‘Through The Mill’ is set in a number of locations where we’re
accustomed to the megastar that is Judy Garland who appears to be working on a
TV for television network, CBS but the show is failing to obtain high ratings
due to the fact that her approach isn’t impressing the channels bosses e.g.
Hunt Stromberg Jr (Rob Carter). However, Judy has a new dresser by the name of
Judith Kramer (Carmella Brown) to contend with, but it does appear that despite
some divaish moments, she seems to approve of Judith and a pleasant
relationship is formed. Throughout the performance, the Young Judy has to
battle through the pressures of entering the entertainment industry and that it
is her weight that is slammed by the film studio’s executive, Louie B. Mayer
(Don Cotter), on the other hand, the Young Judy has the loyal support from her
parents, Frank Gumm (Joe Shefer) and Ethel Gumm (Amanda Bailey), and also
composer, Roger Edens (Tom Elliot Reade) but she does impress the bosses and
obviously lands the role of Dorothy in, ‘The Wizard of Oz’. What is most interesting
is that even though we see Judy’s career booming, she is possibly known for her
long list of disastrous marriages and during the process of her CBS TV show,
she is getting divorced from her third husband, Sid Luft (Harry Anton) so it is
proving a little impossible for her to fully concentrate on the development of
her TV show. Thankfully, she seems to have a fruitful working relationship with
director, George Schlatter (Perry Meadowcroft), regrettably Hunt Stromberg Jr
is not impressed with the ratings of the show and George is therefore sacked
and replaced with Norman Jewison (Chris McGuigan). Over the course of the
performance, the Palace Judy who has been enjoying her monumental success in an
excessive amount of movie musicals and on stage starts to feel the strains of
the industry and her finances are beginning to worry her, yet her
professionalism means no one knows about it until we go to CBS Judy who now has
a countless number of debts so this TV show is her last attempt to get her finances
in order and the divorce to Sid is costly. CBS Judy’s show is about to be axed
from the TV screens and because of this, she demands that George is re-instated
and it is finally approved and at the finale all three Judy’s perform her hit
song, ‘Over the Rainbow’ is what was a rather emotional moment as Judy Garland’s
life was not exactly full of glitz and glamour and there’s so much more behind
those lyrics than I originally thought. Rackham’s narrative is moving as he has
given such a considerable insight into Judy Garland’s rather cataclysmic life especially
her personal relationships and including songs life, “Get Happy”, “You Make Me
Love You”, “The Man That Get Away” really worked well with staging a musical play
about one of the entertainment icons in world movie history.
One found the performances by the company of, ‘Through The
Mill’ to be increasingly heartfelt as it all fell into place with such gusto
and a few aspects nearly moved me to tears as someone who likes Judy Garland,
it is painful to see how Judy has been treated by men over the years and no
wonder she committed suicide in the end. Helen Sheals is tremendous as the CBS
Judy; specifically how at her wits end she is due to the fact that both her professional
and personal life is literally crumbling all around her and this is causing her
to become slightly depressed, on the contrary, when she sings, “Life is Just A
Bowl of Cherries” leads me to see that maybe child stardom is not all what it
is cracked up to be like Hollie Steele’s breakdown on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. Belinda
Wollaston is formidable as, Palace Judy; for example how we see that from her
illustrious performance in, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that she seems to have been
lapping up all the fame, but is because of the fact that by this point she has
been divorced already and her monetary issues are commencing on a long fall
down to bankruptcy and as such; living a celebrity life is not all fun. Lucy Penrose is delightful as the Young Judy;
in specie how her parents did make it harder for her to live a normal life and
that the both of them wanted her to be a star in the movie business,
furthermore, with regards to the weight issues, this is still a problem in
today’s entertainment industry such as theatre, film, television, fashion and
music.
Ray Rackham’s direction is extraordinary here as you can see
that he has really worked with understanding how Judy Garland’s life made us realise
that a celebrity can go through the same things as a civilian, moreover, with
Chris Whittaker’s choreography you can see that the two of them have worked
together to capture the essence of what actually goes on behind the scenes of
the entertainment industry. Justin
Williams’ set design and Millie Hobday and Evie Holdcroft’s costume designs are
phenomenal as I was stunned by how mesmerising it was to be transported to a
period of history of a female that proved that beauty is actually inside and
that it about the talent that is most important. Also Jack Weir’s lighting and
Ed Shaw and James Neale’s sound were totally charming too. Overall, the
experience of, ‘Through The Mill’ was a real whopper of a show that made you
fully look into what celebrities have to face in their personal life and using
Judy Garland as an example did the trick.
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