Groovy Reader of the Month: Bill Phair

As a way to thank my readers for their support, I feature a new guy or gal each month - and the winner of this prestigious title for September is the groovy Bill Phair of New York City, who recently sent me the following message:

"Just wanted to let you know much I enjoy your writing, your photos, your site, your everything. I find things I'd forgotten about, things to discover, and scarily things I've just recently watched or read about on my own. You have a wonderful way of paying tribute to the ridiculous, and you bring warmth to your survey of "camp". It never feels like you're mocking. It feels like you're celebrating. And also, you make it difficult to get any work done - I've been procrastinating all afternoon!"

Isn't that sweet? So, of course, I had to feature him for making my day - and we have a mutual admiration society going on since I love his fabulous podcast, JudyCast: The Entertainment Beat with Frances Gumm - A One-Man Judy Garland Podcast Surreality. Bill has been the sole writer, performer, editor and producer of JudyCast since January 2006, and so far he's created 28 hilarious episodes, in which he plays Judy and her co-host, Roger Darling, as well as such regular guest stars as Carol Channing, Bernadette Peters, Gwen Verdon, Pia Zadora and Gollum (from The Lord of the Rings). Judy and her friends chat about pop culture - both past and present - and she's even sung such tunes as Andrew Lloyd Webber's "As If We Never Said Goodbye", Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and - with Channing - the classic Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer disco anthem, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)". You can listen to JudyCast at www.francesgummcast.blogspot.com.

Now I've asked Bill to get Deeper with us here on the Dish by answering a few questions about JudyCast and pop culture:

When did you discover that you were a man of many voices? And what inspired you to create JudyCast?
In the beginning, God created Carol Channing. As the White Queen in CBS's Alice Through the Looking Glass (1985), her performance was one of the most mystifying spectres of my childhood, mixing Broadway brass with mindboggling creepshow. Her sheep transformation is still eerier to me than any memories of the Jabberwocky or even Freddy Krueger. Maybe that's the kind of macabre Lewis Carroll had in mind. My later discovery of her treasure trove of work echoed my iniital assessment: she is a brilliant superhero pivoting between joyous cartoon, grand theater, and the trilogy of terror. I could just as soon believe she was the brains behind NASA as her performing a song from Skidoo on Sesame Street with Thornton Wilder. Not that either one is plausible, but in a way - with her - they are. And so was I, at eight years old, singing her torch song from Alice, "Jam Tomorrow, Jam Yesterday". Part "Rose's Turn", part "Theme from The Love Boat", but 100% Carol. And that was the only voice I did. You could say that I was a latent Sybil (no one ever locked me in a trunk, but I now pay tribute to someone who was born in a trunk, so it all comes full circle).

I didn't become a fan of Judy's until I was in my early twenties. Sure, I had the Carnegie Hall album and I'd seen The Wizard of Oz, but it wasn't until Pioneer released her television show on DVD that I became a full-throttle devotee. I always loved the dialogue from Carnegie Hall, even more than the songs, so here were hours upon hours of quips, looks, Judy moves, and outtakes presented with the kind of clarity I wasn't expecting from 40-year-old videotapes. It was as if she'd just stepped back in front of the cameras after taking a long intermission of sorts. And the show represented once and for all the sense of humor her children, co-stars and critics have said she possessed. Not that I ever doubted it - you can see that humor in many of her early films. And coming to Judy's work backwards, starting from the '60s toward the MGM years and finally the Gumm Sisters, was a rewarding experience. I've gauged, for the most part, that the self-deprecating and slightly bawdy side started just as soon as she got out of Oz. She doesn't seem to suffer fools, even when she's in character, and there's something inately powerful and sophisticated about that. Even sexy. So it isn't any wonder that by the time we make it to her later films and the TV series, these attributes are all concentrated and in bloom. This study gave me a greater appreciation for her vocals, too. I think Judy had a technical proficiency and emotionally-charged overdrive equaled only by Nina Simone. She wasn't just raw talent - she knew exactly how to work her muscles to extract the meaning out of a lyric and generate the response the songwriters intended.

How the podcast came together was by accident. I began doing Judy's voice for friends, they enjoyed it, and someone suggested doing a podcast. The Entertainment Beat with Frances Gumm was born. Initially, the show was to be a cross between The View and Ed Sullivan, but it's constantly in flux, there's no set format, and even the characterizations change from episode to episode. It's fun and it's really just an audio blog - with a twist.



Five movies that I think everyone should be required to watch are:
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid: I was obsessed with all things mermaid as a kid, and I used to watch this William Powell-Ann Blyth gem with my grandmother. It became a staple of my life.

All About Eve: I borrowed it from the New York Public Library and never looked back (I did return it).

Babette's Feast: I'm part-Danish, so there's that. It's probably the quintessential film about the artist's need to create. The ending always has me in tears.

Interiors: No one ever agrees with my reading of Woody Allen's salute to Ingmar Bergman. I think it's full of sarcasm, almost a farce - especially Diane Keaton's character. Either that or maybe it's so grim that I have to laugh at it.

Disney's Robin Hood: The folk-singing rooster had me at "oo-de-lally."

The last good book I read was:
Patti LuPone: A Memoir. It was more fun than the rolly-coaster at the fair. We don't have very many larger-than-life personalities left, so I'm thankful for Patti!

My five favorite TV shows of all time are:
Ducktales, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Golden Girls, Mary Tyler Moore and The Twilight Zone.

My three favorite Judy Garland songs are:
"Over the Bannister", "It's All For You", and any spiritual you can think of.



If I was asked to choose the Sexiest Man Alive, it would be:
Victor Garber

If I could have anyone - living or dead - be a guest at my dinner party, I would invite the following three people:
Sister Wendy Beckett, Judy Garland and playwright and lyricist Howard Ashman (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast).

Now that sounds like one fascinating party I would love to attend. Thank you, Bill, for being one of my grooviest readers!