It was the end of the rainbow, sure enough, at the Court on Saturday night as we watched the fading of the light in this compelling story of Judy Garland’s decline from supreme performer to needy, booze-addled, pill-popping addict, desperate for love and nowhere to go but down.

A highly charged and torrid account, the End of the Rainbow pulls you this way and that as you see Garland in all her glory and all her misery, in turns majestic and pathetic, glorious and shameful. How good are the great, you think, yet how the mighty are fallen.

And yes, before you ask, at the end of this rainbow, there is a little pot of gold and it’s called Eilish Moran, for if Garland was the superlative interpreter of song, Moran is one of New Zealand’s finest interpreters of character. Her intuitive and instinctive grasp of this role, underpinned with superb acting technique and theatre intelligence, makes her portrayal one both to admire and to remember, as she acts and sings with dazzling force.

Kevin Keys, as Garland’s fiancée, Mickey Deans, and Roy Snow, as her pianist, Anthony Chapman, support Moran with convincing characterizations that enhance the truthfulness of the story.

Musical director, Richard Marrett, has pulled out all the stops here to bring Garland’s songs to life and director Yvonne Martin’s sure hand raises up the production to another level.

End of the Rainbow is a sad tale, but it has many funny moments, which are interspersed with splendid music and singing when the hotel set transforms into London’s Talk of the Town.

The excitement generated by this production is palpable. It is one to see and one to hear.

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Christchurch audiences do not often roar. Polite applause certainly, or sometimes enthusiastic whoops, but very rarely a spontaneous roar such as rose from the auditorium on the opening night of this riveting play. It was a fitting tribute to directors, cast, musicians and production team.

As the title hints, the play involves the last troubled show of Judy Garland, the adored star whose success arced so vividly over 30 plus years, from before World war II to the swinging freedoms of the sixties. Depleted by a disastrous Melbourne season but reinvigorated through her discovery of husband-to-be number five, she faces a season at London’s Talk of the Town under his management and the scene is set for her last struggle to live up to public expectations, but without the drink and drug addictions which have so often shaped her erratic career. Deeply in debt, her life is perilously dependent on a successful comeback. 

Both Mickey Deans, the fiancé, and Anthony Chapman, her English accompanist, have ideas about the process. Initially they seem equally devoted to providing the affection and support Garland craves but as she is drawn deeper and deeper into desperate behaviour, their contrasting approaches to successive crises form a sub-plot fascinating in its own right.

It remains, however, the volatile temperament and needs of the star herself which power the action and the genteel conservatism of her London hotel suite witnesses the full range of her self-destructive outbursts. Her sharp wit, imperious and contrary attitudes are offset by determined professionalism, threaded with bouts of poignant vulnerability and capped by onstage transformations as she presents that dazzling form the public demands. 

As the hotel transforms into Talk of the Town complete with live band, the magic of Garland and the magic of theatre are one. Directors Yvonne Martin and Richard Marrett draw outstanding performances from all concerned. Another fine set from Julian Southgate, lit by Giles Tanner and with sound designed by Stephen Compton provides the world into which we are drawn, with costume from the multi-talented Stephen Robertson completing its real feel.

Thanks to the immediacy of a splendid cast and playwright, Quilter’s understanding of how much build a scene and a story can take, there is no sense of voyeurism here and the emotional trajectory of the play is presented with unerring accuracy. 

The Talk of the Town band is a joy. Cameron Pearce (trumpet), Gwyn Reynolds (saxophone),Scott Taitoko (trombone), Michael Story (upright bass) and Michael Thomas (drums) are a musical triumph which provides Garland’s public appearances with glamorous pzazz.

As the men in Garland’s life, Kevin Keys (Mickey) and Anthony Chapman(Roy Snow) each develop sensitively detailed roles, while Sam Mannering covers the bit parts (BBC interviewer, stage manager and porter) with convincing ease. 

As the powerball Garland, Eilish Moran delivers a towering performance. She presents a complex and compelling figure who, in spite of her underlying frailty could, in Garland’s own words, “light up Manhattan” with the her scorching talent. Meltingly expressive in her songs, she fleshes out less public aspects of the character with total truthfulness. At a closing moment, Garland reflects that “immortality might make up for everything”, surely confirmed by this portrayal. 

The play points up the tragic consequences of a lifetime of addiction, itself a response to a deeper addiction: the need to act so as to be be loved  That is territory we can all understand.

For the vitality, poignancy and sheer theatricality of its presentation, this production is out on its own.

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