Judy Garland Tour Seen As Image Raiser

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Judy Garland is going on tour.

Though “The Wizard of Oz” star died five decades ago, her hologram will embark on a world tour next year courtesy of Beverly Hills-based Hologram USA, the entertainment company that resurrected rapper Tupac Shakur for a 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance.

The tour will be presented by Royal Rainbow Productions, through which Garland’s son Joey Luft, 61, a partner in that West L.A. company, distributes his mother’s recorded performances. Royal Rainbow is working with Hologram USA, run by eccentric billionaire Alkiviades “Alki” David. David, 47, is best known for ruffling broadcasters’ feathers with his FilmOn X streaming service for over-the-air TV programs and promising $1 million to anyone who would streak in front of President Barack Obama.

“All of her different songs are so memorable, and there are huge opportunities in advertising,” David said.

The tour will look similar to a Broadway production presented at festivals, arenas, and in theaters, with ticket prices ranging from $40 up to as much as several thousand dollars for premieres. A full hourlong show can cost several million dollars to mount, and the target audiences will be families and a large contingent of gay fans Garland has amassed, said David.

The tour will pull from “The Judy Garland Show,” which aired on CBS in the 1960s and include the singer’s classics such as “Stormy Weather” and “Over the Rainbow.”

Production will begin this month and Garland’s first stops next year will be in Hollywood and London.

– Marni Usheroff

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