Liza Minnelli to perform holiday concert at UB
Jessica Bennett, Staff Writer
Legendary entertainment icon Liza Minnelli is coming back to Buffalo.
Minnelli is set to perform a holiday concert on Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. in the Mainstage Theater in the Center for Arts.
Liza Minnelli is the daughter of actress/singer Judy Garland and film director Vincent Minnelli. She started her career at an early age when she co-starred in the movie “In the Good Old Summertime” with her mother in 1949. An icon to screen and stage, she has won virtually every major award from an Emmy to an Oscar. Currently on tour, she is no stranger to the city of Buffalo, but this will be her first performance at UB.
“I’ve never seen her in person,” Alana Jagodzinski, assistant concert manager in Slee Hall, said. “It’s pretty good that she is still performing.”
The Derico Corporation and its employees are sponsoring the concert. The corporation owns 12 McDonalds restaurants and the proceeds for the concert will benefit the families of the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo, which provides affordable and comfortable lodging to families of seriously ill or injured children.
Tickets for the fundraising concert range in price from $86.50 to $126.50.
“It’s a higher ticket price for an event like this, but we found people are willing to pay because of what the whole event is and what it means,” said David Wedekindt, director of marketing for the Center for Arts.
“[Fans] know they’re supporting a worthy cause by purchasing tickets and you’re getting to see a legendry performer in our Mainstage Theater,” Wedekindt said. “Last year was the 25th anniversary of the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo, so [we] want to do something really good. [The owner] got the idea that he wanted to start an annual concert to benefit the House, so he started it two years ago with the country singer BJ Thomas.”
This concert is not the first UB has held to help raise money and benefit the families of the Ronald McDonald House. According to Wedekindt, Tony Bennett performed to a sold out crowd last year. Proceeds from that concert also went to the Ronald McDonald House.
The CFA has been working side by side with the Derico Corporation to help give the event a home.
“We’ve been really working with them; we are helping them promote [the concert],” Wedekindt said. “We treat them more as a partnership than just a group renting the theater.”
This is a big night for UB with big entertainment. According to Wedekindt, there aren’t too many people still around today from Minnelli’s generation with this type of legendary star power.
Minelli will dish out more than enough entertainment for the night. Besides being a movie star, she also is a talented singer and has performed on Broadway.
“When she’s on the stage, she owns the stage and she is an entertainer. I think what people love about her is that she gives her all,” Wedekindt said. “She’s a show business survivor.”
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Jessica Bennett, Staff Writer
Legendary entertainment icon Liza Minnelli is coming back to Buffalo.
Minnelli is set to perform a holiday concert on Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. in the Mainstage Theater in the Center for Arts.
Liza Minnelli is the daughter of actress/singer Judy Garland and film director Vincent Minnelli. She started her career at an early age when she co-starred in the movie “In the Good Old Summertime” with her mother in 1949. An icon to screen and stage, she has won virtually every major award from an Emmy to an Oscar. Currently on tour, she is no stranger to the city of Buffalo, but this will be her first performance at UB.
“I’ve never seen her in person,” Alana Jagodzinski, assistant concert manager in Slee Hall, said. “It’s pretty good that she is still performing.”
The Derico Corporation and its employees are sponsoring the concert. The corporation owns 12 McDonalds restaurants and the proceeds for the concert will benefit the families of the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo, which provides affordable and comfortable lodging to families of seriously ill or injured children.
Tickets for the fundraising concert range in price from $86.50 to $126.50.
“It’s a higher ticket price for an event like this, but we found people are willing to pay because of what the whole event is and what it means,” said David Wedekindt, director of marketing for the Center for Arts.
“[Fans] know they’re supporting a worthy cause by purchasing tickets and you’re getting to see a legendry performer in our Mainstage Theater,” Wedekindt said. “Last year was the 25th anniversary of the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo, so [we] want to do something really good. [The owner] got the idea that he wanted to start an annual concert to benefit the House, so he started it two years ago with the country singer BJ Thomas.”
This concert is not the first UB has held to help raise money and benefit the families of the Ronald McDonald House. According to Wedekindt, Tony Bennett performed to a sold out crowd last year. Proceeds from that concert also went to the Ronald McDonald House.
The CFA has been working side by side with the Derico Corporation to help give the event a home.
“We’ve been really working with them; we are helping them promote [the concert],” Wedekindt said. “We treat them more as a partnership than just a group renting the theater.”
This is a big night for UB with big entertainment. According to Wedekindt, there aren’t too many people still around today from Minnelli’s generation with this type of legendary star power.
Minelli will dish out more than enough entertainment for the night. Besides being a movie star, she also is a talented singer and has performed on Broadway.
“When she’s on the stage, she owns the stage and she is an entertainer. I think what people love about her is that she gives her all,” Wedekindt said. “She’s a show business survivor.”
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
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