Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Liza's star still shines bright...Chrysler Hall, Norfolk, 8 p.m. Friday
By David Nicholson 247-4794
April 19, 2009
April 19, 2009
However you define superstardom, Liza Minnelli fits the description.Along with Madonna, Barbra or Paris, mention her first name and everyone knows whom you're talking about. Her string of marriages, hip replacements, near-fatal illness and bouts with drugs and alcohol have kept gossip columnists in business for decades. And her indomitable spirit and almost old-fashioned passion for performing always seem to win out. On Friday, she'll offer an evening of old and new songs as the first big event of the 2009 Virginia Arts Festival.News of the latest comeback for the 63-year-old entertainer came out of New York in December when she played the legendary Palace Theatre on Broadway. In reviewing the show, Stephen Holden of The New York Times was blunt about her abilities: "I would love to report that Ms. Minnelli's voice and physical agility have been magically restored to their former glory, but those days are gone."Instead, Holden went on to write about a performer whose "force of will became a triumph of spirit over flesh" onstage.
"As the years pass, Ms. Minnelli seems increasingly aware that she is one of the last of a hardy vaudeville breed and the foremost custodian of that tradition," Holden went on to say. "A pure entertainer like Ms. Minnelli — and there is none purer — is at once voracious and extravagantly generous."Since her triumphant New York appearances, Minnelli seems set to conquer the world. In March, she performed in Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil, then headed to Canada in early April. There are more New York appearances after Norfolk, and June takes her to Germany, Amsterdam and France."I love live performance," says Minnelli by telephone during a recent rehearsal break while preparing for the Norfolk show. "It's fun, and it's what I was meant to do."Even though my parents were in Hollywood, I wanted to be on Broadway," she recalls. "I got my start in an off-Broadway show called 'Best Foot Forward'." Minnelli's parents, of course, were singer-actress Judy Garland, no small superstar herself, and film director Vincent Minnelli. Her role in "Best Foot Forward" at age 17 was followed by concert appearances with her mother at the London Palladium that helped to launch her performing career. She retuned to Broadway in 1965 and became the youngest person ever to win a leading actress Tony Award for her work in "Flora the Red Menace." The musical's songwriting team, John Kander and Fred Ebb, went on to write the hit shows "Cabaret" and "Chicago" that Minnelli was involved in.Minnelli's superstar status can also be seen in the number of different worlds she has conquered. Following her Broadway success at an early age she started making films, including "The Sterile Cuckoo" in 1969 and "Tell Me That You Love Me, Julie Moon." Her breakthrough role came when she played Sally Bowles in "Cabaret." The 1972 film directed by Bob Fosse earned her an Academy Award. That same year she collaborated again with Fosse on "Liza With a Z," a groundbreaking film concert that aired on television and has since been re-released on DVD.In recent years her life has been plagued with personal problems including a scare with viral encephalitis in 2000 and a headline-blazing disastrous marriage to concert promoter David Gest. But she's always found stability and inner strength in her work."I've always had a lot of energy, and there's always a way to make something work," she says. "I go to dance classes in the morning, then I come home and do things before going to rehearsal in the afternoon."Her Norfolk show is a blend of songs she sung at the Palace plus a second half of new material."I'm working with Ron Lewis, my director and choreographer, who has helped me win a couple of awards. There are no dancers, but I never stop moving."A rousing version of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" will be on the program. She'll also have the talents of her longtime musical director, Billy Stritch, and will sing his arrangement of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love.""It's a lot of things that I haven't done in a long time and some that I've never done," she says. "Some of the songs will be familiar and if they're not, they'll be entertaining."If anyone knows how to entertain, it's Liza Minnelli.
News to Use What: Liza Minnelli When: 8 p.m. FridayWhere: Chrysler Hall, NorfolkTickets: $75-$150 through Ticketmaster
News to Use What: Liza Minnelli When: 8 p.m. FridayWhere: Chrysler Hall, NorfolkTickets: $75-$150 through Ticketmaster
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Liza Minnelli Visits Brazil for Series of Concerts!
Liza Minnelli and Bath Carvalhoe, Brazilian jazz superstarWednesday, April 8, 2009; Posted: The sensational Liza Minnelli paid a visit to Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Brasilia and Rio De Janeiro in Brazil last month for a series of sold out concerts, celebrity photographer Guilherme Paranhos was there and sent BWW some great shots of the one and only Liza!
Winner of an Academy Award in 1973 for her iconic role as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, she has also won 3 Tony Awards, 2 Golden Globes, an Emmy, a British Film Academy Award, and a Grammy Legend Award, one of the few artists who have won entertainment's top six awards. As a recording artist, she has sold millions of records worldwide and three of her albums and one of her videos have been certified Gold by the RIAA. Her very first single, "You Are For Loving," sold a half million copies in 1963, leading to her signing with Capitol Records. She has also recorded for A&M, Columbia, Epic and Angel.Liza began her career at the age of three as co-star with her mother, singer-actor Judy Garland, in the movie In the Good Old Summertime. At age 10, Liza hosted the first-ever TV broadcast of The Wizard of Oz, with a viewing audience of more than 45 million. By the time she was 19 she had landed the lead role in the Broadway show Flora, the Red Menace, and won a Tony for Best Actress in a musical. She then starred in the films Charlie Bubbles (1968), The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970).In 1972, Liza's movie career peaked when she played Sally Bowles in Cabaret. The film won eight Oscars, including Best Actress. The role also earned her a Golden Globe and a British Film Academy Award, and put Liza on the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week. She also starred in the first concert ever filmed live for television, Liza with a Z, which produced a Top 20 album and won the Emmy for Outstanding Single Program, and will soon be re-released as a DVD.Liza appeared opposite Robert DeNiro in the 1977 musical New York, New York, directed by Martin Scorsese; and in 1981 she co-starred with Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur, and in 1988 the sequel Arthur 2. In 1985 she added a second Golden Globe to her already impressive list of awards with her performance in A Time to Live, a made-for-TV movie; and in 1989 she produced an album with Britain's Pet Shop Boys called Results, a huge hit in Europe.In 1997, Liza took over from Julie Andrews in Broadway's Victoria/Victoria. Andrews left the show to undergo vocal cord surgery, which was not completely successful. Liza later underwent the identical procedure making a full recovery, and returned to the stage in December 1999 to pay tribute to her father, film director Vincente Minnelli, in a show called Minnelli on Minnelli at New York's Palace Theater. In 2000, shortly after the CD of Minnelli on Minnelli was released, Liza was hospitalized for encephalitis. Receiving a grim prognosis, she was told she would never walk, talk, dance or sing again. But Liza's incredible will, determination and relentless hard work proved them wrong, and by June 2002, she was back on stage at the Beacon Theater in New York. Her triumphant comeback CD entitled Liza's Back! was released in October 2002.
New York critics and theatre audiences fell under the spell of Liza Minnelli's unmatchable magic when she returned to Broadway's legendary Palace Theatre and played a recent sell-out engagement.
Liza continues her extraordinary career with ongoing concert tours in the US and Europe. Her new two-CD set Liza's At The Palace was released in February 2009 by Hybrid Recordings. It features her signature hits and personal favourites including such showstoppers as "Cabaret" and "New York, New York." For the latest on Liza, visit her website www.officiallizaminnelli.com. 04:04 PM - by BWW News Desk
Winner of an Academy Award in 1973 for her iconic role as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, she has also won 3 Tony Awards, 2 Golden Globes, an Emmy, a British Film Academy Award, and a Grammy Legend Award, one of the few artists who have won entertainment's top six awards. As a recording artist, she has sold millions of records worldwide and three of her albums and one of her videos have been certified Gold by the RIAA. Her very first single, "You Are For Loving," sold a half million copies in 1963, leading to her signing with Capitol Records. She has also recorded for A&M, Columbia, Epic and Angel.Liza began her career at the age of three as co-star with her mother, singer-actor Judy Garland, in the movie In the Good Old Summertime. At age 10, Liza hosted the first-ever TV broadcast of The Wizard of Oz, with a viewing audience of more than 45 million. By the time she was 19 she had landed the lead role in the Broadway show Flora, the Red Menace, and won a Tony for Best Actress in a musical. She then starred in the films Charlie Bubbles (1968), The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970).In 1972, Liza's movie career peaked when she played Sally Bowles in Cabaret. The film won eight Oscars, including Best Actress. The role also earned her a Golden Globe and a British Film Academy Award, and put Liza on the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week. She also starred in the first concert ever filmed live for television, Liza with a Z, which produced a Top 20 album and won the Emmy for Outstanding Single Program, and will soon be re-released as a DVD.Liza appeared opposite Robert DeNiro in the 1977 musical New York, New York, directed by Martin Scorsese; and in 1981 she co-starred with Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur, and in 1988 the sequel Arthur 2. In 1985 she added a second Golden Globe to her already impressive list of awards with her performance in A Time to Live, a made-for-TV movie; and in 1989 she produced an album with Britain's Pet Shop Boys called Results, a huge hit in Europe.In 1997, Liza took over from Julie Andrews in Broadway's Victoria/Victoria. Andrews left the show to undergo vocal cord surgery, which was not completely successful. Liza later underwent the identical procedure making a full recovery, and returned to the stage in December 1999 to pay tribute to her father, film director Vincente Minnelli, in a show called Minnelli on Minnelli at New York's Palace Theater. In 2000, shortly after the CD of Minnelli on Minnelli was released, Liza was hospitalized for encephalitis. Receiving a grim prognosis, she was told she would never walk, talk, dance or sing again. But Liza's incredible will, determination and relentless hard work proved them wrong, and by June 2002, she was back on stage at the Beacon Theater in New York. Her triumphant comeback CD entitled Liza's Back! was released in October 2002.
New York critics and theatre audiences fell under the spell of Liza Minnelli's unmatchable magic when she returned to Broadway's legendary Palace Theatre and played a recent sell-out engagement.
Liza continues her extraordinary career with ongoing concert tours in the US and Europe. Her new two-CD set Liza's At The Palace was released in February 2009 by Hybrid Recordings. It features her signature hits and personal favourites including such showstoppers as "Cabaret" and "New York, New York." For the latest on Liza, visit her website www.officiallizaminnelli.com. 04:04 PM - by BWW News Desk
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Liza wows Toronto fans
By JANE STEVENSON, Sun Media
Last Updated: 8th April 2009, 3:58am
Last Updated: 8th April 2009, 3:58am
Liza Minnelli may have an indomitable spirit - she's a survivor of four marriages, double hip replacement surgery, viral encephalitis, and has battled drugs and alcohol over the years - but time has caught up with even her.
"I used to sit down in the second act - now I sit down in the first act!" said the 63-year-old performing legend before dragging a chair over to centre stage on Tuesday night at Roy Thomson Hall.
The Tony, Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winner may have been noticeably out of breath between songs, but when she was singing, she put everything she had - emotion, vulnerability, humor and strength - into her vocals backed by a 11-piece orchestra including her pianist-arranger of 18 years, Billy Stritch.
Minnelli also still has great musicality, dramatically moving her arms in time to the rhythm and beats, and was in noticeably better physical shape than when she last played the Toronto area at Casino Rama in 2005.
Her latest album is called Liza's At The Palace, in reference to a series of shows she staged last December at the legendary New York venue that was the scene of some of the greatest triumphs of her mother, Judy Garland.
"I just closed at The Palace - you know how many people want to say that?" said Minnelli. "That was the most thrilling experience of my life - and I've had a lot of swell times."
So Tuesday night's set list largely followed what is on that two-CD collection, the first brimming one with her well-known songs and the second one a tribute to her godmother Kay Thompson.
Minnelli opened with Teach Me Tonight, decked out in a black sequined sweater set, slimming black velvet pants, silver heels and black scarf which she quickly disposed of after the first song.
The audience, meanwhile, was really rooting for her as they screamed out their undying love and devotion between songs, presented flower bouquets, and even jumped to their feet and cheered for such Minnelli anthems as Maybe This Time, Cabaret, But The World Goes Round, Liza With A Z, and New York, New York.
The goodwill was palatable.
"My god, what a reception," said Minnelli, early in the show. "I feel like I'm coming home."
Minnelli, who was wonderfully funny as the vertigo-riddled Lucille on Arrested Development and recently made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live earlier this year, showed great comic timing too.
She spoke of always being drawn to songs about falling in love but how that has changed.
"At this time of my life I find I'm particularly drawn to songs about falling out (of love)," she said, before launching into If You Hadn't, But You Did, which included her firing off three shots of a fake gun mid-song and killing her imaginary lover, whose body she delicately walked over before retrieving her microphone tucked between her legs.
Minnelli knows how to keep the glamour quotient high too.
When she emerged for the second act of her 95-minute show, she had changed into a sequined brown tunic and skinny pants and the audience roared their approval.
Songs that followed included I Can't Give You Anything But Love - which was presented as a duet with Stritch - Alexander's Ragtime Band and Mammy.
"Remember when I used to get down on one knee?" said Minnelli during Mammy. "Forget it!"
And when the audience demanded an encore, just Minnelli and Stritch returned to the stage even though the singer claimed: "I don't have any more loud songs."
Still, she managed to find the perfect farewell tune as she sat down beside Stritch on the piano stool and sang, Everytime We say Goodbye.
"When I was little, I discovered everything I wanted to say had been written in a song," she explained, summing up her act in one sentence.
---
Sun Rating: 4 out of 5
Liza Minnelli
Roy Thomson Hall
Tuesday night
"I used to sit down in the second act - now I sit down in the first act!" said the 63-year-old performing legend before dragging a chair over to centre stage on Tuesday night at Roy Thomson Hall.
The Tony, Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winner may have been noticeably out of breath between songs, but when she was singing, she put everything she had - emotion, vulnerability, humor and strength - into her vocals backed by a 11-piece orchestra including her pianist-arranger of 18 years, Billy Stritch.
Minnelli also still has great musicality, dramatically moving her arms in time to the rhythm and beats, and was in noticeably better physical shape than when she last played the Toronto area at Casino Rama in 2005.
Her latest album is called Liza's At The Palace, in reference to a series of shows she staged last December at the legendary New York venue that was the scene of some of the greatest triumphs of her mother, Judy Garland.
"I just closed at The Palace - you know how many people want to say that?" said Minnelli. "That was the most thrilling experience of my life - and I've had a lot of swell times."
So Tuesday night's set list largely followed what is on that two-CD collection, the first brimming one with her well-known songs and the second one a tribute to her godmother Kay Thompson.
Minnelli opened with Teach Me Tonight, decked out in a black sequined sweater set, slimming black velvet pants, silver heels and black scarf which she quickly disposed of after the first song.
The audience, meanwhile, was really rooting for her as they screamed out their undying love and devotion between songs, presented flower bouquets, and even jumped to their feet and cheered for such Minnelli anthems as Maybe This Time, Cabaret, But The World Goes Round, Liza With A Z, and New York, New York.
The goodwill was palatable.
"My god, what a reception," said Minnelli, early in the show. "I feel like I'm coming home."
Minnelli, who was wonderfully funny as the vertigo-riddled Lucille on Arrested Development and recently made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live earlier this year, showed great comic timing too.
She spoke of always being drawn to songs about falling in love but how that has changed.
"At this time of my life I find I'm particularly drawn to songs about falling out (of love)," she said, before launching into If You Hadn't, But You Did, which included her firing off three shots of a fake gun mid-song and killing her imaginary lover, whose body she delicately walked over before retrieving her microphone tucked between her legs.
Minnelli knows how to keep the glamour quotient high too.
When she emerged for the second act of her 95-minute show, she had changed into a sequined brown tunic and skinny pants and the audience roared their approval.
Songs that followed included I Can't Give You Anything But Love - which was presented as a duet with Stritch - Alexander's Ragtime Band and Mammy.
"Remember when I used to get down on one knee?" said Minnelli during Mammy. "Forget it!"
And when the audience demanded an encore, just Minnelli and Stritch returned to the stage even though the singer claimed: "I don't have any more loud songs."
Still, she managed to find the perfect farewell tune as she sat down beside Stritch on the piano stool and sang, Everytime We say Goodbye.
"When I was little, I discovered everything I wanted to say had been written in a song," she explained, summing up her act in one sentence.
---
Sun Rating: 4 out of 5
Liza Minnelli
Roy Thomson Hall
Tuesday night
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Liza Minnelli can still belt them out!
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
Liza Minnelli plays Roy Thomson Hall tonight at 8 p.m.
April 07, 2009 12:55 p.m.
Liza Minnelli can still belt them out!
Liza’s back! And she’s coming to Roy Thomson Hall tonight.But tell the truth, did she ever really go away?“I’ve been here all the time, darlin’,” Minnelli chimes in that distinctive voice from her apartment in Manhattan. “It’s just that now and then I’ve been a little hard to find.”She has been a force to reckon with ever since she burst into stardom in 1963, at the age of 17, in an off-Broadway production of Best Foot Forward.Along the way, there have been a lot of headlines, good and bad. She has won several Tonys, an Oscar, an Emmy and a Grammy, but she also spent a lot of time battling the demons of drugs and alcohol that killed her mother, Judy Garland, when Minnelli was only 23.Toss in four marriages that ended in divorce, and enough illnesses to fell the armies of most small European nations, and it seems almost miraculous that her career has survived past her 63rd birthday last month.“If you love what you do,” she says simply, “it’s not that hard. It’s interesting. It’s gratifying. Yeah, darlin’, it can be soul-wrenching, but that’s what people pay the money to see.”Still, there was a time — not that long ago — when people wondered if they’d ever see Minnelli again.A case of viral encephalitis in 2000 left her so incapacitated that doctors didn’t think she’d ever walk again, let alone dance.She did a successful 2002 show called Liza’s Back in New York and London, but most people were saluting her resilience rather than actually cheering the talent on display.But she kept training relentlessly, getting her body back in shape. Her appearances as the wacky Lucille Austero on Arrested Development taught a whole new generation about how funny she could be. Nowadays, Minnelli loves to live in the present. “I’m curious. I wonder where life’s going. Every morning I wake up and say, `What the hell is today going to bring?’”
Liza Minnelli plays Roy Thomson Hall tonight at 8 p.m.
April 07, 2009 12:55 p.m.
Liza Minnelli can still belt them out!
Liza’s back! And she’s coming to Roy Thomson Hall tonight.But tell the truth, did she ever really go away?“I’ve been here all the time, darlin’,” Minnelli chimes in that distinctive voice from her apartment in Manhattan. “It’s just that now and then I’ve been a little hard to find.”She has been a force to reckon with ever since she burst into stardom in 1963, at the age of 17, in an off-Broadway production of Best Foot Forward.Along the way, there have been a lot of headlines, good and bad. She has won several Tonys, an Oscar, an Emmy and a Grammy, but she also spent a lot of time battling the demons of drugs and alcohol that killed her mother, Judy Garland, when Minnelli was only 23.Toss in four marriages that ended in divorce, and enough illnesses to fell the armies of most small European nations, and it seems almost miraculous that her career has survived past her 63rd birthday last month.“If you love what you do,” she says simply, “it’s not that hard. It’s interesting. It’s gratifying. Yeah, darlin’, it can be soul-wrenching, but that’s what people pay the money to see.”Still, there was a time — not that long ago — when people wondered if they’d ever see Minnelli again.A case of viral encephalitis in 2000 left her so incapacitated that doctors didn’t think she’d ever walk again, let alone dance.She did a successful 2002 show called Liza’s Back in New York and London, but most people were saluting her resilience rather than actually cheering the talent on display.But she kept training relentlessly, getting her body back in shape. Her appearances as the wacky Lucille Austero on Arrested Development taught a whole new generation about how funny she could be. Nowadays, Minnelli loves to live in the present. “I’m curious. I wonder where life’s going. Every morning I wake up and say, `What the hell is today going to bring?’”
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