By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-28 22:51:35 | Updated at 2025-01-31 09:01:53
2 days ago
Give him history, or give him death!
A Long Island history buff traded his comfortable Midtown sales job to enlighten the North Shore about the Revolutionary War period.
Christopher Judge, 50, was appointed this month as director of the North Shore Historical Museum, following years of him dressing up in Colonial Era garb and singing songs about centuries past.
“People might say to me, ‘I like your costume.’ And I say, ‘What costume?’ I play it off as if I’m really from the 18th century,” Judge told The Post on Tuesday from Oyster Bay’s Raynham Hall Museum, where he’s been a longtime educator.
Judge, a college-trained vocalist who sings at Christ Church of Oyster Bay, made his declaration of independence from corporate life seven years ago, just weeks into a managerial promotion.
Despite rising success, Judge said he felt “jealousy” for non-profit workers who dedicate their lives to meaningful causes.
So the Ronkonkoma native took “a leap of faith” and left his Brooklyn home, returning to Long Island for a second act as a do-gooder.
“I was waking up with just a sense of dread about where I was going in my old career,” Judge recalled.
“This is so much more fulfilling… Now, I wake up in the morning, and I don’t think, ‘Ugh, I have to go to work.’ I think, ‘Great, I get to go to work!'”
Judge launched his second act by driving a senior center bus and teaching the elderly technology, among other community services.
Around that time, he also eagerly began his work at Raynham Hall, the local historic home of Revolutionary War spy Robert Townsend.
Townsend was in such deep cover that not even George Washington knew his true identity — which wasn’t revealed until 1930.
To drum up the lore, Judge belts out historic tunes of the time and plays a wooden recorder while fashioned head to toe — tricorn hat and all — like an everyday colonial resident of the waterfront community.
The entire ensemble can cost up to $1,500, said Judge, who received his at no cost through the museum.
“We have a lot of fourth graders come in, and their eyes really light up,” Judge said, adding that he’s frequently confused for a pirate or Washington himself.
Judge will stick to his method acting and don his traditional blues even if he has to run out quickly for coffee in town.
Sometimes, he will go “Hamilton” style with colonial up-top and modern clothes below, as many visitors can relate to Lin Manuel Miranda’s popular Broadway show.
Incorporating music “brings a different kind of a spark to helping understand the time period,” Judge said, pointing to Scottish singer Nathan Evan’s TikTok famous song, “Wellerman” — a cover of an iconic colonial sea shanty the Revolutionary impersonator sings to guests.
The historical expert, who can talk a guest’s ear off about Long Island’s role in the Revolution and the epic tales of Townsend and his spy ring, “knew nothing” of the era when he came into the job.
“When I first had to give tours, my hands would get sweaty I was so nervous,” said Judge, who committed four hours a week to brushing up on history for a love of the job and the double agent’s heroics.
After “a good year,” he could present to local students “without having a minor panic attack,” he said.
Harriet Gerard Clark, Raynham Hall’s executive director, said Judge’s enthusiasm for the gig is unrivaled.
She, too, gets into the spirit and wears garments of the time to join Judge.
“I think we’re all willing to dress the part if it helps us deliver the history,” Clark told The Post.
As the newly-named director of the North Shore Historical Museum, Judge plans to develop more theatrical projects.
“For there, I’m working on a Gold Coast, Great Gatsby costume and theme,” he said.
