Nominated for four Olivier Awards in 2011, End Of The Rainbow took the West End by storm during its sell-out, six month run, with Tracie Bennett winning both critical and popular acclaim for her sensational performance as Judy Garland. This celebrated production begins a 13-week national UK tour at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton today, Thursday August 25, travelling to Norwich, Nottingham, Cardiff, Cambridge, Brighton, Newcastle, Birmingham, Aberdeen, Cheltenham, Bath, Sheffield and Richmond before transferring to the US.
In 2012 the production will play to audiences in the same state as
Judy Garland's childhood home: Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The
Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis will be home to End of the Rainbow from January 28 to March 11. The production will then transfer to Broadway at a Shubert theatre yet to be announced, with a press night on April 3, 2012.
Tracie Bennett will be reprising her role as
Judy Garland in the US; the full cast and creative team will be announced shortly.
London, December 1968, and
Judy Garland is about to make her comeback... again. Determined to reclaim her crown as the greatest talent of her generation, she battles with a tornado of drugs and alcohol and a gruelling schedule of exhausting concerts at The Talk Of The Town. Despite a series of failed marriages, Judy has her latest and youngest husband-to-be by her side, a man as determined as she that, at any cost, these concerts will mark the revival of her battered career.
Tracie Bennett's remarkable portrayal of this tough, talented, compelling woman was met with standing ovations throughout her West End run. Her previous theatre credits include; La Cage aux Folles, for which she received the Whatsonstage Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical, Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables, Velma von Tussle in Hairspray and Ilona in She Loves Me, both of which roles won her the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance.
Written by
Peter Quilter and directed by Tony and Olivier-award winner
Terry Johnson, End of the Rainbow features a six-piece onstage band and includes Garland's most memorable songs - The Man That Got Away, Come Rain Or Come Shine, The Trolley Song and - of course - Somewhere Over The Rainbow. The production was nominated for four Olivier Awards, including Best New Play, Best Sound Design, Best Actress for
Tracie Bennett and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for
Hilton McRae - who will also reprise his role as Anthony for the tour.
Hilton McRae's theatre credits include Caroline or Change at
The National Theatre, Mamma Mia!, Les Miserables and Miss Saigon in London's West End and numerous roles with the RSC, on Broadway and in the UK. The role of Mickey Deans will be played by
Norman Bowman whose theatre credits include Les Miserables, Guys and Dolls and Mamma Mia in the West End as well as Parade and Twelfth Night at the
Donmar Warehouse. Bowman has previously toured the UK performing in West Side Story, Sunset Boulevard, CATS and Grease. Acclaimed actor Robert Maskell will play the radio interviewer and Porter. Robert recently played Wilfred Cedar in an acclaimed production of Somerset Maugham's For Services Rendered at The Union Theatre. His West End theatre credits include: La Cage Aux Folles (
The Playhouse) and The Sound of Music (The Palladium).
For further information visit: www.endoftherainbowtour.com
