Liza with a Z!
Last night was Liza Minnelli‘s last concert of her Australian tour, and Amy and I were there. We bought the tickets month ago, rightly guessing that our respective husbands didn’t have much interest in accompanying. It was a FANTASTIC show. Yeah, the dominant audience demographics were old ladies and gay men, but that was cool. Liza knew exactly how to work her crowd. (Her version of Charles Aznavour’s “What Makes a Man a Man” was a particular highlight.) The crowd loved her, and they told her at every opportunity. And she loved them right back. I wouldn’t have described myself as a huge Liza fan; I’ve never even seen Cabaret. But I loved her in Arrested Development, and the woman is a certified Living Legend. Now I know why. Even in the very top row of the Entertainment Center, we were just spellbound by her. Every song was like a one-act play, and she made them sound as if they were all written just for her. (Some clearly were, like “Liza with a Z.”) I completely embarrassed Amy when “Maybe This Time” started up and I loudly proclaimed, “Hey, they sang that on Glee last week!” The first act closed with “Cabaret,” and of course we all went NUTS. At intermission, Amy and I ran out for expensive T-shirts and buttons. (I wore mine today.) The second act was just as amazing. She closed with Peter Allen’s “All the Lives of Me” and looked skyward as she thanked him at the end. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. I’m so glad we saw her.