End of the Rainbow

The Fringe meets West End glitz and it proves to be a near perfect marriage - unlike those of the show's subject, Judy Garland.

The time is 1968; the place is London and Judy is staying at the Ritz while performing at the Talk of the Town. Not so much falling apart as trying to put herself back together with the help of new fiancée Mickey Deans, the singer's pill and alcohol dependencies keep threatening to destroy both her career and her life.

This is no tribute show - it looks hard at how being what your fans want can tear you to shreds, and getting what you need to help you through just keeps making it get worse.

Not a tribute show no, but you do get to see the public Judy strutting her stuff as well as the private woman trying to put a brave face on it - any face but that of her mother, which she keeps seeing in the mirror.

Let's say it loud and clear, Caroline O'Connor gives a phenomenal performance. She really makes us understand the troubled off-stage woman, cracking wise with the best of them, but feeling terror in the face of the public. Nor is that forgotten in the songs; sung with bravura force and conviction but with the vulnerability showing through. This is as near to Garland as we could hope to get.

Michael Cormick is solid as Mickey; is he lover or leech? Jonathan Gavin is superb as Anthony, gay piano player and true friend who just goes that one step too far.

This is a big show business show yet still a Fringe show, and Caroline O'Connor is very special indeed.