RIALTO CHATTER: END OF THE RAINBOW Aiming for Broadway in Spring 2012?

According to a casting notice, the Judy Garland tribute show, End Of The Rainbow by Peter Quilter, a play about her last months before overdosing on drugs in 1969 is aiming for a Broadway run in the Spring of 2012. The production will first run at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater  before transferring to Broadway.

A spokesperson for the production told the NY Times that "the Broadway production would star the British actress Tracie Bennett, reprising her London performance as Garland. Ms. Bennett, a two-time winner of the Olivier Award (London's version of the Tony Awards) for best supporting performance in a musical, was nominated for a best actress Olivier this year for her work as Garland. "End of the Rainbow" would be her Broadway debut."

End Of The Rainbow takes place in London, where Garland was preparing for a show at London's Talk of the Town nightclub, crippled by her drug addiction. The play features the numbers "Come Rain or Come Shine," "When You're Smiling," "Get Happy," and "Rainbow," among many others.

Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, and as a recording and concert artist. She received a juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in what many consider the pinnacle of her career, A Star is Born. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1961 film, Judgement at Nuremberg. At 40 years of age, she was the youngest recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the motion picture industry.

After appearing in vaudeville with her sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager where she made two dozen films in 15 years, including The Wizard of Oz. Garland died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 47, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft. In 1997, Garland was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed her among the ten greatest female stars in the history of American cinema.

 

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