Liza Minnelli opened at the Casino's Cabaret theatre last night, and the burning question is whether her 90 minute show is worth the hefty admission.
The answer, from this reviewer who paid the price of a ticket: a tentative, qualified yes.
Although you could buy every CD that Minnelli has ever recorded in her 35-year career for half the $500 top ticket price, she's one of the few performers who carry enchantment with them before they even step on stage.
She is, after all, the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli. She made her stage debut in 1962 when she was 16, was the youngest Broadway star to pick up the first of her three Tony Awards for Flora the Red Menace, won an Oscar for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in Cabaret, made New York, New York an anthem, and won our hearts in Arthur. She's toured with Sinatra and Aznavour.
A CERTAIN CACHET
Minnelli was booked to give the casino a certain cachet, but her engagement doesn't quite put us in the major leagues. Chaos in the kitchen kept patrons waiting up to an hour for a pedestrian meal of dry chicken and overcooked beef and delayed the show 35 minutes. (Stick to the salmon entree.)
Dressed in a rainbow-coloured sarong, Minnelli stepped into the spot-light, blinked her Bambi eyes, flashed her electric smile, shook her gamine haircut and, with breathy sibilance, opened with Let Me Sing and I'm Happy. She bantered in French, croaked her way through Liza with a Z, Le Jour Apits Ca and Gigi. There was the predictable medley from Cabaret, but the voice was strained.
THROAT’S A LITTLE DRY
At one point she apologized. "Excuse me, my throat is a little dry but if it's too dry, we'll just start all over again." Only Minnelli could get away with it, for in truth, the lady is a trooper, a trooper of the old school, still larger than life, which means she's a consummate entertainer. She continued with material from her latest CD, Gently, giving a respectable rendition of It Had to Be You, sailed playfully into Some Cats Know and won genuine applause for Embraceable You.
The emotional resonance is undeniable, and voice or no voice, Minnelli can still sell a song.
The act was helped immensely by her back-up singers, the Cortes Alexander Trio. Deadline made it impossible to stay for her encore, the inevitable New York, New York, but undoubtedly she pulled it off, too. Minnelli captivates with all the incandescence of a brilliant, falling star.
Alan Hustak