Happy Memorial Day!

Liza Minnelli - Australian Interview - Circa 1980

Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland

Cicely Tyson and Liza Minnelli.The Trip to Bountiful Broadway

THE JUDY AND LIZA DUETS 1964

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/liza-show-concerts-theater-awards-article-1.1347088

‘Arrested Development's’ favorite kook Liza Minnelli never rests 

'Cabaret' legend thrives as a fixture on the theater, concert and awards show scene

By Joe Dziemianowicz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Monday, May 20, 2013, 2:00 AM

Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan.com

Liza Minnelli with Michael Feinstein; she recently appeared on his 'American Songbook' television program.

Liza Minnelli with Jason Bateman in ‘Arrested Development.’

Liza Minnelli starred in the iconic role of Sally Bowles in the 1972 film ‘Cabaret.’

When “Arrested Development” streams hotly anticipated new episodes on Netflix this Sunday, Liza Minnelli is back in action as loopy socialite Lucille Austero.
Lucille 2, as she’s known, never allowed a bit of vertigo keep her from being a woman-about-town.
No wonder they cast Minnelli.
In her Oscar-winning role in “Cabaret,” she famously sang the question “What good is sitting alone in your room?”
And judging by her nonstop appearances at recent Broadway openings, film fetes and TV cameos, Minnelli has no clue.
The woman seldom stays put in her room.
She admits as much.
“New York is such a great city,” she enthuses with more fizz than a just-popped bottle of Champagne. “I love staying current. I’m a curious person. Curiosity keeps you going. I had the last month off and I wanted to catch up on everything in town.”
Seriously, everything.
Nicole Guest, Minnelli’s assistant, knows that only too well. Guest juggles countless invitations from shows and ticket requests from her boss.
In April, Minnelli was front and center all over town. Her nights out included (deep breath): Elaine Stritch’s final opening at the Cafe Carlyle; the premiere of “Kinky Boots”; the Hollywood Reporter party at the Four Seasons for top NYC media movers and shakers; a performance of “Lucky Guy”; Brazilian star Bibi Ferreira’s concert; the opening of “Mistaken for Strangers” at the Tribeca Film Festival; “Macbeth” (twice); the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Award to Barbra Streisand; and “I’ll Eat You Last.”

Oh, yeah — she appeared on TV in “Smash,” a Michael Feinstein special, and gabbed with Rachael Ray about “Cabaret”’s 40th anniversary.
In May, Minnelli turned up in a NOH8 campaign portrait — mouth taped, with jazz hands — to protest California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. And she was in concert in Poughkeepsie and New Brunswick, N.J.
The woman gets around.
She’s Liza with an E-ZPass. And even though she says she’s “not big on parties” and usually skips late-night shindigs after Broadway premieres, the go-go-go remains remarkable. Especially since the 67-year-old star has a robust concert schedule and has been through the wringer emotionally (four fizzled marriages) and physically (she’s got one new knee, two new hips and a lumbar region that wreaks havoc).
“I have to sit down. My back is killing me,” Minnelli moaned before singing Streisand staples “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” from “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” and “Isn’t This Better” from “Funny Lady” for the Film Society event’s honoree.
“The evening meant a lot to her,” says Minnelli. “I know Barbra.”
She knows everybody. So going out isn’t just a matter of grabbing any old thing. She’s got to get her Liza on. The exclamation point-like wisps of hair accenting her forehead take orchestration.
Her color of choice is black. “But not always,” she says. “It depends on the weather and the event.” For the Hollywood Reporter bash she wore royal blue silk. “Halston,” she says. “Class never changes. It never goes out of style.”
She could have been talking about herself — and her own enduring fascination factor.
“She’s an eternal superstar, no matter what,” says longtime theater publicist Rick Miramontez. “She’s banked an endless supply of adoration and goodwill.”
That’s why Minnelli, unlike, say, Sylvia Miles (who was dissed for being someone who “would attend the opening of an envelope”) isn’t the butt of jokes.

“It’s always the same with Liza,” adds Miramontez, who’s attended her performances, big and small. “She constantly generates a showbizzy electrical charge — except once.” He was the plus-one of a guest at Minnelli’s wedding to David Gest in 2002.
“It was the only time she didn’t throw off that signature Liza thing,” Miramontez says of her atypically subdued demeanor on that first day of their ill-fated marriage.
Mostly, though, the magic is there. Just ask “Kinky Boots” composer Cyndi Lauper. She spotted Minnelli at her show, and Lauper wept.
“Any time I see Liza Minnelli, I get emotional,” Lauper says. “It’s Liza Minnelli.”
At the intermission of “Boots,” Minnelli was spotted chatting up people. “She was like the hostess,” says a theatergoer.
Or a cheerleading belle of the ball — a role she knows well. While she’s aware of her magnetic pull, Minnelli insists it’s not what motivates her.
“I don’t wear my four Tonys on my chest when I go a Broadway show,” she says. “It’s not about me. It’s because I love the theater. It’s where I started.”
That was back in 1963, when she debuted in “Best Foot Forward.”
At 19, she popped in a big way and became the youngest woman to win a Best Actress Tony for “Flora the Red Menace.” She was off and running — hitting highs and lows on stage, screen and TV ever since.
As for “Arrested Development,” she says: “It was wonderful to be back, because the whole show is so outrageous and it was so much fun to do. All the people that I work with are so talented and so brilliant.”
At the moment she’s preparing for a concert on July 6 at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Long Island.
Expect her to sing her gazillionth rendition of “New York, New York” and, yes, “Cabaret.”
“I do the things I like and things other people like,” she says. “That’s always worked for me.”


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/liza-show-concerts-theater-awards-article-1.1347088#ixzz2Tqr0vmPK

PHOTO"S: Liza Minnelli plays Bardavon Gala ~ Legend sings the hits

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130520/ENTERTAIN/130529993

Famed actress and singer Liza Minnelli performs to a full house at the historic Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie Friday.Kelly Marsh/For the Times Herald-Record

 

Published: 9:16 AM - 05/20/13

Liza Minnelli is in rare company. She's one of the few EGOT legends (winner of each Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards), joined by 13 other stars, names such as Barbra Streisand, Marvin Hamlisch and Audrey Hepburn.

Known for songs like "Theme from New York, New York" and "Cabaret," Minnelli brought that vivacious EGOT personality to the annual Bardavon Gala Friday night. The concert at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie benefits programs by the Bardavon, primarily in Poughkeepsie and Kingston.

Liza Minnelli Joins NOH8 Campaign .(VIDEO)

Liza Minnelli -- A legend sings at Bardavon

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20130518/ENT/305180020/VIDEO-Liza-Minnelli-legend-sings-Bardavon

Liza Minnelli plays the Bardavon 1869 Opera House Gala on Friday in Poughkeepsie. / Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal

Written by

John W. Barry

Poughkeepsie Journal

Osami Matsuzawa of Staatsburg moved to the United States from Japan and will never forget seeing the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty for the first time in 1968.
He links that moment to entertainer Liza Minnelli.
“ ‘New York, New York,’ ” he said outside of the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie on Friday evening, referring to the song with which Minnelli, along with Frank Sinatra, is closely associated. “My blood gets warmed up.”
Matsuzawa spoke of his fondness for Minnelli about an hour before she took the stage at the Bardavon for the historic Market Street venue’s annual gala. Backed by a seven-piece band, Minnelli’s Friday-night performance was her first in Poughkeepsie.

Money raised at the gala funds Bardavon programs that cannot support themselves, including school residencies, symphonic events and senior citizen programs. Each of the last two Bardavon galas — Tony Bennett performed last year; Diana Ross performed in 2011 — raised $150,000.
Minnelli has won four Tony Awards, an Oscar, the Grammy Legend Award, two Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy. She is well known for her work in film, having appeared in the 1972 musical “Cabaret” and the 1981 comedy “Arthur.” And she is, of course, the daughter of actress Judy Garland.
“I’m a huge fan of her mother’s,” said Donna Doremus of the Town of Poughkeepsie. “Judy is my queen. I love her. She’s the best entertainer ever. It translates over to Liza because I’ve followed Liza ever since she was born. She’s great, too — one of the greatest entertainers ever. It’s just unbelievable that she’s here in Poughkeepsie.”
Doremus has seen Minnelli perform, but, she said emphatically, “not in my own hometown.”
Doremus said Minnelli’s stage presence is “phenomenal. She’s like a tornado on stage. She’s the best.”
Peggy Matsuzawa of Staatsburg, Osami Matsuzawa’s wife, said Minnelli brings back memories of “the better days.
“The good days,” she said, “when music was real music; the easier days; I think going back to when she was young and seeing her with her mother. It’s when music was music and you listened to the words.”

Rose Sasso of the Town of Wappinger smiled broadly when asked what Minnelli meant to her.
“She’s a legend,” Sasso said. “Just her whole career of singing and acting.”
John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822; Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo

Liza Minnelli Coming Back To Broadway? Aznavour Pens Solo Show

http://broadwayworld.com/article/Liza-Minnelli-Coming-Back-To-Broadway-Aznavour-Pens-Solo-Show-20130515

by Pat Cerasaro

According to French newsmagazine Le Figaro, Broadway and Hollywood legend Liza Minnelli has inspired a new solo stage musical project and is firmly intending on taking it to the Great White Way in the next year.
Accoring to the newest issue of Le Figaro, acclaimed French songwriter and performer Charles Aznavour - a frequent past and current onstage collaborator with Miss Minnelli - has penned a new musical monologue for the versatile star, featuring fifteen new tunes and a dramatically compelling original story that contains them all.
The as-yet-untitled solo musical depicts a single day in the life of a woman as she recalls her past and looks back at her various experiences, obstensibly contemplating "the meaning of existence" all the while.
Reportedly, Minnelli has already agreed to star in the piece and proceeds to do so on Broadway in 2014. Nonetheless, no official confirmation on the project has been expressed at this time when reached for comment.
Aznavour and Minnelli previously co-starred most famously in AZNAVOUR & MINNELLI AU PALAIS DES CONGRES DE PARIS in 1992, while the triple-threat talent has performed countless Aznavour songs in recordings and in concert over the years.
In our most recent InDepth InterView, Miss Minnelli generously expounded upon her relationship with Aznavour and discussed their unmistakable rapport, onstage and off:

 

PC: "What Makes A Man A Man" is one of your finest concert pieces - a song penned by Charles Aznavour, who is well represented on the new Winter Garden album. How did you discover that song and Aznavour's music in general?

LM: Well, I have been singing his songs for so long. You know, Fred and John influenced me first and then I saw Aznavour and I said, "Oh, that's what I want to do - I want to make each song a movie." It's like each song is an acting piece - it has a world of its own, you know?

PC: Specific.

LM: Yes. So, I went to him and I asked him, "Excuse me, Mr. Aznavour, may I be your protégé?" And he said, [French Accent.] "Yes." He had seen me and he knew who I was. So, off I went to Paris and he got me a job at this great place - this small little theater.

PC: Do you happen to remember which one it might have been?

LM: [Pauses. Thinks.] The Olympia - Piaf had played there.

PC: You performed Piaf's famous "The Circle" at the Winter Garden, so were you familiar with her at that point?

LM: Yes - I mean, I had heard of her, but I did not know her. Aznavour said to me, "Oh, you're nothing like Piaf - you're just a good actress and you sing." [Laughs.]

PC: Talk about cutting to the chase! Leave it to the French.

LM: Yeah - and I love that! Really, who could compare anybody to her? For him to say that to me was just fantastic.

PC: Was "And I In My Chair" one of the songs he performed the first time you saw him? What do you remember about that night?

LM: I went to a concert - I think I was 17 - and when he walked out onstage I stopped breathing... because of the power he had! [Pause.] Ugh, I just can't explain it.

PC: Magnetism.

LM: Yeah - that's right. It was like that - wherever he went, he took you with him.

PC: What do you remember him performing most vividly?

LM: He sang his whole show at that point - I remember "Les Comedians". You know, [Sings.] "Les comedians." He taught me something great - he taught me, [French Accent.] "One gesture per song." [Laughs.]

PC: Fantastic advice.

LM: He was just so terrific with stuff like that.
View the entire InDepth InterView: Liza Minnelli here.
Check out the original Le Figaro article on the matter here.

So, would you like to see Liza Minnelli back on Broadway in an original solo musical penned especially for her by one of her most celebrated career collaborators?

Read more about Liza Minnelli Coming Back To Broadway? Aznavour Pens Solo Show by broadwayworld.com

Read more about Liza Minnelli Coming Back To Broadway? Aznavour Pens Solo Show by
broadwayworld.com

Adam Bouska Photographing Liza Minnelli for #NOH8

Adam Bouska Fasion Photographer @ www.bouska.net

Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno and Jimmy Webb Inducted into Great American Songbook Hall of Fame

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/177873-Frank-Sinatra-Liza-Minnelli-Rita-Moreno-and-Jimmy-Webb-Inducted-into-Great-American-Songbook-Hall-of-Fame

By Carey Purcell
13 May 2013

The 2013 Encore Celebration Gala Weekend was announced by the Center for Performing Arts and the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative.

The event, which will honor the contributions of Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno and Jimmy Webb, will be held June 28-29. Feinstein, the Initiative's founder and noted American Songbook ambassador who also serves as the Center for the Performing Arts artistic director, will induct the honorees as part of the Songbook Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame honors lyricists, composers and performers responsible for creating America's soundtrack.
"We intentionally created the Hall of Fame to honor our country's songwriters and artists," Feinstein said in a statement. "Sharing their music and recognizing their contributions ensures that our heritage endures for generations to come."
According to press notes, award categories include:
Legend: Awarded posthumously to an artist who made a significant contribution to the Golden Age of American popular music, typically defined as the period from the early years of the 20th century through the 1960s. Inductees: Frank Sinatra, 2013; Cole Porter, 2012.
Songbook: Awarded to living songwriters, both lyricists and composers, who have made a significant impact on American pop culture by creating the most beloved songs from the American popular songbook. Inductees: Jimmy Webb, 2013; Alan and Marilyn Bergman, 2012.
New Standard: Awarded to the artist, songwriter, and/or performer, who continues to create the soundtrack of our lives by writing and/or performing music that will stand the test of time and become the pop standards of tomorrow. Inductees: Liza Minnelli, 2013; Rita Moreno, 2013; Barry Manilow, 2012.
More information about the event is available online at TheCenterPresents.org.

 

 

Excerpts from a 1967 television special with Liza...excellent footage.

Bardavon Gala to star showbiz legend Liza Minnelli Friday, May 17, 8 p.m

http://www.hudsonvalleyalmanacweekly.com/2013/05/12/bardavon-gala-to-star-showbiz-legend-liza-minnelli/

Posted by Frances Marion Platt on May 12, 2013 in Events, Stage ·
One might say that Liza Minnelli was destined from birth to become Ms. Show Business. She’s one of only 12 people ever to have won a Grammy, an Emmy, a Tony and an Academy Award, and the only Oscar-winning offspring of parents – Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli – who were both Oscar-winners. Ira Gershwin and Kay Thompson were her godparents. She appeared in her first movie at age 3 and hasn’t really stopped performing since. In 1965, at age 19, she became the youngest person ever to win a Best Actress Tony, for Flora the Red Menace. “New York, New York” was her song before it was ever Frank Sinatra’s. And her slightly kinky characterization of Sally Bowles in the 1972 film Cabaret is absolutely iconic.
It seems like everyone has a favorite Liza Minnelli role. Those who were around for her Bob Fosse-directed 1972 TV special Liza with a Z were dazzled; a decade, later movie audiences fell in love with her as the working-class girlfriend of Dudley Moore’s drunken millionaire in the Arthur movies. On Broadway, she replaced Gwen Verdon in Chicago in 1975 and Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria in 1997. Over the decades she has sung with everyone from Gene Kelly and Charles Aznavour to Donna Summer and Michael Jackson to the Pet Shop Boys and My Chemical Romance. She has fought her way back from years of alcoholism and from a bout of encephalitis in 2000 that was supposed to have crippled her permanently, and nowadays devotes a lot of philanthropic energies to AIDS research and LGBTQ rights.
But singing live onstage seems to be what Liza seems to love to do best, and she’ll be bringing all that star quality to the Bardavon 1869 Opera House on Friday, May 17 at 8 p.m. for the theatre’s 144th birthday fundraising Gala. Following the performance, top-tier Gala guests will stroll from the theatre on Market to Main Street for cocktails, great food and a night of dancing at the Bull & Buddha. Black tie is optional.
Every year, Gala proceeds help underwrite many Bardavon programs that cannot support themselves on ticket sales alone – programs like school residencies that bring artists and musicians to local students, ambitious symphonic events and special events for senior citizens. Primary sponsors of this year’s Gala include the James J. McCann Charitable Trust, the Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, Markertek, Marianne Murray and Richard Rowley; but your ticket purchase is an integral part of the fundraising picture as well.
As of presstime, tickets to hear Liza Minnelli live at the Bardavon were still available at the following prices: $225, which includes premier performance seating and the post-show party plus a tax-deductible contribution; $175, which includes preferred performance seating plus a tax-deductible contribution; and $125 for the performance only. You can obtain them at the Bardavon box office at 35 Market Street in Poughkeepsie, (845) 473-2072; the Ulster Performing Arts Center box office at 602 Broadway in Kingston, (845) 339-6088; or through TicketMaster at (800) 745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.
2013 Bardavon Gala with Liza Minnelli, Friday, May 17, 8 p.m., $225/$175/$125, Bardavon 1869 Opera House, 35 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, (845) 473-2072
www.bardavon.org.

The Rachael Ray Show" Will Welcome Liza Minnelli Monday May 13th...

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/177804-The-Rachael-Ray-Show-Will-Welcome-Liza-Minnelli
By Andrew Gans
10 May 2013

Award-winning actress-singer Liza Minnelli will be a guest on "The Rachael Ray Show" May 13.

Minnelli will join Ray and guest co-host Emeril Lagasse to discuss the 40th anniversary of the "Cabaret" film, which was recently released on Blu-ray from Warner Bros Home Video. The film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Actress in a Leading Role for Minnelli.
"The Rachael Ray Show" airs in the New York metropolitan area on WABC-TV, Channel 7 at 10 AM ET; check local listings.
Minnelli's upcoming concert appearances include May 17 at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, NY, and July 6 at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center in Westhampton Beach, NY.

 

 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Liza Minnelli Silenced -- for a Great Cause ~ NOH8 Campaign

Liz Smith

Columnist

Posted: 05/08/2013 7:35 am

• Liza Minnelli is the latest big star to step forward and support the NOH8 Campaign. This is a photographic protest created in response to the passage of California's Prop 8, which amended the state constitution to ban same sex marriage. Photographs show celebs with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing voices being silenced. Liza joins others in this protest, such as Deepak Chopra, Fran Drescher, Audra McDonald, Ashlee Simpson, Cindy McCain, Tori Spelling, Greg Louganis and Kim Kardashian.
Liza, long a champion of gay rights, says: "Here's what I believe. No shame. No blame. No guilt. Be who you are."
Powerful words. And oddly enough, they could stand as the personal mantra of her life!