We are backstage at the Soho Theatre in London\u2019s Walthamstow, where Monsoon is shortly to appear in End of the Rainbow, Peter Quilter\u2019s musical drama about Judy Garland, set in 1969 in the last months of the icon\u2019s life. It\u2019s a great role for Monsoon, whose impersonation of Garland on Drag Race was so spot-on the clips<\/a> are still doing the rounds (although for my money, her Little Edie Beale<\/a> was even better and funnier). But the show isn\u2019t being played for laughs. Monsoon, who had a stellar run as Mama Morton in the Broadway production of Chicago three years ago, is increasingly leaning towards dramatic roles and, like Garland herself, is comfortable with the tragi-comic. \u201cShe\u2019s a pillar, and an institution,\u201d she says of Garland, in whom she became interested after watching the Wizard of Oz on repeat as a child. And because, she laughs, \u201cmy ex was obsessed with her\u201d.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/7a7703578ee4a230278d744714ca1a676e9ac0fa\/1543_613_4375_3500\/master\/4375.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=783a83b7165f64b6d4ef72b36f25b26e\" "\\"\u2018There")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"