- Seton Hall - Walsh Auditorium -

Judy at Seton Hall, South Orange, NJ
By Sonny Gallagher "NewsFlash"

These two dates were the last scheduled engagements of Judy's concert tour and her performances certainly produced a mixed response from those in attendance.  Some saw the two evenings as among the best work Judy has done this year and compared her voice at the first concert with the way it sounded in the early 1960's.  Others viewed the procedings as a total disaster.  There were also a variety of comments between these two extremes, but seldom has Judy done anything that produced such a diversified reaction.

Both performances were well attended.  The concerts took place at Walsh Auditorium, which I had assumed was a concert hall.  From what I can gather, based on comments by those who wrote me, it is in reality a gymnasium in which concerts are frequently booked.  Mantovani played there a week prior to Judy.

In this instance, we can't even depend on the professional critics for an unbiased accounting of the proceedings.  To date just one very brief review has turned up, of the second concert, from a Hackensack, New Jersey paper.  It merely notes that Judy "came through loud - but not too clearly - in a raspy voice that thrilled her more than 3,000 vociferous fans."  There was also a lengthy piece in the school paper, The Sentonian, on November 15th, but it's impossible to tell if this is a review of Judy at Seton Hall or whether the author viewed her elsewhere.  The article itself is a comparison between a Garland concert and a Dietrich concert and is very complimentary to Judy.  It mentions that "despite popular opinion, Judy Garland still has her magnificent voice, and it is better now than it has been in the past few years."

At the first Seton Hall concert Judy sang the song Bobby Cole wrote for her to do in VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.  This is NOT the Andre Previn song I'LL PLANT MY OWN TREE (which Lena Horne recently did on the Dean Martin Show) but an entirely different number on the theme of THE LONELY STAGE.  Since the orchestra didn't know the number, Judy sang it sans accompaniment, except for a drum beat.  Paula Wayne was in the front row, and eventually got onstage and sang a special material number to Judy, OUR JUDY, to the tune of MY BUDDY.  Then Judy and Paula sang the original version of MY BUDDY.  After this, Bobby Cole dueted THE LAST DANCE with Judy.

At the Saturday night concert Judy seemed in poor voice, and she spent quite a lot of time fooling around.  She opened presents handed to her by members of the audience and made a great fuss over the various gifts.  Her "loot" included a Catholic medal, a string of beads, a 2-lb. box of candy, various bouquets, a gold cigarette holder, a gold head band, a cigarette lighter, several scarfs, and other odds and ends.  She also did an impromptu dance while the orchestra played UP UP AND AWAY and sang a total of about 12 numbers.