A lavish suite at The Ritz awaits the arrival of Judy Garland. Her Louis Vuitton luggage precedes her; as does her damaged reputation and the high expectations from her adoring fans of yet another comeback. It is a few years after the star’s shambolic Melbourne concert, part of a twelve-day Australian tour that showcased the icon at her very best, and her very worst.

Helen Dallimore in End of the Rainbow. Photo © Chris Herzfeld

Peter Quilter’s End of the Rainbow is a fabled account of the rollercoaster events a few months before Judy Garland’s actual death in 1969, as she embarks on a five-week run of shows at The Talk of the Town (now London’s Hippodrome). Pills and booze are an ever-present threat and the motivations of her recently affianced manager appear questionable. But as the shows commence, the idol’s demons resurface and self-doubt threatens to topple into self-destruction.

Quilter’s tight script is packed with action, pithy one-liners, dark humour and gigantic tantrums, woven neatly between the well and lesser-known aspects of Judy Garland’s life. Between arguments and reflections we learn of celebrity friendships, failed relationships and money troubles.

Elena Carapetis directs End of...