The Star, the Struggle and That Voice: Judy’s Rainbow Shines Again

1 day ago

4 min read

There are some performers whose legacy simply refuses to fade, and Judy Garland is absolutely one of them. The legend, the icon, that voice. We know the films and songs, and most of us know something about the troubled woman behind the Hollywood sparkle.

But Judy: End of the Rainbow, playing at Belfast’s Grand Opera House to 26 September 2026, asks us to look beyond the legend and spend time with Judy the woman. Believe me, it isn’t always an easy watch.

Written by Peter Quilter, the play enters the final turbulent chapter of Garland’s life as she returns to London for her Talk of the Town residency. It is Judy’s last hurrah: financial troubles follow her, showbusiness still demands that she perform, and she is desperately trying to keep her head above water. She began the six-week run in January 1969, only months before her death on 22 June, aged 47.

We know much of Garland’s story through her legendary career and, more recently, Renée Zellweger’s Oscar-winning portrayal in Judy. Her struggles with alcohol and barbiturates did not appear overnight; she was given barbiturates early in her career. Knowing that history makes watching its consequences unfold desperately sad.

Thankfully, the play does not give us darkness and nothing else. Glimmers of warmth, wit and sheer Judy brilliance are scattered throughout. One minute you are smiling; the next, everything is unravelling and you want to climb onto the stage, give her a hug and promise it will be OK. Of course, we know it wasn’t.

At the centre of everything is Anna-Jane Casey as Judy and, quite simply, she has her nailed. This is not just a wig, costumes and familiar voice. The mannerisms, physical movements, speaking voice and singing style combine into something uncanny, yet it never feels like an impersonation. Casey gives us the Judy we recognise while finding the real person underneath.

With more than 40 years of experience and credits including Cats, West Side Story, Chicago, Billy Elliot, Cabaret and Fawlty Towers plus a recent Belfast appearance in Follies, Casey absolutely commands the stage.

The cast is only four strong, but nobody is making up the numbers. Will O’Connell’s Anthony, Judy’s loyal pianist, provides an important counterbalance to the chaos; Darragh Shannon’s Mickey Deans is part of the increasingly complicated world closing around her; and William Morgan appears as the Radio Interviewer and Porter. They feed beautifully off Casey’s enormous energy, making the uncomfortable scenes all the more believable. There is nowhere to hide, and that is part of why it works.

Visually, the production is equally strong. Ciaran Bagnall’s set and Viko Nikci’s lighting shift smoothly between Judy’s confined London hotel suite and the glare of the concert stage. Valentina Gambardella’s costumes supply the expected glamour even as everything beneath it fractures. Conor Hanratty directs, with Niall Kinsella as Musical Director and Arranger.

And naturally, there are the songs: When You’re Smiling, The Man That Got Away, Just in Time, All By Myself and Over the Rainbow. They are far more than a greatest-hits singalong. Music becomes part of Judy’s survival, revealing flashes of the astonishing performer who could still appear whenever the spotlight came on. That contrast stayed with me most. Offstage, everything is perilously close to collapse. Then the lights change, Judy steps forward and suddenly, there she is.

If I had one criticism, I wanted the play to dig a little deeper into Judy’s backstory. We see the consequences clearly but not always how she arrived there. Those familiar with Garland can fill the gaps; someone who knows only Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz and Over the Rainbow may have found a little more history made the tragedy hit harder.

Still, the show drew me in. And there is something about Judy impossible to ignore: the gays loved Judy, and we still do. Her relationship with her LGBTQ+ following remains an important part of how many of us connect with her. Here, you feel how much an audience’s adoration mattered when so much else in her life was falling apart.

Perhaps that is why Judy still resonates. Behind the films, fabulous clothes and enormous voice was someone vulnerable and imperfect who could walk onto a stage, open her mouth and somehow make people feel understood.

Judy: End of the Rainbow is not a fluffy jukebox musical wrapped in sequins, despite having enough fabulous music and costumes to occasionally fool you. It is funny, uncomfortable, glamorous, sad and genuinely heartbreaking, anchored by a terrific Anna-Jane Casey. She does not simply imitate Judy Garland; she gives us enough of the woman behind the legend to remind us why, decades later, we still talk about her.

I left the Grand Opera House wanting to go straight home, put on some Judy Garland vinyl and perhaps give the Renée Zellweger film another watch. For a show about a woman desperately reaching the end of her rainbow, that feels like quite a compliment.

May she rest in peace. And long may that extraordinary voice play on.

Judy: End of the Rainbow plays the Grand Opera House, Belfast to 26 September 2026. For tickets and more information visit www.goh.co.uk