End of the Rainbow,
Peter Quilter's play with music about the final days in the life of entertainment icon Judy Garland, officially opened April 2, 2012, at the
Belasco Theatre following previews that began March 19. Terry Johnson directed.
Two-time Olivier winner Tracie Bennett made her Broadway debut as stage and screen star Garland, reprising her work from the show's 2010 West End run, which was nominated for four 2011 Olivier nominations, including Best New Play. The production received its U.S. debut at the Guthrie
Theater in Minneapolis prior to Broadway.
Bennett had previously worked with director Johnson on the London revival of La Cage aux Folles. She earned her Olivier Awards for her performances as Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray and as Ilona Ritter in She Loves Me. She later played Carlota in the 2017 West End revival of Follies and was part of the cast of Here We Are at Off-Broadway's The Shed in 2023.
End of the Rainbow is set in December 1968 and finds the beloved The Wizard of Oz star struggling to make a comeback,
readying for what would become her final concert appearances at London's
Talk of the Town. Garland is seen in her hotel room preparing for this series of concerts, with both her new young fiancé and her adoring accompanist. Garland's past, however, remains ever present, and her demons threaten to overwhelm her as she gives her all for the audience's adulation.
On Broadway, Bennett was joined by Michael Cumpsty (The Constant Wife, Democracy)
as Garland's accompanist, Anthony, with Daytime Emmy winner Tom Pelphrey
(Guiding Light) as her husband, Mickey Deans, and Jay Russell (Our Town, The Play What I Wrote) in a variety of roles. Music director Jeffrey Saver led a six-piece on-stage band, backing
Bennett throughout the evening with arrangements faithful to Garland's
originals.
Bennett delivered such Garland signatures as "The Man That Got Away," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "The Trolley Song" during the performance. Her performances of these tunes were preserved on Tracie Bennett Sings Judy: Songs from End of the Rainbow and Other Garland Classics on Masterworks Broadway.
In his New York Times review, Ben Brantley wrote, "As befits a play about Judy Garland, a woman known for liberally mixing her pills, Peter Quilter’s End of the Rainbow is a jolting upper and downer at the same time. After watching Tracie Bennett’s electrifying interpretation of Garland in the intense production that opened on Monday night at the Belasco Theater, you feel exhilarated and exhausted, equally ready to dance down the street and crawl under a rock.
In other words, you feel utterly alive, with all the contradictions that implies. That’s what comes from witnessing acting that is this unconditionally committed, not to mention this sensational—in every sense of the word."
The Broadway production featured set and costume design by William Dudley, lighting design by Christopher Akerlind, sound design by Gareth Owen, music arrangements by Gareth Valentine, and orchestrations by Chris Egan. Kate Wilson was the voice and dialect consultant.
Bennett's
tour-de-force performance earned Bennett the 2012 Drama Desk, Outer Critics
Circle, and Theater World Awards, as well as a 2012 Tony Award
nomination as Best Actress in a Play. Bennett also received an Olivier nomination for her portrayal of Garland in the earlier London production.
The Broadway staging also received Tony nominations for co-star Cumpsty and for Best Sound Design of a Play for Owen.
The Broadway production concluded its run April 2, 2012, following 16 previews and 160 regular performances. Bennett subsequently brought her Garland to West Coast audiences for a limited engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre in March 2013.
The play would also serve as the source material for the 2019 Judy Garland movie Judy, which earned Renée Zellweger an Academy Award.
Learn what other theatre milestones happened on April 2 by visiting the Playbill Vault.
Look back at the Broadway production of End of the Rainbow in the gallery below.
