Broadway dates set for 'End of the Rainbow'

Peter Quilter's "End of the Rainbow," a new play about Judy Garland, will open on Broadway this spring just eight days after completing its run at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theatre, the Guthrie and the show's producers was announced Thursday.

Actor Tracie Bennett (above) will reprise her celebrated turn as Garland in a production directed by Tony-winner Terry Johnson (Johnson's "La Cage Aux Folles" for which he won the 2010 best direction Tony, comes to Minneapolis' State Theatre in mid Oct.)

Quilter's play, which is interspersed with songs, is about Garland's struggles with booze and pills near the end of her life. It opened last fall in London, where it received mostly positive reviews.

"Rainbow" runs at the Guthrie from Jan. 28-March 11. It will begin previews in New York on March 19, 2012, at an unnamed theater owned by the Shubert organization. Opening night is scheduled for April 3, 2012.