Review: 'Chasing Rainbows' by Goodspeed Musicals

East Haddam, CT - Goodspeed Musicals is presenting a brand new musical that chronicles a time in the life of Judy Garland before she starred in MGM musicals and ‘A Star is Born,’ a time when she was simply “the girl with the great big voice.” The musical is aptly titled ‘Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz’ because most of the two acts take the audience on the often bumpy road that the young Judy Garland had to traverse in order to star in the beloved film version of ‘The Wizard of Oz.’

We watch as this awkward girl with an amazing singing voice grows into THE Judy Garland. The script by Marc Acito tells the true story of her complicated childhood across her early vaudeville-to-Hollywood years (from the ages of five to 16) and it was tough to see the teenaged Francis work hard to hold the Gumm family together. There are equal parts of heartache and hope that are endearingly intertwined with the classic songs that made her famous and many other songs from the era that were new to me. As best I can tell, no additional music was written for the show.

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The strongest performance for me was Karen Mason as studio teacher Ma Lawlor and secretary to J.B. Kay Koverman. This Broadway actress was perfectly cast in both memorable roles and “If/Only” was her solo.

The music and dance numbers were well executed on the small Goodspeed stage that features a fine set designed by Kristen Robinson. The period costumes by Elizabeth Caitlin Ward worked well and the lighting by Ken Billington worked wonders for everything. David Libby did the musical adaptation with Michael O’Flaherty doing the music direction and it all sounded great. Choreography by Chris Bailey was fun and Tyne Rafaeli made many smart direction choices.

‘Chasing Rainbows’ will recount Judy Garland’s road to Oz and Hollywoodland through Nov. 27 at The Goodspeed in East Haddam, CT.

Photo Credit © Photo by Diane Sobolewsk