Bingley Theatre (studio) - Over The Rainbow

This event now takes place Saturday 17th of May 2025, in the theatre's studio theatre.

The musical version of The Wizard of Oz, starring the legendary Judy Garland, marks its 86th anniversary in 2025 and - to commemorate that landmark release the film's enduring popularity and Garland's as an LGBT+ icon - the amateur theatre are honouring the significant event with: Over the Rainbow - Celebrating the Friends of Dorothy and Their Allies. Featuring a performance of Darren Stewart-Jones' The Judy Monologues, the show will wind it's way through LGBT+ themes inspired by the movie to celebrate generations of The Friends of Dorothy and those who have supported them over the last 85 years.

Judy Garland's version of The Wizard of Oz has been with us for over 85 years and, with it, the phrase 'A friend of Dorothy', meaning a gay man. These elements have been the inspiration for this event and our selection of pieces for Over the Rainbow.    

The event opens with Munchalot by Ann Morgan, a comic prequel to The Wizard of Oz, which sees the fabled Yellow Brick Road under construction.

In Journey's End by Paul Whitby, the recently bereaved Nic runs into an impossibly familiar face. Meanwhile, US Military Intelligence faces an unexpected challenge in Cary Pepper's Friending Dorothy, the play discovers that love remains love, across the years, in Jonathan Hall's 19345 Days and Sarah Hayton's Ms Diane Shackleton of Oz (formerly Kansas) contemplates life, love and dating apps.

The event closes with The Judy Monologues: using Judy Garland's own words and three different but coincidental versions of her, in the play the actors get inside the iconic star's head as she grapples the twin horrors of an uncooperative tape recorder and the task at hand: writing her autobiography.

You will need to book your own theatre ticket here.  Tickets are £7.55 and seats are unreserved so we will be able to sit together, if you choose to. 

There will be a Leisurely Walk from Shipley to Bingley, followed by a curry in Bingley, the same afternoon.

Social events are a great way of meeting other members and finding out about other ODL events. 

If the event is fully booked: join the wait list as people frequently drop out during the week before an event and you are likely to get a place on the walk.

Image Credits: all images provided by OutdoorLads members. OutdoorLads has permission to use them.

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