- Queens, New York
- July 1, 1961 -
Personal Memories
of Judy at Forest Hills Arena
By Tony Landini
I hope you enjoy this one.
This was a great night. I
do remember it was a very hot night. I had a press pass that night. We
sat in the press box which was to the right of the stage, right down on
the grass. This is the same stadium which is still used for tennis today.
Back in the 60s many top performers appeared there. I saw Frank Sinatra
there also.
I don't remember if there
was an opening act that night. The place was filled to capacity. When they
started her overture the fans went into a frenzy. They applauded each song
in the overture. Then she walked out; there was at least five more minutes
of applause and "I love you Judy's." She wore a multicolored sequined top
and pants. She was dynamite. She commented several times about the planes
flying overhead, and said she could drown them out anyway. The stadium
is very close to LaGuardia Airport.
Two highlights of my life,
Judy wise, that night:
The person directing the
light man, who was way up in a booth, was sitting at a table down to the
right of the stage in front of me. He had on a headset with a mike as he
directed the lighting. Judy was singing a slow ballad. When this
guy walked away for a moment, I could not resist the temptation to quickly
walk up to the table and say into the mike, "Put the pink spot on her."
Would you believe it went pink! I quickly scurried back to my place as
he returned. He looked a bit puzzled, but went back to his work.
After this magnificent show
my friend and I worked out way back to the clubhouse where Judy's dressing
room was set up. There she was sitting in a chair, surrounded by her people.
She was wearing a white terry cloth bathrobe, with a glass of wine in one
hand and a towel in the other, wiping the perspiration off her face. They
had a twenty inch fan blowing right on her. They were cooling her
down. We edged our way into the crowded room and I told her how wonderful
I thought she was. She looked at me and replied, "Thank you, darling".
We stayed a few more minutes and then we left.
I will never forget that
night.
Tony Landini |
|
13,000 Pour In, Judy Pours Out
By Justin Gilbert
Instead of "Tennis, Anyone?"
last night at the Forest Hills Amphitheater in Queens -- it was "Voices,
Anyone?"
That's because it's unlikely
that anyone of the crowd that jam-packed the 13,000 seat arena had any
voices left after the cheering, whistling, yelling and completely joyous
ovation given to Judy Garland who opened the Forest Hills Music Festival.
It was a wonderfully balmy
evening and the throng got wonderfully balmy itself as it tuned in with
La Garland as she belted out her numbers in the 1 1/2 hour program.
In fact, it's lucky the festival
is an open-air affair -- because if the place had a roof, Judy certainly
would have raised it.
The crush of fans was so
great the opening was delayed 45 minutes -- until 9:15 p.m. -- until things
calmed down.
However, they warmed up again
when Judy, in a red embroidered mandarin coat over a black dress, appeared
to warble such things as "It's Almost Like Being in Love," "Do It Again,"
"You Go To My Head," and a slew of others.
In between numbers, Judy
sipped a glass of water, explaining that she had a slight irritation in
her throat, but it didn't make any difference to the aficionados who cheered
almost loud enough to beat the 25 piece band accompanying Judy.
And when some persons in
an upper section yelled they had difficulty hearing Judy at times, La Garland
sang even louder.
Judy was completely at ease
and kept the audience in the palm of her hand with several amusing anecdotes.
It was a slam-bang opening at the Festival, produced under the auspices
of Limelight Productions, and Judy was as usual -- a topnotch, slam-bang
performer.
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01/09
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