Review: Liza Minnelli live at the Royal Festival Hall

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

If there’s one person you should see live before you die make sure its the queen of showbiz herself, Miss Liza Minnelli. At the age of 66 the legend of stage and screen showed the audience at the South Bank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall just how she became a living legend.

Minnelli’s performance was part of The Rest is Noise Festival, which was billed by London’s South Bank Centre as being a tribute to the Weimar era, though Minnelli herself didn’t perform much from the era attributed with inspiring the reason for her performance. However, this didn’t stop her from being mesmerising, witty and funny, or from giving an all-round triumphant performance.

From the moment she walked onto the stage she had the audience in the palm of her hand as they sat their enthralled by her. The performance was her first at the Royal Festival Hall since 1973, when she performed Liza with a ‘Z’, and we got a reminder of this when she performed the song in question.

Despite her vocals being a little shaky at the beginning, they improved significantly as the show moved on, giving the audience a look at her memorable belt that, despite everything, she has managed to maintain. While the voice was incredible for someone her age, she looked a bit shaky on her feet and required a rest at one point allowing her pianist, Billy Stritch, to perform a solo number, ‘No Moon At All.’ Stritch was a big part of the show in fact, as he performed a duet of ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’ with Liza, to a roaring applause.

The applause and laughs throughout the show continued as Minnelli told hilarious stories from her past and gave impressively big performances of ‘Maybe This Time’ and ‘Cabaret’, which received standing ovations; there were also a couple of humourous songs such as ‘He’s Funny That Way’ and ‘You’ve Let Yourself Go.’ But one of the best performances of the night came when Liza performed Charles Aznavour’s ‘What Makes A Man A Man.’ Lit by a spotlight, the audience could see Minnelli, and Minnelli only, as she sang the song about sexual identity and told her audience to be themselves. I’ve heard the song on a number of occasions but seeing it live gave me chills.

Minnelli ended the stellar show with her signature tune, ‘New York, New York’, giving the audience a glimpse of her signature “YEAH” before the song and ended on an incredible high note that saw waves of applause fill the room.

After 90 minutes on stage and being every inch the professional non-diva, Minnelli gave a number of encores for her fans – something you wouldn’t see at a Madonna concert – and ended by singing a cappella to fans; proving that despite the ups and downs of her life, the voice is still as big and strong as ever.

Liza Minnelli's Latest Comeback

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

With an Oscar, an Emmy, multiple Tony Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award under her belt and over 50 years in the business that is show, Liza Minnelli is the definition of the term ‘living legend’.

Not content with sitting out her later years on a vast yacht in the baking sun telling stories about all the other greats she’s known – such as her mother, her father, Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davies Jr. – Liza continues to keep busy, and this year is no exception as she brings her celebrated gifts to the London stage for a one-night-only performance on March 1^.

Minnelli will be performing at the Royal Festival Hall in London as part of the Southbank Centre’s ‘Berlin in the 20s and 30s’ weekend, where she will perform songs from the legendary Cabaret, jazz standards and Broadway tunes. However, as she mentioned in The Telegraph, she’s still re-writing the show, so who knows what could happen.

The performance at the Royal Festival Hall will be her first performance at the venue since 1973, when she performed her renowned Emmy Award winning show Liza with a Z there.

The weekend will also see a screening of Cabaret, which celebrates its 41^st birthday this year and marks the 40^th anniversary of Minnelli’s Oscar win for her performance of Sally Bowles.

Aside from her one night engagement in London, this year appears to mark another comeback in the life of the legendary performer. With scheduled performances at the New York City Town Hall alongside Alan Cumming, a performance at the State Theatre’s 25^th annual benefit gala in May, a return to acting with a guest appearance as herself in TV shows Smash and Arrested Development and even, according to an interview with The Huffington Post, a new album in the works, it looks like Liza may be doing a few more appearances this year. Well here’s hoping she does.