End of the Rainbow
End of the Rainbow is a musical drama by Peter Quilter, which focuses on Judy Garland in the months leading up to her death in 1969. After a premiere in Sydney, Australia in 2005, the show has played on the West End in London and a Broadway production opened at the Belasco Theatre in 2012. The award-winning 2019 film "Judy" starring Renée Zellweger is a screen adaptation of the play for which Zellweger won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Garland. Synopsis. Judy Garland is staying in London, along with young  new fiancé Mickey Deans and loyal friend and pianist Anthony, preparing for her five-week run of shows at The Talk of the Town. Garland hopes that her act will help her maintain her star profile, especially considering a recent string of bad press against her. However, she still struggles with both her drug addictions and her strained relationships with the men around her. Production history. "End of the Rainbow" evolved from an earlier Peter Quilter play entitled "Last Song of the Nightingale" which had starred Tracie Bennett as a fictitious past-her-prime diva: premièring as a London fringe  production in the spring of 2001, "Last Song..." had encored (with Bennett) in 2003 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and also Off West End. Although Quilter would state the play's protagonist was a gender-switch on an alcoholic male cruise ship performer of the playwright's acquaintance, "Last Song..." would be viewed by theater-goers and critics - and its star Tracie Bennett - as a theatrical Judy Garland roman à clef: Quilter eventually decided to revise his original play to overtly focus on Garland, with the resultant "End of the Rainbow" premièring in August 2005 at the Sydney Opera House  in Australia with Caroline O’Connor as Garland, a role O'Connor reprised first in a May 2006 production at the Theatre Royal, Sydney and then at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival engagement of "End of the Rainbow" in August 2006. O'Connor won three Best Actress awards for her performances. "End of the Rainbow" was then performed from February 5–20, 2010 at Northampton's Royal & Derngate Theatre. This production was directed by Terry Johnson and starred Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland, with Hilton McRae as Anthony and Stephen Hagan as Mickey Deans. "End of the Rainbow" ran in the West End from 16  November 2010 to 21 May 2011 at Trafalgar Studios, starring Tracie Bennett. The West End production received nominations for four Olivier Awards, including Best Actress for Bennett, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for McRae and Best New Play. The show then toured in the UK from 25 August and ending in December 2011 at Richmond Theatre. . "End of the Rainbow" had its American premiere at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, running from January 28 to March 11, 2012. Directed by Terry Johnson, Tracie Bennett repeated her role as Garland. The play opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre on  March 19, 2012 in previews and officially on April 2. In addition to Bennett, the cast featured Michael Cumpsty as Anthony, Tom Pelphrey as Mickey Deans, and Jay Russell. Bennett and Cumpsty received Tony Award nominations for their performances. Bennett also received the Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. The show ran 176 performances on Broadway and subsequently played a critically acclaimed season at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. "End of the Rainbow (Al final del arcoíris)" premiered in Madrid, January 2011, at the Teatro Marquina with Natalia Dicenta as Judy  Garland, Miguel Rellán as Anthony and Javier Mora as Mickey Deans. "End of the Rainbow (El final del arcoíris)" was premièred in Mexico City on 29 May 2015, at the Foro Cultural Coyoacanense Hugo Argüelles, with Alejandra Desiderio starring as Judy Garland, José Antonio López Tercero as Anthony and Mario Sepúlveda as Mickey Deans directed by Rosa Alicia Delain and is a production of Re-Crea Teatro under the supervision of Alis Ortega and Fernanda Prado. There was a revival at Foro Shakespeare in 2016 and another revival at Teatro Rafael Solana in 2018. Leading actresses. There have been productions  of the show in Brisbane, Melbourne, Auckland, Florence, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Kraków, Prague, Sofia, Rotterdam and Helsinki. New productions played in the 2013–14 season in Christchurch, Rome, Klagenfurt, Miami, Atlanta, Denver and Milwaukee. Recording. A cast recording of the London production was released on January 31, 2011 by Angel Recording Studios featuring Tracie Bennett's renditions of both the play's songs and other Garland numbers. Track listing. All tracks performed by Tracie Bennett, unless noted. Awards and nominations. 4 Olivier Award nominations in London's West End in 2011 - Best New Play, Best Actress, Best Sound, and Best  Supporting Actor.