Lisa Maxwell and Gary Wilmot to star in UK tour of End of the Rainbow

Casting has been announced for the UK tour of End of the Rainbow, Peter Quilter's musical about the months leading up to the death of Judy Garland in 1969.

A brand new production of the musical will tour the UK in 2016, opening at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester in February starring Lisa Maxwell (The Bill, Loose Women) as Judy Garland, Gary Wilmot (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Pajama Game, Chicago) as Anthony and Sam Attwater (Hollyoaks, EastEnders, The Rocky Horror Show) as Mickey.

The musical features Garland’s most memorable songs including "The Man That Got Away", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "The Trolley Song" and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow".

End of the Rainbow received four Olivier Award nominations when it premiered in the West End in 2010. Its Broadway run followed in 2012, where it received three Tony Award nominations.

The show, a co-production between Paul Taylor-Mills and the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, will be directed by the Mercury's artistic director Daniel Buckroyd, with design by David Shields.

The tour of kicks off at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester on 12 February 2016 and visits Coventry, Aylesbury, Bromley, Torquay, Windsor, Brighton, Malvern, Wolverhampton, Glasgow, Manchester, Billingham, Sheffield, Lichfield, Newcastle, Richmond, Bury St Edmunds, Woking, High Wycombe, Birmingham and Cheltenham.