymn of the Republic!

4 - MC - (More still images to go along with the text.) So much to share with you. She was hired by MGM when she was only 13 years old when an MGM Exec heard her sing Zing! Went the Strings of my Heart on the radio. He went to get her, took her to Louis B Mayer, the president of MGM and the highest paid executive in America. He hired her immediately after she sang the song - without a screen test. But they didn’t know what to do with a 13 year-old kid. So she went under the tootlage of a famous composer, Roger Edens. He wrote all the music for the Wizard of Oz and many beautiful songs. Clark Gable was a star at MGM. He starred in Gone with the Wind and was the most famous and most handsome movie star of the day. Judy told Roger Edens she had “fallen in love” with Clark Gable and he used the song “You Made me Love You” and added a soliloquy - it’s all on YouTube Just put in Dear Mr. Gable. (I guess the “notes@ in the program can refer to the youtubes so they don’t have to be announced). Here is that beautiful song. Sing a longs after the video? It went on the radio, and everyone listened to it because the song is beautiful, Judy Garland’s voice is beautiful, the soliloquy is beautiful and she’s singing to the most famous & handsome movie star of the day. At the age of 13 Judy Garland became a household name in America. Everyone knew Judy Garland. She went on to make 40+ movies for MGM beginning with 10 movies with Mickey Rooney. Here are 2 of my favorite songs from those movies - (working on it) ! - Our Love Affair + ?

5 - She had many sons from her movies without Mickey.  (Me) 2 I love are 10 Pins in the Sky & On The Bumpy  Road to Love

5 - MC - Judy Garland was not always that reliable - she became dependant on "her pills". Her mother started giving her uppers and downers when she was young and performing with her two older sisters in their vaudeville house in Lancaster, California. The pills were new at that time so her mother didn’t think she was doing anything dangerous. Everyone was taking them and everyone was saying “my goodness how good these pills make me feel - so good”. Then when she was hired by MGM, Louis B Mayer gave her pills because he told her she was just 4 ft 11 and if she put on weight, she would look heavy in the movies. So she was now taking two sets of pills and her life did revolve around her pills and her need for them. But when you see her perform, you would think everything in her life was just close to perfect - well that was the beauty of Judy Garland. It was far from perfect, but it was perfect. It was perfectly amazing. She did not show up for a lot for her filming, but MGM put up with it because she was the highest paid movie star of the day and her films actually supported MGM. But her last movie, Annie Get Your Gun, which she was supposed to star in. She showed up strung out on her pills. So they fired her. That’s when Sid Luft came in and moved her along - first at the Palace Theater & then he put her in opera houses all over the world (stills as available). She was the 1st female non opera singer to sing at the Metropolitan Opera House in Manhattan - all the shows were sold out - all rave reviews. He then put her in Opera Houses all over the world. Then Sid Luft put her in The Palladium in London. She had her daughter, Liza Minnelli, come to sing with her and here is the beginning of that show. Liza was just 18 and it is a powerhouse.

Show video Judy Liza Hello Dolly. Who knows Liza may decide to come, even in a wheelchair, to sing with her “mama”. Maybe Lorna too.

6 - Judy went on to have more than 1100 live concerts. Her concert in Carnegie Hall is still called “The greatest night in entertainment history”. Here are some songs & excerpts (I luv some of her “banter”) from that show. There was no video then because cameras were large and took up too much space & blocked site lines, but you can enjoy some parts of the show here and can you YouTube it by just putting in Judy Carnegie Hall and hear the entire concert - It is remarkable. 

7 - MC - although The Judy Garland Show was only on for 1 year, every show is a treasure. What you might notice is that even though the shows were made in the early 60s, Judy controlled everything and each show still looks contemporary. She was like a good architect who builds a building that is timeless - she created theater that was timeless. Any other show from the early 69’s looks dated! Here are a few excerpts from her many shows. We have included her beautiful duet with Barbra Streisand and you (JF) can choose what else you want to include. I luv San Francisco (with lights on the stage). Judy was always trying to pay deference to anyone she could, so she begins the song with a tribute to Jeanette McDonald, who sang the song after one of the San Francisco earthquakes and became famous. You could see how she loves to sing - she jumps, 

she skips, she hopped like a kid - so happy to be singing and making her audience happy, which made her happy. I guess I would show this one if it were up to me

8 - Her life continued to be complicated with her dependence on her pills, & her need for money, as she never paid much attention to money. She only paid attention to making her audience happy. For her last Judy Garland show (It was only on for one year) she filmed Here’s to Us. She would often get dressed in a clown outfit just to make her audience happy - that’s what made her happy! Here is that video. She handed out champagne to the audience members and gave a bottle of milk to her two children - that was Judy Garland. She didn’t forget a thing.

9 - Toward the end of her life things were not so good. A man by the name of John Meyer, who was only 28, went to visit a friend in New York City and who is lying on the couch - none other than Judy Garland. She had no money and was sleeping on a friend’s couch. He took her to his parents’ apt on Park Avenue where they stayed in his childhood bedroom for a while and then they went to Boston. He wrote a few beautiful songs for her. Here is my favorite called Till After the Holidays - she sang it on the Johnny Carson show.

10 - MC - Well the show could go on for another 10 hours and still not be finished, but I think we’re finished now. I hope everyone had a good time. I hope you have fallen in love with Judy Garland! People said Judy Garland didn’t have concerts, she had seances. She would end many of her concerts with no shoes and no microphone and sing Over the Rainbow at the edge of the stage. People cried it was so powerful! So that is how we’ll end the show - please join in singing that beautiful song. What famous star wants to sing this like Judy - no shoes, no mic - just singing the most beloved, popular song of all time. Once again as a sing a long!         

Oh Boy - Yipppe - A Wowie Powie Kazowie (if u ask me)

Proposed by donald weiss 12-30-24

dweiss5348@aol.com

917 923-2441 (prefer texts)

DonaldWeissIdeasForChange.com - A real & lasting peace between Israel &

     The Palestinians

DonaldWeissPhotosAndArt.com

SculpturesByPolles.com

To: James Nederlander & Stewart F. Lane, Owners of The Palace Theater, Times Square

Idea 1

Could This Happen?

“Announcing The Grand Re Re Opening of The Palace Theater (abandoned in the 40’s & renovated for Judy Garland) - The Grandest of All Shows - Judy Garland At The New Palace Theater Sings Highlights & Duets with Current & Future Stars (+ a sing-a-long). Ads will encourage people to come in costume - anything from a Munchkin from The Wizard of Oz (Remember The Lollipop Guild) to Judy in her famous poppy dress. Is it possible that a new restaurant & store can be opened in the retail space? “Judy’s” - ala Ellen’s Stardust with waiters singing Judy Garland songs & some sing-a-longs. Dining time will be limited or they will stay firever! A connecting store can sell Judy Garland & Wizard of Oz merchandise. The “plan” for the show is all on JudyGarlandSongs.com

Idea #2 - Convert the steps behind Tkts to a stage and have performers from different shows on Broadway (not necessarily the stars but younger people who are happy to perform, probably for nothing) in costumes from the show. Another stage would be built just North of 1 Times Square. Every half hour a different part of w show would be performed for 15 minutes. There would be people in Times Square who have a portable device to sell TKTS for that day & tickets for future performances giving the purchaser a QR code. This would greatly increase the ability to sell a lot of tickets to all the theaters on Broadway and even off Broadway and maybe other entertainment venues throughout the city.

Idea #3 - Any show with high demand should add a matinee for every day. Why let the theater sit vacant 4 days a week? Many people prefer a matinee!

Idea #4- I call this idea “A New Times Square”. What do Mickey & Minnie Mouse & Pluto & all them guys (is The Naked Cowboy still around or did he retire?) have to do about Broadway & theater? I am suggesting that the city has an ordinance only allowing people who are sanctioned by Broadway theaters to be in costume in Times Square and to perform in Times Square. The creepy characters who solicit tourist to take a picture with them, and then hound them for money can be relegated to the side streets.

Times Square should be about Broadway theater!

My most important idea has nothing to do with Judy Garland or Times Square but I thought you might be interested.  

It is my idea for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. It’s the only idea that will work. It will be a lasting peace because what I call New Palestine will be overseen by, and be part of, The Commonwealth. This will assure no leader comes in who decides he wants to kill all the Jews and destroy Israel. It’s a bit complicated but you can read it all on my website 

DonaldWeissIdeasForChange.com. I have a letter to King Charles & Prince William going out soon. I will send to all who have an interest in this peace. England has had a storied past in the Middle East and with the formation of the state of Israel. 

Respectively,

donald weiss

January 1, 2025

dweiss5348@aol.com

917 923-2441 (prefer texts)