Judy Blue Eyes

Judy Collin’s voice has been called “ethereal” so many times in her career that I hesitate to use it here.  But there’s no help for it because sometimes her voice really does seem to come from the ether, to spine-tingling effect.  When I saw her at the Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale in a one-night-only concert I didn’t know the event was part of a tour to try out her new cabaret act which has now come to fruition at the Café Carlyle in New York City.

It was thrilling to see her again even if her concert proceeded in fits and starts as she fiddled around with dialogue while tuning her guitar and putting up with the comings and goings of what seems to me a disease that pervades theater here in Florida.  People who attend theater here have zero idea what constitutes theatrical etiquette.  They bring food.  They eat it.  They come and go (presumably to the bathroom) as if they were in their living rooms.  They check their cellphones.  They talk back to the performers.  This behavior has pretty much convinced me that it’s not worth attending shows here but I couldn’t resist when Judy Collins came to town.  It was worth it and she seemed to not mind all the crap going on in the audience even though I did.  She was in great voice; strong and vibrant.  She deserves the Café Carlyle and the sophisticated audiences provided there and she has the chops to get great reviews in the New York papers.  Come back to Florida, Judy…I’ll be waiting.