“Get Happy!” as we take a musical trolley ride through Judy Garland’s golden years in Hollywood and record-smashing Palace and Palladium runs, starring Garland swing-singing specialist Joan Ellison.

Through the eyes of Jane Telling, assistant arranger, accompanist, and vocal double in the MGM Music Department, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes and personal portrait of the greatest musical performer of the twentieth century. 

Featuring seventeen of her beloved hits including “The Trolley Song,” “The Man That Got Away,” Get Happy,” and “Over the Rainbow” in arrangements based on the originals, All Happiness, Judy Garland takes you deep into the world of the woman whose artistry brings joy to millions and millions of people all over the world.

(Premiered June 24, 2017 at the Winter Park Playhouse in Winter Park, Florida, with reprises at the Holland Theatre and Chagrin Arts.)

REVIEWS

...Vocal prowess [and] organic grasp of the classic songs...  Michael Feinstein

[Joan] doesn't just blow off the dust — she gets inside the raw material and inhabits it.  Piers Ford, Cry Me a Torch Song

For a singer who’s been obsessed with Judy Garland since childhood, who is Judy-esque in appearance, and who’s a near voice double for her idol, the path is clear: Don’t fight it. Thus, Joan Ellison’s cabaret homage to Garland proved to be a captivating evening of song…The voice is big and clear with plenty of range. Ellison can belt with the best of them, [and] is very personable and utterly likeable...New York deserves to see and hear more of Joan Ellison.  Marilyn Lester, Cabaret Scenes

Ellison’s voice is tender and sincere, completely capable of the stunning vocal athleticism for which Garland is remembered.  Emily Votaw, WOUB Public Media

Ellison is all freshness, vulnerability, and charm, singing up a storm (and, yes, a rainbow)…The singer brings a keen blend of vocal splendor and verbal crispness to every musical moment. She inhabits the texts as if living them anew.  Donald Rosenberg, The Plain Dealer

Joan Ellison, on the other hand, is a ringer for Garland… — the voice, the mannerisms, the look. But this is more than an imitation.  She conveys the authority of a superstar. "The Boy from Oz" was worth seeing just for her breathtaking performance.  Bill O’Neill, Collier Citizen

The quality of Ellison's voice was perfect.  New York Cabaret Today