Judy Garland may be best known for starring in “The Wizard of Oz,” which is the film that introduced Angela Ingersoll to the late actress and singer.
“I was 3 or 4 years old and saw ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and was conscious of it. My love for Judy was quickly supported and my education of Judy was quickly cultivated by my uncle Mark. He was an enormous Judy fan,” said the star of Get Happy: Angela Ingersoll Sings Judy Garland, which will be performed April 11 at Freedom Hall in Park Forest.
Garland began performing at age 2 and Ingersoll first hit the stage when Anita Holmes, her kindergarten music teacher at Indianapolis’ Meredith Nicholson School 96, gave the then-5-year-old a solo.
In late 2015 Ingersoll began creating the Artists Lounge Live show Get Happy, which returns to Park Forest’s Freedom Hall April 11 and features a six-piece orchestra and songs including “As Long As He Needs Me,” “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “Over the Rainbow.”
“Pop culture tends to enjoy remembering Judy as only some tragic figure, remembering just the roller coaster and the flashiness, the tabloid aspects of her legacy. I wanted to make sure that people love the heart within, the actual human being,” said Ingersoll of Skokie.
“As I was developing my show I started singing these pieces I was putting together in cabarets that some of my friends were producing around (Chicago).”
That led to portraying Garland in Porchlight Music Theatre’s Chicago premiere of “End of the Rainbow” in 2016 at Stage 773 and Ingersoll winning a Jeff Award for actress in a principal role — play for that run.
She also connected with Garland’s son Joey Luft to perform A Mother’s Day Salute to Judy Garland in 2017 at St. Charles’ Arcada Theatre, where HMS Media recorded her debut TV special, “Get Happy: Angela Ingersoll Sings Judy Garland,” which premiered in 2018 on PBS station WTTW-TV (Channel 11).
“The show keeps evolving. I rarely do the same exact show twice,” said Ingersoll about Get Happy, which she performed in 2018 at Freedom Hall, where she also did a virtual version during a 2020 livestream.
“I’ve also got in the habit of doing costume changes onstage in front of the audience. That bit of vaudeville magic seems to be a part audiences enjoy. There’s a lot of heart and a lot of laughter. I try not to dwell on some of the darker tones but I certainly don’t shy away from them.
“I hope there is a lot of healing in the show where the audience can identify with a bit of heartache and not feel alone. We’ll lift up and sing ‘Get Happy’ or ‘That’s Entertainment!,’ which is a new one in my set list.”
Ingersoll was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding crafts achievement for on-camera talent — performer by the National Academy of Television Arts & Science Chicago/Midwest Chapter for her PBS special.
“That was just about the most thrilling, unexpected bit of news,” said Ingersoll, who is also artistic director for Artists Lounge Live, which she cofounded with her husband, Michael Ingersoll, in 2013.
“That’s been something that’s been able to help me introduce this show to a diverse range of audiences.”
Get Happy
When: 11 a.m. April 11
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Where: Freedom Hall, 410 Lakewood Blvd., Park Forest
Tickets: $30
Information: 708-747-0580; freedomhall.org
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.