Joey Luft honors mother Judy Garland with new show
Joey Luft remembers it well: appearing on the 1963 Christmas episode of his mother Judy Garlandâs CBS musical-variety series with his two older sisters, Lorna Luft and Liza Minnelli.
On a recent afternoon, Luft was rewatching the show, his eyes wide and a smile dancing across his face as his younger self broke into âWhere Is Love?â on the classic yuletide show.
âShe opened the show with âHave Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,ââ said the 59-year-old Luft, a slight man who is a bundle of energy. âOur living room [of the Luftsâ house] on Rockingham Avenue was copied so the Christmas show looked like our living room.â
Though half-sister Minnelli, who is an Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy award-winner, and Lorna Luft have followed in their motherâs footsteps, their baby brother has largely lived out of the public eye.
âIâve been more behind the camera,â said Luft, who has studied photography and sound and has worked as a kind of editor-runner.
Though he may not be famous, âI have a life that has been fascinating,â said Luft, who appeared with his siblings at the Oscars this past March for a 75th anniversary tribute to âThe Wizard of Oz,â the 1939 classic that made Garland a star. âI can tell stories for days.â
Heâs finally getting the opportunity to tell the stories about his mother in âA Judy Garland Concert With Joey Luft,â which opens Friday and continues through Sunday at the Pasadena Playhouse.
The evening features colorized footage from âThe Judy Garland Showâ of the legend performing such standards as âStormy Weather,â âCome Rain or Come Shineâ and of course âOver the Rainbow.â In between clips, Luft and the showâs producer, John Kimble, his childhood friend and longtime associate of his late father, producer Sid Luft, will talk about Garland.
âItâs just so fun just getting out there and talking about her and letting people know, âHereâs what really happened,ââ said Luft in a recent interview at Kimbleâs Culver City home.
âI donât want to talk about the bad things,â said Luft, who was 14 in 1969 when his mother died of an overdose of barbiturates. âThat isnât what my mom was about. She was a performer. She was a mother. She loved people. She was the most caring person. She had the greatest sense of humor.â
Luft stood up to imitate his mother when she guest-starred on NBCâs âThe Jack Paar Show.â âHe introduces my mom and she comes on stage with a broom,â said Luft, as he mimes sweeping the floor. âShe puts the broom down and walks over and sits down with Jack and said âPeople told me I would clean up in this business.ââ
The story lead to another memory of watching a hockey game with Lorna and Garland in his motherâs bedroom. âMy mom was kind of tired and she looked kind of frustrated,â said Luft. âI said âHow do you feel? She looks at us, walks over to the TV and she goes, âHow do I feel? See that hockey game? You know the puck? That how I feel.â And she walks off. Then we started laughing.â
His father was Garlandâs third husband and is credited with resurrecting her career after she was fired from MGM in 1950. He colorized the black-and-white âJudy Garland Showâ before his death in 2005 at the age of 89.
âIt took us years and years to do because there was so much detail and so much work to go into it,â said Luft. âMy dad spent so much money that near the end of his life he went broke because he put so much into it. He wanted to put a show together.â
âWe have cleaned up all the audio and made it look like it was shot yesterday,â added Kimble.
Kimble said that they have booked a fall tour of the show in Canada, invited theaters to a workshop production of the show a few weeks ago in Culver City and currently are making tweaks to the evening before they open in Pasadena. The playhouse will also have an exhibit of rare photos from Garlandâs life and career as well as Michael Siewertâs collection of costumes from many of her classic films.
Luftâs siblings wonât be attending the show. Lorna lives in Palm Springs and is awaiting the birth of a grandchild. âLiza is in New York,â said Luft. âShe was going to come out and see the show but she couldnât make it out.â
Luft hopes his show will keep the memory of his mother and her talent alive for years to come.
âThey know âThe Wizard of Oz,â but people donât even know Judy,â said Luft, who added that he could listen to her recordings for hours. âThe show is to educate people and show who she was and what she did and what she was all about â one of the worldâs greatest entertainers.â
Follow Susan King on Twitter at @mymackie
----------------------------
âA Judy Garland Concert With Joey Luftâ
Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. Molina Ave., Pasadena
When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Admission: $40-$75
Information: https://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org
It's a date
Get our L.A. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.