ADV – Leaderboard

Art by Jason Simon
Token Theatre Friends Leave a comment

Token Theatre Friends: How Ruby Rakos Mastered Judy Garland’s Voice

The Friends interview the actress who’s been playing Judy on and off for six years in ‘Chasing Rainbows.’ Plus reviews of Halloween shows, including one where they get blindfolded, and a discussion of the discussion around cell phones in the theatre (meta!).

By American Theatre Editors

Twice a month on the Token Theatre Friends video series and podcast, theatre critics (and theatre besties) Jose Solís and Diep Tran bring a POC perspective to the performing arts.

This week the Friends talk about Judy Garland (again). They interview Ruby Rakos, who is currently playing a young Judy Garland in Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz at Paper Mill Playhouse. Rakos explains how she mastered Garland’s vibrato, and even got the seal of approval from Lorna Luft and Liza Minnelli.

The audio of the interview is also available on the podcast, where the Friends review three shows currently playing in New York City:

I Can’t See by Psycho Clan Productions through November 3 ($45 – $50). Surrender yourself to a unique haunted house in which you are blindfolded before stepping into the door.

The Cooping Theory 1969 by Aaron Salazar at RPM Underground, through Nov. 2 ($75 plus $25 food/drink minimum). Attend a groovy seance in this immersive play about Edgar Allan Poe and vengeful ghosts.

The Sleepy Hollow Experience by Brian Clowdus Productions at Historic Hudson Valley through Nov. 3 ($45). The Legends of Sleepy Hollow is mounted in Washington Irving’s home and the results and delightfully spooky. 

At the end of the show, the Friends discuss cell phones in the theatre, and the polarizing discussion on this topic (can we all just calm down about this?).

Download the episode here.

You can subscribe to Token Theatre Friends as a podcast via RSS feed,  iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or TuneIn. Or subscribe to the videos on YouTube.

Do you have a comment, suggestions for segments, or a show to plug? Contact the Token Theatre Friends via email or Twitter.

Podcast Theme Music:

Coffee Shop by PYC Music | https://soundcloud.com/pycmusic
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0

Summer Coffee by Barradeen | https://soundcloud.com/barradeen
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

Support American Theatre: a just and thriving theatre ecology begins with information for all. Please join us in this mission by joining TCG, which entitles you to copies of our quarterly print magazine and helps support a long legacy of quality nonprofit arts journalism.

ADV – Billboard