Rare Rehearsal Footage of Judy Garland!

As the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion approaches on June 28, let's not forget that one of the subtexts in the air as that revolutionary moment in gay liberation took place was that the great diva Judy Garland had recently passed on, and the gays were understandably annoyed about it.

But I'm here to talk about when Judy was alive, folks. Three years earlier, she had hosted a TV variety show called Hollywood Palace, opening it with her version of the hopeful anthem "What The World Needs Now Is Love." Amazingly, rehearsal footage has popped up of that number, showing Judy in a more casual mode, bluffing her way through some of the lyrics and not delivering any of them with full performance force, though she's magnetic as usual.

Check that out here and then watch her actual performance on the show and marvel and what some rouge and a few amphetamines can do! I'm so kidding--don't start another rebellion.

(Note: Thanks to Pieces diva Vodka Stinger for alerting me to these clips.)