Chicago Tribune Review of “It’s Magic!” Premiere

The premiere performance of It’s Magic! Joan Ellison Swings in High Fidelity with the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra was reviewed by the Chicago Tribune: “Who better than Ellison to bring back…the music of the golden era of Hollywood with her intimate understanding of musical styles of the 1920s, ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s….[they] entertained the crowd with a variety of American classics, heavy on Nelson Riddle arrangements, which played perfectly with Ellison’s extraordinary vocal talents.” Read it here.

“Get Happy!” Reviewed on BroadwayWorld.com

Joan’s March 2023 “Get Happy! A Judy Garland Celebration” concert with the Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota and Maestra Robyn Bell was recently reviewed on BroadwayWorld.com:

“[Joan] had the chops to deliver sweet lulling songs as well as boastful big tunes. Even her beautiful ball gowns displayed the look we came to know as Judy Garland - off-the-shoulder, sparkling bright colors and mid-calf elegance. It was obvious justice was done in this tribute captured with a great deal of research, love, respect, and pure passion to get it right. Well done Ms. Ellison, Judy would have been proud.”

Read the rest of the rave review here!

Joan Interviewed by Maestra Robyn Bell on the Suncoast Culture Club Podcast

Tune in as Joan & Robyn discuss the backstory about Joan’s love affair with Judy Garland's artistry and how she got started restoring her original orchestral arrangements...and also why she haven't seen the "Judy" movie yet! Listen here.

“Get Happy! A Judy Garland Celebration” Reviewed

Joan’s April 24th, 2022 “Get Happy! A Judy Garland Celebration” pops concert with the Punta Gorda Symphony and Maestro Raffaele Ponti was recently reviewed in The Front Row. “Ellison captivated her audience through her own vulnerability and passion with song and facon de parler. She charmingly conveyed the marvelous musical poetry and spirit of Garland and the composers, touching the hearts of the listeners just as Garland did so long ago. She doesn’t imitate Garland; instead, she honors her and, for the audience, intimately portrays and shares a legacy of romance, love, loss, and longing. We were captured by her sumptuous musical badinage and expressed poignant tensions. Ellison is sensually dazzling, graceful, and glittering, from her signature red lipstick and costumes to the music….The rich harmonies, delicate shadings, and intones of the orchestra warmly enveloped the audience and our chanteuse alike…” Read the rest of the very kind write-up by Elizabeth Ann Foster here.

Paducah Symphony Orchestra to Celebrate Judy’s Centennial

“The legendary Judy Garland would have turned 100 years old this year, and the Paducah Symphony Orchestra is getting a head start in the birthday festivities. The symphony is set to hold ‘Judy!: Joan Ellison Sings Judy Garland with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra,’ at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at The Carson Center, where concertgoers can celebrate the star’s birthday and hear familiar Garland tunes, such as ‘Over the Rainbow.’” Read the interview with Maestro Raffaele Ponti about the concert, original arrangements, and Garland’s legacy.

JOAN FEATURED IN PBS/IDEASTREAM’S “PBS FOR THE ARTS” SERIES

“As part of #PBSForTheArts, a multiplatform campaign from PBS and The WNET Group celebrating the resiliency of the arts in America during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown and reopening, we’re pleased to present a series of artist interviews spotlighting the inspiring pandemic survival stories of artists across the country. From Broadway dancers and concert performers to classical musicians, visual artists, and beyond, discover how these creative, resourceful artists have kept the arts vivid and vital during the pandemic….In the following interview, [Joan] Ellison talks about her unique concert experiences during the pandemic, her lifelong love of Judy Garland, and more.” (by Elisa Lichtenbaum, Senior Writer at The WNET Group) Read the Q&A here.

JOAN SINGS JUDY GARLAND FROM HER LIVING ROOM

Joan’s “Get Happy! A Judy Garland Celebration” pops concert with the New Haven Symphony was postponed due to COVID-19. Instead she gave a mini-recital of songs associated with Garland — accompanying herself at the piano — and chatted with principal pops conductor Chelsea Tipson. Thanks to WVIZ/90.3 Ideastream for including the concert in their weekly top 5 Virtual Arts Experiences list! (Here is the archived concert on the New Haven Symphony’s youtube page.)

REVIEWS ARE IN FOR “JUDY AT CARNEGIE HALL” CONCERT!

Thanks to New Jersey Stage for their remarkably thorough write-up, complete with several photographs, of our “Judy at Carnegie Hall” concert recreation on June 23rd, featuring Judy’s newly-restored orchestral arrangements! Read it here. And thanks to Theater Pizzazz for this wonderful review of the concert. Read it here.

JUDY AT CARNEGIE HALL CONCERT

Exciting news! On June 23rd in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Joan will join hostess and singer Lorna Luft, conductor Michael Berkowitz, and singers Karen Mason, Debbie Gravitte, and Gabrielle Stravelli for a celebratory recreation of Judy Garland’s 1961 Carnegie Hall Concert, with a 40-piece orchestra using all of the newly-restored arrangements. Joan was appointed Editor of the Judy Garland Carnegie Hall Concert Restoration Project in 2017 and has been working to restore the arrangements for the Judy Garland Heirs Trust using all surviving original parts, scores, and manuscript scores in their possession and in the collections of friends of the Trust. Says Michael Feinstein of the upcoming concert: "This is a watershed event in the history of Judy Garland's musical legacy and is the first time the Garland concert will be performed with meticulous research and preparation, giving listeners a true sense of what the orchestra really sounded like in 1961. It's a remarkable achievement, and the presence of Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft will add a first-hand family member to help guide the audience through the experience. How wonderful that this ground-breaking event is finally happening!” Read the Broadway World article here.

FEATURE IN PRIZM NEWS: 

PRIZM News and Christine Howey highlighted Joan's role in restoring Judy Garland's original orchestral arrangements with Michael Feinstein and the Judy Garland Heirs Trust, as well as her upcoming performances of All Happiness, Judy Garland. Read it here: A Star Is Reborn: Joan Sings Judy. 

Tribute to Judy & Liza with the Santa Rosa Symphony

On February 24, 2019 Joan will appear in "A Tribute to Judy & Liza at the Palladium" with conductor Michael Berkowitz, singer Carolann Sanita, and the Santa Rosa Symphony. Read the Broadway World announcement here!

The Judy Garland Carnegie Hall Concert Restoration Project

Blog post (October 17, 2017): It’s been a few months since I’ve written, but I just had to come up for air to share some exciting news with you: Michael Feinstein has invited me to join the Judy Garland Carnegie Hall Concert Restoration Project team as Editor, for The Judy Garland Heirs Trust. As part of this project to preserve Judy Garland’s musical legacy, our aim is to restore all of the original symphonic arrangements from the 1961 Carnegie Hall Concert and make them available for live performance once again. Since late last summer I have been restoring and performing a handful of Judy’s original arrangements that the Trust, of which Michael Feinstein is a trustee, very graciously shared with me. But to get the chance to work on a preservation project like this is so exciting that I still have to stop and pinch myself. (And then I look at the long road ahead and it sobers me up in a hurry, but I digress…) Read more here....

Review: Judy Garland Symphonic Pops concert

"Ellison’s voice is tender and sincere, completely capable of the stunning vocal athleticism for which Garland is remembered," writes Emily Votaw at WOUB Public Media in a review of Joan's Judy Garland concert with the Ohio Valley Symphony and conductor Ray Fowler. Read more... Here's a preview of the concert, including an interview. The concert featured 16 songs, including Joan's first time singing Judy's original symphonic arrangement of the "Judy at the Palace Medley." Read her blog post, "Stepping Into Judy's Palace Medley," and watch the performance here.  

A review from across the pond for "Retrophonic Gershwin"

U.K. critic Piers Ford has featured Joan's 2015 release, "Retrophonic Gershwin," in the December 2016 edition of Cry Me a Torch Song. "[Joan] doesn't just blow off the dust — she gets inside the raw material and inhabits it.” (The review begins about 8 minutes into the video.)

interview/performance on WCPN 90.3

Joan, pianist Jason Aquila, and co-writer/director Mark Flanders recently joined The Sound of Applause's Dee Perry in the Keybank Studio at Ideastream WCPN 90.3 to discuss Judy Garland, their show at Feinstein's/54 Below in NYC, and their upcoming reprise of Get Happy! at Akron's BLUJazz+, as well as performing "The Man That Got Away," "I Got the Sun in the Morning," "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow," and "The Trolley Song." Listen to the whole segment here!

Critical acclaim for Joan's NYC debut at Feinstein's/54 Below!

Cabaret Scenes Magazine says, "New York deserves to see and hear more of Joan Ellison" (read the whole review here), and New York Cabaret Today says, "...the quality of Ellison’s voice was perfection" (read the whole review here).  You can see videos of the performance in this lovely club on Joan's new youtube channel. 

"Boy from Oz" Press coverage

Joan played the role of "Judy Garland" circa 1964 in The Boy From Oz at TheatreZone in Naples, Florida.  The production, directed by Mark Danni, ran February 4-14, 2016.  The rights administrator, David Spicer, came all the way from Australia to shoot footage of the opening weekend and film interviews with Joan, Larry Alexander (playing Peter Allen), and some Rockettes who showed up. Here is the link (scroll down to see the video): http://BroadwayWorld.com/viewcolumn.php?colid=1242826.  The show also received a rave review for the whole company, including this: 

Joan Ellison, on the other hand, is a ringer for Garland. Miss Ellison performs concerts as Judy Garland, and she brings it all here — the voice, the mannerisms, the look. But this is more than an imitation. Ellison's Garland is petty, appealing, demanding, neurotic. She conveys the authority of a superstar. She has the inflections, the look, the vibrato. "The Boy from Oz" was worth seeing just for her breathtaking performance. ~ Bill O'Neill, Collier Citizen (FL)

New garland cabaret show to play Feinstein's 54 Below

Joan's new cabaret show, Get Happy! Judy Garland 1944-'54, will play Feinstein's 54 Below in New York City on June 3, 2016 at 9:30 p.m.  This is Joan's NYC solo debut. Jason Aquila will be on the keys, and Mark Flanders co-writes and directs. Tunes include "The Man That Got Away," "If You Feel Like Singing, Sing," "The Palace Medley," "I Love a Piano," "Johnny One-Note," and, of course, "Get Happy." The show will first premiere at Cleveland's Bop Stop on April 1, 2016, and will also play BLUJazz+ in Akron, Ohio on July 16, 2016.

GERSHWIN ALBUM RELEASED July 21, 2015

"Retrophonic Gershwin" was just reviewed in ClevelandClassical.com! "The songs may be retro, but Ellison and Flanders make them sound fresh and new."~ClevelandClassical.com. The CD is available on this site (physical CDs) and on iTunes and Amazon. Mark Flanders joins in for some solos and duets, and duo-pianists Jason Aquila and Jodie Ricci incinerate the ivories in transcriptions from '20s and '30s recordings, as well as newly-imagined arrangements.  The tunes include "I Got Rhythm," "But Not For Me," "A Foggy Day," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and "Where's the Boy? Here's the Girl!"  Grammy-winning audio engineer Robert Friedrich of Five/Four Productions did the mixing and mastering. Listen to an interview on WCLV 104.9 Public Radio Ideastream here.  

Joan To Play Judy in "Boy From Oz"

Joan has been cast in the role of "Judy Garland" in The Boy From Oz at TheatreZone in Naples, Florida.  The production, directed by Mark Danni, runs February 4-14, 2016.  

"LOVE FINDS JUDY GARLAND" to make florida debut

The show will make its Florida debut on February 16, 2016 at TheatreZone in Naples, Florida!  Read more here.  After a run last summer at TrueNorth Cultural Arts Center, our three-person retro-radio style show, Love Finds Judy Garland, got a new title and is getting a rewrite and a few new songs in time for its debut in Rocky River, Ohio on August 13, 2015.