Legendary singer/songwriter/musician and activist Judy Collins returned to stage at The Town Hall – where she first performed and recorded her first live album, Judy Collins in Concert, in 1964 – to celebrate her 85th birthday with a star-studded roster in Judy Collins and Friends: 85 Years of Music and Protest, for one night only on Saturday, March 8 (her actual birthday is May 1, 1939). Directed by Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Russ Titelman and hosted by fellow singer/songwriter/musician and activist Sophie B. Hawkins, the special event, presented on International Women’s Day by The Town Hall (built as a meeting place by the Suffragists in 1921) and running a full two hours and 40 minutes without intermission, offered a retrospective of her six decades of music and protest, and the generations she inspired, from her contemporaries to the younger artists influenced by her songs and dedication to socio-political causes.
The set list of nineteen numbers featured a mix of songs written by Collins, covers of works by other artists she’s known, worked, and performed with, and ones that were included on her 55 albums and in her six decades of concerts. They were interspersed with introductions to the songs, stories about the times and themes, reminiscences about her life, career, and the people involved, and a lot of joking by the warm, candid, and humorous Collins (who opened the show by noting that she’s “the American Idol of 1956″), along with tributes to her and memories shared by the twelve special guests who joined her on stage: Oakland Rain, Rickie Lee Jones, Stephen Schwartz, Justin Vivian Bond, writer, political commentator, and podcaster Molly Jung Fast (the only one who didn’t sing), Martha Redbone, Paula Cole, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Ari Hest, Richard Thompson, Stephen Stills, and Hawkins.
Many of the performers accompanied themselves on acoustic guitar and/or piano, including the multi-talented Collins, who began her musical training at the age of five, studying classical piano under Antonia Brico, and made her debut with a symphony orchestra at thirteen, then in the ‘60s, expanded her well-known repertoire into the eclectic genres of folk, country, pop, protest anthems, show tunes, and standards. From her initial segment of solo vocals (the semi-autobiographical “Mountain Girl,” which she wrote; Bob Dylan’s powerful antiwar “Masters of War;” the haunting traditional English folk song “John Riley;” and the iconic “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell – one of the most resonant standout songs in the show), the octogenarian’s crystalline soprano, signature high notes, and controlled long notes were as masterful and impressive as ever, accompanied by band members Thad DeBrock on guitar, Zev Katz on bass, Doug Yowell on drums, and Russell Walden (also serving as co-musical director with Titelman) on piano.
To the delight of theater-lovers, the concert included an appearance by Tony, Oscar, Grammy, and Olivier Award winner Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist for such acclaimed Broadway hits as Godspell and Pippin, playing piano and singing a duet with Collins on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, which referenced both her recording of it and the 2003 Broadway musical Wicked (inspired by the movie), for which he wrote the music and lyrics. There were also Collins’ deeply moving rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” (another highlight of the concert), from A Little Night Music of 1973, and Bond’s adamant and relevant performance of “Marat/Sade” from the score of the eponymous English translation of the play with music.
Other guest appearances included Oakland Rain, the young folk duo of Norwegian sisters who’ve toured with Collins, performing her original “Girl from Colorado;” Jones delivering a jazz- and blues-infused version of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” which Collins heard him writing at a party in 1965 Woodstock and later recorded; Redbone’s stirring a cappella performance of “Dreamers,” a timely song about immigrants that Collins wrote in 2018, which is of even greater immediacy now; Chapman’s solo on “Since You Asked,” the first song Collins recorded that she wrote; Cole singing “My Father,” written and released by Collins in 1967; and Hawkins’ rendition of “Diamonds and Rust” by Joan Baez, the titular song from her 1975 album, reflecting on her past relationship with Dylan, which Collins sang with her for the 75th birthday celebration of Baez.
Collins then returned to the stage for another segment of solos (skillfully accompanying herself on piano for her original song “The Blizzard” and singing Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire,” which was first released by her, not its composer) and duets (with Hest on “Strangers Again,” her ballad of lost love, and Richard Thompson on Sandy Denny’s bittersweet folk-rock masterpiece “Who Knows Where the Time Goes,” which became one of Collins’ most beloved and identifying songs). The retrospective concert ended with Collins welcoming Stephen Stills, with whom she had a romantic two-year relationship in the 1960s, for a duet on “Helplessly Hoping,” written by him for her in 1969, while struggling through their breakup. In another beautiful moment of their longtime ongoing friendship, Stills noted that she ended up marrying the right person and he became close friends with her husband of 46 years Louis Nelson (an industrial designer best known for the Korean War Veterans Memorial in DC), who just lost his battle with cancer on December 4. And the entire cast returned to the stage for the grand finale, singing the final backing vocals of “SUITE: Judy Blue Eyes,” which Stills also wrote and named for Collins. The beautiful and loving sense of community and the joyous celebration of Collins’ life permeated the theater and left everyone feeling uplifted by her contributions, impact, and the artists who turned out to honor her.
If you missed the live concert at The Town Hall, the good news is that the show was videotaped for the upcoming documentary Judy Collins: Both Sides Now, so you’ll soon be able to enjoy it from the stage, on the screen.
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 40 minutes, without intermission.
Judy Collins and Friends: 85 Years of Music and Protest played on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, NYC.
