JUDY • AUSTRALIA • 1964 Comes To National Theatre St Kilda This February

Relive the Judy Garland concert tour of Australia that made headlines around the world, 10 & 11 February 2023 at National Theatre St Kilda.

Starring multi award winners Nina Ferro and Matt Hetherington, JUDY • AUSTRALIA • 1964 recreates the dramatic roller-coaster that was Judy Garland's infamous tour down under in May of 1964. The three-show season is performed at The National Theatre St Kilda on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 February 2023 as part of Midsumma Festival.

The early '60s saw Garland cement her reputation as one of the world's greatest live performers. Her award-winning 'Judy At Carnegie Hall' live album brought her a new legion of fans, and her television series allowed her public to see she was no longer Dorothy in 'The Wizard Of Oz'.

This was the Garland that Australia was desperate to see. And they did - in Sydney - spectacularly. Her two shows there were received, and reviewed, rapturously.

By the time she got to Melbourne, however, she was in bad shape. It seemed that a lifetime of personal demons and substance abuse had finally caught up with her. She arrived at Festival Hall 70-minutes late and gave a performance that angered many in the audience, and devastated her die-hard fans.

Writer Bill Farr has been fascinated with Judy Garland since the early seventies, when he first heard the Carnegie Hall album. "It was in live performance that Garland was at her most electrifying. At her best, no one could come close to the effect she had on audiences. Her Melbourne performance was, therefore, both a shock and a foretaste of what was to come. In writing this show, I wanted to capture both the excitement of the performer at her peak, and the drama of the moment when her legendary ability to triumph over adversity finally failed her."

For this production, one of Australia's greatest jazz singers, Nina Ferro, becomes Judy Garland. She is mesmerising as The Legend, singing many of her show-stopping songs. Helpmann Award winning actor Matt Hetherington plays entrepreneur Harry M. Miller, who brought Garland to Australia.

Told from the perspective of Harry M. Miller, and supported with an 8-piece showband in this two-act musical, JUDY • AUSTRALIA • 1964 recounts the drama of Garland's twelve days in Oz, but ultimately celebrates the brilliance of an icon - one whose like we will never see again.

DATES: Fri 10 & Sat 11 February 2023
TIMES: Fri, Sat 7pm, Sat 2pm

DURATION: 1hr 50m plus interval
TCKETS: Full $69.00, Concession $64.00 from https://www.midsumma.org.au/judy-1964
VENUE: National Theatre, 20 Carlisle Street St Kilda, (cnr Barkly Street)

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