Tragic Judy

It’s a Friday evening and my mother and I settle into her little den in Leisure Village to watch a DVD from PBS’ The Judy Garland Collection. We pluck ‘Live at the London Palladium’ from the boxed set and about 10 minutes into it, I look at Mom and say, “That’s it. That’s what was missing.”

Just two hours earlier we had been sitting in a movie theater watching JUDY, the film starring Renee Zellweger as Garland. It was sad with very little relief from … well, the sad.

Now here we are, both in our recliners, feet moving as Judy enchants an audience with the full weight of an orchestra behind her. Her mastery is on full display — knowing how to treat a song, how to draw you in, instinctive about when to go full throttle, bringing you with her on an emotional journey.

“Yes,” Mom says. “We never saw her greatness in the movie.”

It is because of my mother that I’m a Garland fan, so I was delighted to go see the movie with her. As I sat in the theater next to her, I could feel how much she wasn’t enjoying it. She tends toward the Pollyanna in her movie choices, a sucker for a happy ending. And while we knew this one wouldn’t end in a feel-good way, I think we both expected to see some flashes of show-stopping Judy.

Over the years when we’ve watched ‘The Concert Years’ from that boxed set, I have gotten a kick out of seeing my…