End of The Rainbow - Tracie Bennett - T' Studios 15 Nov

Tracie Bennett will star as 'Judy Garland' in Peter Quilter's End of The Rainbow, opening at the Trafalgar Studios 1 Theatre, 22 Nov 2010, following previews from 15 Nov - running to 5 March 2011.

Joining Tracie Bennett, are Hilton McRae (Anthony), Stephen Hagan (Mickey Deanes), Robin Browne ( Radio Interviewer, Porter and Stage Manager), plus a six piece on stage band.

Directed by Terry Johnson, designed by William Dudley , lighting by Simon Corder , sound by Gareth Owen, musical direction by Gareth Valentine. Produced by Lee Dean, Jenny Topper, Laurence Myers, Charles Diamond and Hilary Williams in association with Royal & Derngate, Northampton.

Combines humour and heartbreak to capture both the drama of Garland's final performances in London and her controversial life off stage.

Set in London in 1968 and featuring her most memorable songs including The Man That Got Away, Come Rain or Come Shine, The Trolley Song and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. In her hotel room, with a new young fiancé at her side, Garland battles with drugs and alcohol as she undertakes an exhausting series of concerts at the Talk of the Town in a bid to reclaim her crown as the greatest talent of her generation. Despite a series of failed marriages and a ruined Hollywood career, she remains a tough and remarkable woman, armed with a legendary razor-sharp wit and a real understanding of the demons that possess her. Yet, within six months, she will be dead at the age of just 47, her body wrecked by the legendary amounts of drink & drugs she had been consuming since a teenager.

Tracie Bennett's extensive London theatre credits include Jacqueline in Terry Johnson's production of La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre, and Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Role in a Musical. Her other theatre credits include Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre, High Society at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. On television she is best known for her role as Sharon Gaskell in Coronation Street.