Review Roundup: END OF THE RAINBOW Opens on Broadway - All the Reviews!

Michael Musto, The Village Voice: By the end, you might feel this is over the top rather than over the rainbow, but you still admire the talent and chutzpah that never got away.

Matt Windman, AM New York: Bennett successfully walks the fine line of convincingly portraying Garland's larger-than-life, bizarre behavior without making it feel like a campy parody. Although erratic, her Garland is also poised, witty and emotionally longing for some stability.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post: Rather than turn in another technically fine, ultimately safe Garland impersonation, Bennett gives us the Garland mystique. Without resorting to mimicry, Tracie Bennett captures Judy Garland’s legendary mix of talent and volatility. This is all the more key since Peter Quilter’s West End import isn’t very good. It’s a decent vehicle for a drunk driver.

Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News: Bennett is something of a saving grace. She certainly gives her all. And while she doesn’t look or sound much like Judy — she is too lean and mean to suggest her frailty — she evokes the right desperation whenever she sings. That is quite often. The story regularly shifts to the club and Judy belts hits like “Get Happy,” “Just in Time,” “You Made Me Love You” and “The Trolley Song.” These are the moments when “Rainbow” beams brightest.

Michael Sommers, New Jersey News Room: It’s trash. Judy swills, Judy sings, Judy vomits, Judy goes on singing. Pulp rubbish by playwright Peter Quilter. [...] In her wilder throes as Garland flailing through a number, Bennett gets awfully Kabuki about it, but you can’t deny her power even if she’s driving a third-rate hearse of a play.

Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg: Tracie Bennett stars (if such a word can be applied to an impersonation bettered any night in any downtown drag bar) as Judy in late 1968. [...] See Judy pop pills. Watch Judy vomit. Avert your eyes as Judy services her young buck. Listen as Judy, jazzed on Ritalin, loudly unravels before an adoring audience.

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