A star is resurrected with a great cabaret show, A Star Is Born: The Rise & Fall of Judy Garland, at the Theatre on the Square
Sandton served as the grand stage for the Gauteng debut of a South African production which successfully reanimates the glory of Judy Garland’s prolific career.
The ‘Queen of comebacks’, Judy Garland, finally had her chance to shine in Sandton.
Garland’s life has been immortalised by East London-based theatre company, Wêla Kapela Productions, who returned the legendary Judy Garland to the stage – where her soul belongs.
The cabaret show A Star Is Born: The Rise & Fall of Judy Garland made it’s Gauteng debut at the Theatre on the Square on September 17.
Directed by acclaimed director of Vincent, Amanda Bothma, this stunning show highlighted the charisma, character, and timeless talent of Judy Garland, resurrected on stage, at last, for some, through the astute characterisation of talented East London based actress, and voice artist, Kerry Hiles.
Hiles’ stunning performance was accompanied by the gifted pianist Luke Holder – whose love for the production showed on his face as he played.
Recalling how A Star Is Born: The Rise & Fall of Judy Garland first came about, Hiles shared how watching a documentary about Garland’s peers Elizabeth Taylor and Shirley Temple prompted her to wonder about what happened to their classmate, Judy.
“Then this research began, with Amanda watching documentaries and reading books, and I went through song lists. Our song list was about 40 songs,” said Hiles. “Then, when we married the list with the script to try and find the songs that will help the story drive along, we got down to the 18 songs. They’re placed in the script to help explain what the audience will have heard in the play.”
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Accompanied by Holder’s evident euphoria on the piano keys, Hiles’ youthful gleam carries an eternal youth which enhances her embodiment of Garland’s journey to stardom, and demise. Hiles said that it was important to her to not mimic or imitate Garland when channeling her on stage, but to honour her legacy as a star.
“I do, still, watch videos of her performances. I do, now and again, go back and reference the recordings. I don’t want to rip Judy off, and I don’t want to be a carbon copy. Nobody can do that,” Hiles said, praising the show’s practicality. “It travels well, and it suits the small venues as a lovely intimate production. There are a few pianists dotted around who can play the show, but we mostly work Luke, because he can travel.”
Holder recalled how he first came to pair with Hiles in reincarnating the legend of Judy Garland by responding to Hiles’ social media post calling for a pianist ahead of the show’s run at the Hilton Arts Festival in KwaZulu-Natal, where he works and resides. His love for music resonated when he spoke.
“This piano paired version is, for me, ultimately an ideal kind of tribute piece. You don’t want to mimic; you want to tell someone’s story. I feel there are ways to do that through the music, and performance,” Holder closed. “A lot of the music, and the arrangement of the music, isn’t your classic big-band stuff, which is quite nice. For me, that’s part of this version of Judy that we create, and bring to the audience.”
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