The esteemed American actress, singer and vaudevillian Judy Garland lies listless in a coma – a victim of her own undoing. Still reeling from the recent overdoses of Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, Christopher Peterson portrays the first star who was taken too early by Hollywood’s cruel medicine.

This is not a dark piece, however. This is the show that Garland herself would have loved to come back and play.

"You really learn a lot about her – her husband, her children and the ups and downs of the industry," Peterson says. "Anyone who wants to learn anything about Judy Garland would love to see the show."

He glibs that unfortunately Garland’s biggest fans will not likely be in attendance as Typhoon Judy lights up Edmonton’s Roxy Theatre October 9 to 28.

"The problem with that is they’re all 80 years old," he jests. "But the show has enough to appeal to a broad audience."

Peterson, originally from Moncton, New Brunswick, has not performed in Edmonton in twelve years; not since the success of his show Eyecons swept him off to Key West, Florida.

"Fourteen years ago a friend of mine asked why I wasn’t working the States doing a show I do called Eyecons, and I said ‘I don’t know anyone’," Peterson explains. Not long after he was put in connection with the right people and signed an eight-week contract at a place called Divas, "and I’ve been there ever since."

Eyecons features our favourite show biz ladies of the 20^th Century: Marlyln Monroe, Liza Minnelli, Lady Gaga, et al.

"It’s all the girls," Peterson says. "That’s my name stay; that’s my hot show I’ve been doing the last 16 years and it’s been great."

Peterson took Eyecons to another Key West club, La Te Da, after nearly eight years at Divas. "They built a showroom there for me," the star boasts.

Impersonating was in Peterson’s blood since he emerged from the womb. He jokes he saw the lights and started crooning.

"My mother said, ‘is it a boy or a girl?’ and the doctor said ‘yes’," he jests.

The comic performer started doing drag at age 18 and now, 32 years later, he plays one of the most rewarding roles of his career: Judy.

"The best show is the one I’m doing now, " he says.

Peterson creatively married with Guys in Disguise’s Darrin Hagen a number of years ago to perform BitchSlap!, wherein he played "a very good Bette Davis."

Asked which other character he would do well performing a show around the answer was easy. Judy Garland.

"This is the character I channel best; the voice and the movement," he says – adding the grandiose contralto vocals are the highlight of performing this character.

"The whole point of doing her is that you get to sing really loud and big," he describes. "It gives me a chance to use my acting muscle in a way I don’t ordinarily do."

Created as a collaboration between Peterson and Hagen, Typhoon Judy allows the diva to tell her story through song, comedy and anecdote with one lone piano player in a desolate rehearsal hall. Little does the starlet know, this grand performance is actually taking place on a hospital bed.

"It’s really all in her head – she’s actually in a coma in Hong Kong after an overdose," Peterson reveals.

The show opened in Beach, Delaware this past summer to sold out crowds. Roxy Theatre will host its Canadian premier. Opening night is Thursday October 11th and the show will close October 28.

"And then I head back to Key West where the show will run in April," Peterson says.

Though as of yet no dates are lined up in Calgary the aim is take to this show on international tour.