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Austin Cabaret Theatre at the Long Center
Almost 10 years old, Austin Cabaret Theatre nears institutional status. Producer Stuart Moulton, himself an entertainer, has brought to Austin universally consecrated acts such as Eartha Kitt, Elaine Stritch, Ann Hampton Callaway and Carol Channing, as well as onetime Texans Billy Stritch, Amanda McBroom and Sharon Montgomery.
Stuart Moulton and Christy Duvauchelle
The switch from hotel and banquet settings to the Long Center, then, made perfect sense. As the did the recent upgrade in the pre-show dinner menu. The Kodosky Lounge serves for most acts, but for its gala, Moulton seated more than 200 in the lounge for eats, then shepherded them downstairs to the Rollins Studio Theatre for the big show.
Charles Duggan and Stanislav Pronin
That’s when Moulton, after an extended vamp, earned the right to say: “Ladies and gentlemen, Judy Garland!” That dream cabaret act, in fact, took the form of Jim Bailey, longtime impressionist, who was doing Judy back when Judy was doing Judy.
Dr. Bill Jones and Anton Nel
Now, let’s see. Last year, Judy would have turned 87, had she not passed into immortality in 1969. Bailey, for his part, is 60. He still twitches, strays and warbles just like Judy in the late years. It may be that I’m now 56 — and 40 years has passed since Judy’s death — but one act of Judy-ism was enough for me. No more her Carnegie Hall quip: “We’ll just have to stay here and sing them all night.”
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