Around London’s West End Theatre District, Part Deux

One of the things I love about London is the fantastic line-up of theatrical shows at London’s West End. At any given night, there are at least thirty-something shows playing in and around London’s West End ranging from dramas to comedies, many which feature big name celebrities such as Keira Knightley, Judd Law, Matthew Fox, Kevin Spacey, and Elisabeth Moss to name a few.

Overall, the acting was superb — brilliant, in fact, as the acting was combined with singing of Judy’s well known tunes, supported by a six-piece ensemble band, making this more of a musical theatrical performance, which I didn’t expect. The lead actress (Tracie Bennett) who played Judy Garland was phenomenal; she did an amazing job depicting Garland’s emotional instability, plus Bennett had an uncanny resemblence to the older Judy Garland. We saw a few of her “live shows” at Talk of the Town, which featured Garland’s memorable hits, including The Man That Got Away, Come Rain Or Come Shine, The Trolley Song, and of course, Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Brilliant!

The good thing is we didn’t leave Trafalgar Studio feeling depressed, rather we saw this play as a tribute to the life and work of Judy Garland. In short, I thoroughly enjoyed Tracie Bennett’s performance; she is incredibly talented and the singing was amazing, however, the other actors on stage, Anthony, her gay pianist and Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be husband, was far from memorable, but perhaps this was by design, instead focusing on the rise and fall of one of Hollywood’s legendary stars.