The music and life of Judy Garland comes alive on stage at the Auburn Avenue Theater on Saturday with a performance of “Judy Sings Judy”, featuring Seattle singer/actress Judy Ann Moulton.

Moulton’s 90-minute, 21-song tribute illustrates Garland’s life, using the songs she made famous to recreate significant moments in the musical icon’s life.

“Basically we’re calling it a theatrical event,” Moulton said. “It’s not just a concert. I tell stories about Judy Garland, then we do songs that Judy Garland sang to demonstrate how she may have felt at the particular moment in her life.

“For instance, when Liza Minnelli was born, it was exactly nine months to the day after Judy had married Vince Minnelli,” Moulton continued. “So we sing the song, ‘Just In Time’. “

Moulton personalizes the show by adding moments of her life.

“The uniqueness is when there are similarities to her life and something that happened to me or someone in my life, I tell that story,” she said.

For Moulton, performing Garland’s songs also is an opportunity for her to connect with and honor her namesake.

“My mom had four boys before me,” she said. “The entire time she wanted a girl who was going to be named Judy Marie. By the time I came, that changed to Judy Ann, but I’m named after Judy Garland.”

Moulton’s name on her birth certificate is actually Judy, not Judith, in honor of Garland.

Moulton said her love of Garland’s music was further fostered in the early ’60s, when she and her mother would sit in front of the TV to watch the singer’s variety show.

“When ‘The Judy Garland Show’ came on in 1963 it was a special time for my mom and I,” Moulton said. “When I was 14, we would watch it every Sunday night. I just fell in love with her singing.”

Moulton said Garland’s passion and commitment to the songs she sang are the reason her music remains so popular 41 years after her tragic death at age 47.

“She believed the lyrics,” Moulton said. “She sang an awful lot of ballads, and they were supposed (to be about) woe is me and sadness, sadness, sadness. But there was always a hopefulness to her singing. And that’s something people can kind of hang their hats on. They believe what she believed when she was singing.”

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Showtime

• What: Live at the Ave presents Judy sings Judy

• When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 7

• Where: Auburn Avenue Theater, 10 Auburn Ave.

• Tickets: $17 regular/$15 students, seniors. Call 253-931-3043, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or online through Brown Paper Tickets at www.auburnwa.gov.