| re: Dreamcasting Liza | |
| Posted by: AlexanderKat 06:30 pm EDT 07/07/18 | |
| In reply to: Dreamcasting Liza - Shutterbug 02:12 pm EDT 07/07/18 | |
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| I too, had an ongoing love affair with a young Liza Minnelli. I was fortunate to have been raised within close distance to The Mineola Playhouse/Theatre on Long Island. I was able to see this young teenage girl play the lead in CARNIVAL carrying the whole show on her shoulders at I believe 17 years old. Then again as The Girl in THE FANTASTICKS with a dashing Elliott Gould. For my 14th birthday I asked for a trip to Manhattan with a stop off at the Alvin Theatre. That day in FLORA THE RED MENACE I witnessed a nineteen year old girl emerge as an electrifying new Broadway star winning that year's Best Actress Tony. Not long after she appeared in a summer stock version of PAJAMA GAME at Westbury Music Fair. That evening after the show ended and she took her final bows she cued the conductor and broke into a new song written especially for her. It was the first time I heard Kander and Ebb's "Liza With A Z." A memorable evening only slightly overshadowed by receiving my very first celebrity kiss from the wonderful and extremely sweet Luba Lisa...:) In between concerts it was not until THE ACT that I got to see Ms. Minnelli again on stage. She definitely sweated profusely giving the performance her all but it was more like "Liza's Nightclub Act" than a musical with a fully written book and fleshed out characters (including her's). It was still enjoyable seeing her almost jet fueled performance belting, high kicking and cavorting about the stage only leaving briefly as the ensemble gave her a break performing a number or two. My last time seeing her was at the Universal Amphitheatre in North Hollywood in 1984. She was basically performing her Minnelli on Minnelli show. The young person I took was a huge fan but had never seen her live before. I think it was during "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" that I looked at him and realized he was as bored as I was. It was odd. For me that electricity she once generated so strongly was simply gone. And it wasn't due to a bad performance either. Had a kind of premonition that evening it would probably be the last time I'd see Liza on stage in anything again which has stood true. It was like I was bidding an old friend a final goodbye. Yet the many memorable times I had watching her will always stay with me. She was an incredible talent. As for dream casting Liza, her name honestly never came to mind as a Mame Dennis but there is one role I would've been curious to see her play. Back in the early nineties I had the opportunity to speak with British director Ken Russell. I brought up the topic of his aborted filming of EVITA with Elaine Paige hoping to hear more about Paige. He simply said she just wasn't suited for film. Period. Then he said, "Now don't laugh but Liza Minnelli would've been extroadinary in the role." He went on and on about what a fine actress she was and though the public might at first be surprised at her casting as Eva, they would have had a renewed respect for her as an actress after seeing the film. So to answer your initial question, my dream casting would've been to see a late thirtyish Liza on film as EVITA. As for today, with her limited mobility I doubt we'll see much of her on stage. Filming her carefully for television could still be a possibility. |
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