Friday, July 31, 2015

Liza ~ Happy Ending!

Liza Minnelli to open CFCC arts center season

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20150730/ARTICLES/150739964

Published: Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:20 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 6:20 p.m.

WILMINGTON -- Singer and actress Liza Minnelli will kick off the inaugural performance season of Cape Fear Community College's Humanities and Fine Arts Center, director Shane Fernando announced Thursday.

The season announcement was made during the CFCC Board of Trustees meeting. The opening week will begin Oct. 3 with a black-tie gala featuring Minnelli with the North Carolina Symphony.

The center, along with a Star Series, also will include a contemporary dance series and a Broadway series.

On Oct. 5 and 6, the center will present Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," the first of three touring Broadway shows.

Other Broadway shows in the series include "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" on Feb. 25 and "Mamma Mia" on May 3 and 4.

Some of the Star Series guests will include singers Boz Scaggs and Jackson Browne, as well as actor and comedian Lily Tomlin.

Fernando said he and the center's staff have worked to provide a variety of performances.

“We have pulled out all the stops for the center's opening week,” he said. “From classical music, to avant garde, to Disney on Broadway, we have something for everyone at a variety of price points.”

CFCC President Amanda Lee said the new center is going to change Wilmington and will complement what the city already has.

As the announcements were listed, board members were outwardly enthusiastic when such names as Minnelli and Scaggs were listed. Lee, who is most excited about "Beauty and the Beast," said she thinks the community will have a similar reaction to the announcement.

"It was wonderful to sit here with people smiling and taking notes and laughing because everybody got so excited about it, and I think the entire community is going to respond that way," she said. "This is going to be a destination that we are all going to be able to enjoy."

Following the opening gala, the North Carolina Symphony will open its official season Oct. 4 at the center with a "Russian Spectacular" classical music performance.

The center's opening week wraps up Oct. 10 with Artsplosion!, a free festival celebrating the official main stage curtain being raised for the first time, the release said.

Tickets for Cape Fear Stage productions will go on sale beginning Aug. 10 at capefearstage.com or in person at the temporary box office at CFCC's storefront, 254 N. Front St.

Contact Hannah DelaCourt at 910-343-2075 orHannah.DelaCourt@StarNewsOnline.com.

Liza Minnelli Set to Make Concert Appearance in Cape Fear This Fall

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Liza-Minnelli-Set-to-Make-Concert-Appearance-in-Cape-Fear-This-Fall-20150731

As previously reported, Liza Minnelli appeared in her first concert in more than a year this summer, on Friday, July 24 at 8 p.m. at the IP Casino Resort Spa in Biloxi, Mississippi. Now according to Star News, the living legend is set to perform with the North Carolina Symphony at Cape Fear Community College's Humanities and Fine Arts Center. The special event will take place on October 3.

Click here to read the full article.

"Well, I try and do the things that people like. Like 'New York, New York' and 'Cabaret,'" the star said in a recentinterview with AOL. "I also try to put in things that I know people there haven't heard. So it's a big surprise, kids. I'm excited about coming."

She added: "I'm trying to add a little more hopeful side. I mean the songs I choose. I try and go from what I've learned, and also what I'd like to hear, what I enjoy. New things and old things. ... I like to sing something that makes you feel slightly different when you walk out. Happier, and satisfied."

The star followed her parents into the entertainment arena at the tender age of 2, co-starring with her mother in the 1949 film IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME. In 1965, she won a Tony Award for her performance in FLORA, THE RED MENACE, becoming the youngest-ever actress to win a Tony for a musical role; it was the first of four Tonys she would earn.

She is the only singer in history to sell out Carnegie Hall for three consecutive weeks. Her hit songs include "Liza (With a "Z")," "Theme from New York, New York," "Cabaret," "Walking Papers," "Quiet Thing," "Old Friends," "Maybe This Time," "Little Do They Know," "I (Who Have Nothing)," "God Bless the Child."

Her movie credits include 1972's CABARET, for which she won an Academy Award; NEW YORK, NEW YORK, co-starring Robert De Niro; and the ARTHUR films with Dudley Moore. She has appeared as herself on TV in SMASH, THE VOICE UK, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, THE APPRENTICE, and more, and is well known for her portrayal of 'Lucille Austero' in the Netflix comedy ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT.

July 31 2015

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Liza Flashback: Liza Minnelli with Donald Trump on The Apprentice

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

BWW Exclusive: Back in Concert with Liza Minnelli- Billy Stritch, Cortés Alexander & Jim Caruso Send Updates from Biloxi!

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Exclusive-Back-in-Concert-with-Liza-Minnelli--Billy-Stritch-Corts-Alexander-Jim-Caruso-Send-Updates-from-Biloxi-20150729#

Six years after closing Liza's at The Palace, one of the most heralded Special Events in recent Broadway memory, Liza Minnelli gathered up her best friends, that famous songbook, and some beaded couture to try out a new concert in Biloxi, Mississippi. ("The glamour...the glitter...the Gulf," Liza giggled.) As a try-out for her 2016 "Great Day" tour, Minnelli, musical director/pianist/singer Billy Stritch and singers Cortés Alexander and Jim Caruso warbled their way into the hearts of the Gulf Coast fans, garnering a half-dozen standing ovations and some love-letters from the press. Armed with a few Palace re-creations, some fresh new harmonies and the obligatory Liza standards, it seems that the sky's the limit for this happy band of players.

BroadwayWorld spoke to Stritch, Alexander and Caruso about the musical goings-on and what it was like to be on the road again.

Billy Stritch:

The day we spent in Biloxi was much fun. It was terrific to be reunited with our great band and the stage crew and staff at the IP couldn't have been nicer or more professional. And what can I say about that audience? Truly incredible - you could tell instantly that they were there to show their love and support to Liza (as if the six standing ovations left any doubt). With the addition of Jim and Cortés, this new show has a more intimate and casual feel - sort of like a party with Liza and her best friends. It was good to get this first show under our belts and we're all looking forward to more shows this fall and winter.

Cortés Alexander:

It all felt new and exciting, yet oddly familiar to step onstage with Liza six years after our unforgettable Palace run.Jim Caruso and I made our entrance from the house, which is beyond anxiety-inducing. Seeing Liza's first steps back on stage after a year-and-a-half was exhilarating, nervous-making and thrilling beyond. But ever the consummate pro, she picked up where she left off as if no time had passed. When she called Jim and I onstage to sing with her and Billy, it was as if I was home with my brothers and of course, our fearless leader in sequins. I love her, and I love Billy and Jim, and cannot wait to share more laughs and songs and travels with all of you.

Jim Caruso and I made our entrance from the house, which is beyond anxiety-inducing. Seeing Liza's first steps back on stage after a year-and-a-half was exhilarating, nervous-making and thrilling beyond. But ever the consummate pro, she picked up where she left off as if no time had passed. When she called Jim and I onstage to sing with her and Billy, it was as if I was home with my brothers and of course, our fearless leader in sequins. I love her, and I love Billy and Jim, and cannot wait to share more laughs and songs and travels with all of you.

Jim Caruso:

It's been my secret, unspoken fantasy that someday, our Liza's at The Palace family would pack the trunks we were born in and take to the road again. After all, the three-year tour and subsequent Broadway run was a high point in my life and career. A few months ago, my phone rang, and I heard that famous voice scream, "Baby! Let's go back out!" I didn't have to think or check a schedule. My answer was a resoundingyes. Last week, after a slew of rehearsals, Liza, Billy, Cortés and I made the schlep to the IP Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi to try out the musical fun we've been scheming. The plan is to make "Great Day" like one of Liza's famous parties, where friends gather to sing, cavort and entertain each other at the baby grand. That's precisely what we did, and the audience proceeded to join in on the fun and take it to another level. To stand in front of one of the best bands on the planet, singing with my showbiz brother Cortés Alexander and my musical bff Billy Stritch at the piano, holding hands and harmonizing with the one-and-only Liza Minnelli is "a wondrous thrill." As we all know, 90% of a life in this business is the hang, and these people are all superb hangs. We pour our hearts out to each other. We tell foul jokes. We roar with laugher. We eat in some of the vilest coffee shops known to man. We are, in every sense of the word, family. I am champing at the bit to continue making music and merry with these people I adore. As Liza is fond of saying, "Here we go!"

Photo Credit: Steven T. Lawrence

July 29 2015

👤by BWW News Desk

Monday, July 27, 2015

Liza Minnelli, 69, Back On Stage Following Back Surgery, Rehab

Liza Minnelli, 69, Back On Stage Following Back Surgery, Rehab
http://www.inquisitr.com/2286540/liza-minnelli/

Liza Minnelli was back on stage on July 24 for the first time in a year. According to People Magazine, Liza Minnelli performed at the IP Casino Resort & Spa in Biloxi, Mississippi, after undergoing back surgery in 2014 and rehab earlier this year. This show was the first of many that Liza will do this year.

“The next concert will be Sept. 20 at the Palladium in London, followed by one Sept. 22 in Sheffield, England, and then Sept. 24 in Glasgow, Scotland. Upon her return to the U.S., she’ll begin doing a new show she’s calling ‘Great Day’ and has concerts planned in Oklahoma and Texas.”

Friends say Liza Minnelli is really happy to be getting back on stage, and that she is thrilled to be seeing her fans again. According to the Sun Herald, Minnelli recently spoke about going on tour, and what she is planning. She says that she wants to sing some fan-favorites, but she is also bringing some new tunes to the show, and hopes that her fans will enjoy those just as much.

“What I’m trying to do is include the things that I know people really like, that they’re familiar with, like ‘New York, New York’ and ‘Cabaret.’ And ‘Maybe This Time.’ But hopefully, I try to do what I would like to see, whether it’s sad or silly. I had great teachers, Fred Ebb and John Kander. In fact, I’m singing one of their songs I haven’t done in such a long time. It’s called ‘I’m One of the Smart Ones.’ It’s kinda snappy. It’s from a show written for me, actually. It never got put on.”

Liza Minnell’s show in Biloxi felt very intimate. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, fans yelled requests to Liza, but she had some witty comebacks, and was able to stick to her planned set list. The audience was completely captivated by Liza, and she said that she felt like she was “home.”

Liza is really excited to perform at more venues, and while she doesn’t move quite the way she used to, she still loves to dance, and takes a class almost every day.

“I get up as early as I can. First thing I do is take a dance class. It gets me going for the day, and it’s good exercise. Then I usually have lunch with friends or I work on whatever I’m working on and rehearse in the afternoon,” Minnelli said of her daily schedule. Her back has caused her to slow down some, but she insists that she’s getting “better all the time.”

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2286540/liza-minnelli/#Yj3MKGS6xHQ9kFUe.99

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Liza Minnelli brings old favorites, and a few surprises to IP Casino

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2015/07/liza_minnelli_ip_casino_resort.html

Liza Minnelli brings old favorites, and a few surprises to IP Casino on the Gulf Coast

'Liza Minnelli in Concert with Billy Stritch' played to a near sell-out crowd on Friday, July 24, 2015, at IP Casino in Biloxi, Miss. (Photos by Steven T. Lawrence)

Liza Minnelli promised old favorites and a few surprises for her show on Friday night (July 24) at IP Casino, Resort & Spa in Biloxi, Miss. She delivered both to a house packed with starstruck fans.

While she no longer hits and holds the high notes, the actress in Minnelli, 69, is still the master of using a look, a shrugged shoulder and a turn of phrase to carry the night. And, with a well-placed blast from a horn and a well-timed spotlight, she creates a sleight-of-hand magic show of a cabaret act.

Dressed in a shimmering, black, off-the-shoulder tunic and pants, set off with a long fuchsia scarf, Minnelli hit the stage and her fans leapt to their feet, giving her a standing ovation before she sang a note.

She dragged a high-boy director's chair center stage and apologized for sitting, explaining she had recently taken a spill in her bathroom, noting that her first thought while lying prone on the floor was: "How am I gonna dance?"

The Biloxi show, "Liza Minnelli in Concert with Billy Stritch," is her first performance in more than year, and one of only a few planned for the remainder of 2015. She has lived through a lifetime of publicly reported personal travails, including, most recently, a stint in a Malibu rehab facility in March, only to be reborn and find her way back into the spotlight.

"I'm sorry. I'm nervous," she told the audience Friday night, but she needn't have been. Cries of "You're awesome," "You're fabulous," and "We love you, Liza" reached her repeatedly from the darkened theater.

"I wish you could feel what I feel right now, which is extremely relieved," she said. "I feel like I'm home."

Her vulnerability -- she often paused to sip water and catch her breath a bit -- is matched by her moxie. When fans called out "Sing 'Over the Rainbow,'" she deadpanned, "It's been done." A call for "Money Makes the World Go Round," was met with a sly, "I'll say," before she moved on to her planned set.

The just under two-hour show, which was kicked off by a 20-minute set featuring Minnelli's friend and musical director Stritch, was energized by a tight, seven-piece, pop jazz band, which backed her and covered for her when she needed it.

Two guests, Cortes Alexander and Jim Caruso, joined her on stage for "Basin Street Blues" and serenaded her with a re-imagining of "You are My Sunshine."

Minnelli has been in public figure all her life, starting at the age of 2 when she appeared with her mother, Judy Garland, in the 1949 film "In the Good Old Summertime." The daughter of director Vincente Minnelli also has earned four Tonys, a Grammy and an Emmy.

I wish you could feel what I feel right now, which is extremely relieved. I feel like I'm home." -- Liza Minnelli

She alludes to her starry upbringing by dropping lines, such as "My godfather Ira Gershwin and his brother, George, wrote this song," before launching into "Our Love Is Here to Stay."

Minnelli is perhaps best known for her Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning performance in 1972's "Cabaret." That title song, as well as the theme to "New York, New York" (the 1977 Martin Scorsese movie), are her signature tunes.

She delivered both, as well as a mix of standards and personal favorites, including, of course, Kander and Ebb's "Liza with a Z" and Charles Aznavour's gay pride anthem, "What Makes a Man a Man." And she rewarded fans with emotional deliveries of "Maybe This Time" and "But the World Goes Round."

Her encore, Cole Porter's sentimental "Every Time We Say Goodbye," closed the night, with Minnelli leaving the stage surrounded by Stritch and the band -- and with applause ringing in her ears.

By Ann Maloney, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
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on July 25, 2015 at 12:30 AM, updated July 25, 2015 at 7:56 AM

http://www.gulflive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/07/liza_minnelli_thrills_biloxi_a.html

Liza Minnelli thrills Biloxi audience in triumphant return to the stage

By Warren Kulo | GulfLive.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on July 25, 2015 at 11:10 AM, updated July 25, 2015 at 11:15 AM

BILOXI, Mississippi -- It may have come as a surprise to some that Liza Minnelli would choose Biloxi, Mississippi -- of all places -- to make her return to live performing after more than a year away.

In the end, however, it appears to have been a very wise decision.

A wildly enthusiastic and adoring crowd which filled Studio A at the IP Casino in Biloxi greeted the legendary songstress as she took to the stage Friday night.

The show, entitled "Liza Minnelli in Concert with Billy Stritch," opened with a 30-minute set by Stritch, Minnelli's musical director, but a gifted performer in his own right.

Stritch proved to be far more than a "warm-up act," enthralling the audience with both his singing and jazz piano in performing classics including The Best Is Yet To Come, A Nightengale Sang In Barkley Square and the Gershwin standard Who Could Ask For Anything More.

And then, right at 8:30 p.m., the Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy-winning performer walked onto the stage to a thunderous ovation, acknowledging to her fans to being a bit "nervous."

"I feel like I'm home, with my family," she said early on. Minnelli, as noted, had not performed in over a year and earlier this year had a well-publicized stay in a Malibu, Calif., rehab facility. She has battled substance abuse frequently throughout her life and has openly discussed the disease of alcoholism and her own experience "battling with her demons."

But the performance belied any nerves she might have felt. Minnelli opened the set with a mesmerizing rendition of the George and Ira Gershwin-penned Our Love Is Here To Stay, quickly demonstrating there are still few who can deliver a song like Liza Minnelli.

Throughout the show, fans yelled out to Minnelli. "We love you!" "You're the best!" "You're awesome!" were among the calls, with Minnelli frequently responding in kind.

Other called out song requests, as if in a local juke joint, but Minnelli, ever the professional, stuck to her set list -- with one exception. At one point during the latter half of the show, a fan called for Maybe This Time, prompting Minnelli to turn to Stritch and say "Let's do that."

Among the other Minnelli favorites she performed was Liza With A Z, with Minnelli, the daughter of American icon Judy Garland and director Vincent Minnelli, noting before the song her name was frequently mispronounced "Lisa" during the early stages of her career.

She also thrilled the south Mississippi audience with a performance of the New Orleans classic Basin Street Blues, accompanied by two "friends" who came up from the audience -- Cortes Alexander and Jim Caruso -- who remained on stage for a three-song set with Minnelli.

Perhaps as a nod to being a little rusty after her more than year-long layoff, Minnelli's set list was backloaded with most of her most iconic hits: Maybe This Time, The World Goes Round, Cabaret and New York, New York, a jazzy version of which closed out the scheduled performance to a raucous ovation as Minnelli left the stage.

It appeared the show was over. Many performers of Minnelli's generation and genre don't do encores. Some of the seven-piece ensemble which accompanied her were already putting instruments away.

But the crowd remained, even as house lights went up, applauding, cheering, and whistling. Suddenly, Minnelli reemerged, escorted by Alexander and Caruso, and delighted the crowd with a tear-inducing rendition of Cole Porter's Every Time We Say Goodbye, accompanied only by Stritch's wonderfully understated piano arrangement, and reminding all of her incomparable talent for interpreting a lyric.

Then, roughly 75 minutes after she began, Minnelli took her final bows alongside Stritch, Alexander, Caruso and the ensemble.

And, as she left the stage, it was difficult to tell who was more thrilled -- the audience, which continued to stand and cheer, or Minnelli herself, who beamed as she exited stage left.

Minnelli's "comeback" tour will resume with a trip to Europe for September dates at the

Palladium in London; Sheffield, England and Glasgow, Scotland, before returning to the U.S. for performances in Texas and Oklahoma.

Liza Minnelli Gives Her First Post-Rehab and Post-Surgery Concert

BY LIZ MCNEIL

@LizMcNeil

07/25/2015 AT 09:15 AM EDT

She's back!

Three months after completing rehab for substance abuse legendary songstressLiza Minnelli, 69, gave her first public performance Friday at the IP Casino Resort & Spa in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was also the singer's first concert since completing back surgery in September. She sang her standards "Cabaret" and "New York, New York."

"There's no performer like Liza," says her longtime accompanist Billy Stritch, who's worked with her since 1991. "It's so great to be back on the road with her. Every night onstage with her is a thrill."

Friday night's appearance in Biloxi kicked off the first of a number of concerts she'll do this year.

The next concert will be Sept. 20 at the Palladium in London, followed by one Sept. 22 in Sheffield, England, and then Sept. 24 in Glasgow, Scotland. Upon her return to the U.S., she'll begin doing a new show she's calling "Great Day" and has concerts planned in Oklahoma and Texas.

The performer has "been preparing for this for months," says a longtime friend. "She's feeling good and is eager to go back and see her fans."

As a close friend recently told PEOPLE Minnelli, "is a survivor – she is incredibly brave."

Liza's Back!

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Coverage-Lizas-Back-Minnelli-Performs-First-Concert-in-More-Than-a-Year-20150725
Liza's Back! Minnelli Performs First Concert in More Than a Year

July 25

10:50 AM2015

👤by BWW News Desk

As previously reported, Liza Minnelli appeared in her first concert in more than a year this summer, on Friday, July 24 at 8 p.m. at the IP Casino Resort Spa in Biloxi, Mississippi. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the show!

Minnelli's longtime MD, Billy Stritch, accompanied the Broadway star in her sold-out performance.

"Well, I try and do the things that people like. Like 'New York, New York' and 'Cabaret,'" the star said in a recent interview with AOL. "I also try to put in things that I know people there haven't heard. So it's a big surprise, kids. I'm excited about coming."

Minnelli was recently named the recipient of the 2015 JACK VALENTI - LOS ANGELES, ITALIA LEGEND AWARD.

The star followed her parents into the entertainment arena at the tender age of 2, co-starring with her mother in the 1949 film IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME.

In 1965, she won a Tony Award for her performance in FLORA, THE RED MENACE, becoming the youngest-ever actress to win a Tony for a musical role; it was the first of four Tonys she would earn.

Her movie credits include 1972's CABARET, for which she won an Academy Award; NEW YORK, NEW YORK, co-starring Robert De Niro; and the ARTHUR films with Dudley Moore.

She has appeared as herself on TV in SMASH, THE VOICE UK, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, THE APPRENTICE, and more, and is well known for her portrayal of 'Lucille Austero' in the Netflix comedy ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT.

Friday, July 24, 2015

ANDY WARHOL'S INTERVIEW INTERVIEW: LIZA MINNELLI By ANDY WARHOL Photography ANDY WARHOL

“When I was a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, I saved my pennies, wolfed down my salt and pepper soup, and ran downtown to see every Judy Garland movie. That’s why it’s so great to be good friends with her daughters, Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft. Liza and Lorna are the best sister act since Jackie and Lee. Liza looks more like Judy, but Lorna sounds more like her. They both talk a mile a minute, jump around a lot, and pour out emotions all over the place. They both have so much energy, they get me to do things that I normally wouldn’t.” (A. Warhol, Exposures, London, 1979, p. 182)