The author of this incisively sharp and compassionate portrait of Judy Garland is the award-winning American screenwriter and actor, Billy Van Zandt. First staged in 2006 Off-Broadway, New York, this new production direct from Minnesota, USA, is the British Premiere.
The setting is March 1969, backstage at a theatre in Copenhagen as Ms Garland prepares for another star performance. In fact, this turns out to be her last concert: she tragically dies of a drug overdose three months later.
Wisely, Van Zandt does not present the predictable solo actor in a dressing room scenario, relating their character's story directly to the audience. This device can either be effective or rather contrived.
As an imaginative and totally believable scenario, we observe the fragile and emotionally frazzled Judy from the perspective of Ed, the young stage manager whose role is to keep her calm and focused before curtain up.
According to Fred Astaire, Judy was "the greatest entertainer who ever lived" but how did she become such a talented, internationally beloved, living legend?
In a free flowing narrative we hear stories about her childhood from vaudeville shows to auditioning at MGM. Behind her all the way was her pushy, insensitive mother, who attempted to control every aspect of her daughter’s professional, personal and, later on, her married life.
Through diet, pep up and downer pills and orthodontics, Judy Garland was created as a movie money maker, working 18 hours, 6 days a week as “the property” of MGM. It was a cut-throat business, described through witty anecdotes and Hollywood gossip.
Relaxing before the show, Judy sips a few too many glasses of Blue Nun and begins to act the tempermental superstar. In a few hilarious scenes, the charming Ed (played by Neal Beckman with quiet conviction) becomes flustered and frazzled himself trying desperately to source her favourite comfort food to avoid disaster.
This brilliantly conceived, multi-layered play uses wonderful recordings of original songs by Garland, as well as snippets of dialogue (her mother, reporters, fans and film producers) which enriches this intimate setting to neatly dramatise the exhausting pressure of the showbiz world.
Coincidentally, the Space venue at Surgeon's Hall is directly opposite the Festival Theatre, formerly the Empire. Here, in May 1951, Judy Garland performed to a capacity 3,500 audience, amongst them this enraptured reviewer:
“She was Judy with punch, pathos, and personality, and the greatest of these was personality. About everything she did there was an engaging simplicity and telling effectiveness. …. the audience adored her.”
Sixty one years on, Sandra Thomas brings Judy back to town. Slender and petite, she exudes a gentle underlying vulnerability but this hides a tough veneer. In this crystal clear performance, we also see the fiery spark, the true “punch, pathos and personality” of the Diva herself, the late great Judy Garland.
And yes, the audience adored her. We laughed, we cried we applauded. Bravo!
Show times
3 - 26 August (not Sundays). 11.20 am
Ticket prices
£8, £10 (£6-£8)