Two-time Olivier Award-winner and current Tony Award-nominee Tracie Bennett will reprise her role as Judy Garland for the Los Angeles run of End of the Rainbow, to play the Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre, March 12 through April 21, 2013. The West Coast premiere of the play is being billed as the beginning of a national tour.
Written by Peter Quilter and directed by Terry Johnson, the play is set in December 1968, as Judy Garland is about to make her comeback . . . again. In a London hotel room preparing for a series of concerts, with both her new young fiancé and her adoring accompanist, Garland struggles to get “beyond the rainbow” with her signature cocktail of talent, tenacity and razor-sharp wit. The show features some of Garland’s most memorable songs, performed by Bennett.
The creative team includes William Dudley (scenic and costume design), Christopher Akerlind (lighting design), 2012 Tony Award-nominee Gareth Owen (sound design), Chris Egan (orchestrations) and Gareth Valentine (musical arrangements).
Additional casting will be announced at a later date. More information on the national tour will also be forthcoming.
End of the Rainbow is currently playing the Belasco Theatre on Broadway.