Relive the Judy Garland concert tour of Australia that made headlines around the world
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 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.
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. Helpman Award winning actor Matt Hetherington plays entrepreneur Harry M Miller.
Told from the perspective of entrepreneur Harry M Miller, and supported with an 8-piece showband, 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.