End of the Rainbow - Broadway

Reviews

• Review by Ben Brantley
  from The New York Times
  April 3, 2012

  ‘‘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. Ms. Bennett is giving one of the most complete portraits of an artist I’ve ever seen. Ms. Bennett locates, both physically and emotionally, that perilous, bipolar energy that so often animates great performers. Touch this woman at your own risk. She burns.’’

• Review by Howard Shapiro
  from Philadelphia Inquirer
  April 3, 2012

  ‘‘Somewhere over the rainbow, Judy Garland never spotted her pot of gold. But a British actress named Tracie Bennett found hers - in the person of Judy. She is sensational in the erratic Broadway show End of the Rainbow, about Garland's last attempt at a comeback, which opened Monday night.’’

• Review by David Sheward
  from Backstage
  April 3, 2012

  ‘‘There are productions that exist solely to feature a spectacular star. This is one of them. Rush to the Belasco to catch Bennett and revel in her—and Garland’s—glory.’’

• Review by David Rooney
  from Hollywood Reporter
  April 3, 2012

  ‘‘In a full-throttle performance that holds nothing back, Tracie Bennett channels an off-the-rails Judy Garland near the completion of her downward spiral, giving End of the Rainbow a fiercely dynamic center. ’’

• Review by Mark Kennedy
  from Associated Press
  April 3, 2012

  ‘‘Tracie Bennett, the woman tasked with filling Garland's ruby slippers, is so stunning that she manages to raise the dead. Bennett doesn't simply play the fading actress and singer – she IS Garland: haughty, mannered, funny, arch, kittenish, pleading, needy, imperious, tortured and savage. Bennett also peppers the play with husky, vibrato-filled, pitch-perfect versions of songs in Garland's repertoire, including ‘The Man That Got Away,’ ‘Come Rain, Come Shine’ and ‘Dancing in the Dark.’’’