Liza Minnelli

Tony Roberts had a lot to say.

Lorna has a lot to say.

We spit at each other in Los Angeles - not on purpose. I thanked her for her work and the showers were brief from both of us.

Shpit.

I have met her! This is a long buried memory, but for some reason I was at a dinner party at a well known restaurant on Broadway in San Francisco, just a bit down from Carol Doda's. There were about 15 of us at a long table and she was at the far end from me. I was with a male friend and was still in my 20's early '30's (I'm in my 70's now), so this was 40 years ago. Liza was charming and made an effort to greet us was kind and engaging. The point of this story is she was extremely friendly and not stuffy at all. I don't remember how this all happened!

I had forgotten about this until a comment on Datalounge triggered my memory, and so it does again.

Yes OP I’ve heard only good things about her - even in her strung out days.

[quote]I had forgotten about this until a comment on Datalounge triggered my memory, and so it does again.

This is so Proust coded.

I waited on her & friends in Honolulu in 94. She, Carol Burnett, Jim Nabors & Richard Chamberlain..... They were all lovely and chatty. I felt them trying to set me up with Jim & Richard, almost like a game..... There was a photo, but who knows where that went. Liza, chain smoking & Carol trying to get upwind, she kept changing seats. Liza didn't care..... Kept smoking....

My friend was a dancer in NEW YORK, NEW YORK's opening sequence and said they all had to sit around for hours every day because Liza was crying in her dressing room, thinking she looked fat. (I imagine something else must have been going on as well.)

It did mean most everyone made more money in overtime, but it was also a drag. Sitting around for additional hours on a set is deadening - you already sit around enough as it is.

I went to her 60th birthday party. I met the late Brittany Murphy there. Turns out they were friends. When I talked to Liza, she looked right at me and gave me her undivided attention.

One of the few celebs that didn't do coke at Studio 54, she was strictly a vodka tonic girl.

When I was in my mid-20s and working at the Martha Graham studio, she came into the faculty lounge where I was sitting (a tiny room about 10X10) and plopped herself down. I think there were discussions afloat to restage a work of Martha's called "the Owl and the Pussycat", which Liza had appeared in and narrated some years before, and I think she was waiting for Martha to arrive. She was quite natural and unpretentious. I pretended that I spent every day in the presence of celebrities, but I didn't linger too long. I had a class to play for. I think she had great respect for dancers and sort of wished that she had had enough training to be a professional dancer herself. This would have been perhaps in 1983 or thereabouts, but my memory is hazy about that.

Yes, several times. She was a client of mine. I’ve told the story of getting a private performance from her many times on here. She is genuine, no filter, no separation, almost no boundaries.

She is a true, loyal person too. Her assistant at the time had been with her for years. She was a middle aged mom with a kid who played hockey. The contrast of the two was endearing.

She does seem to be exactly the same person whether it's on film, tv, live interview celebrity appearance etc. R12. She seems like a nice lady.

She seems like a good egg.

Yes, R14. Scrambled.

R15 = Liza herself.

Back in 1992, I volunteered at my local performing arts theater for their big '70th' Anniversary Gala. It was a huge fundraising event to raise money to make much-needed renovations to the theater to keep it open (it's the venue which attracts the touring B'way shows and concerts). One of my friends worked on the committee and asked me to voulnteer.

The gala was in late February, and they booked Liza for a concert that Saturday night, and she was to do a 'meet and greet' with the 'top donors' after the show in one of the event spaces (I volunteered to help decorate this space and it was beautiful). The concert was great (it was her 'Radio City' concert she was touring with) and ended around 9 with all the top donors head to the lounge, munching on appetizers and having a drink. 9:30 pm, and no Liza. 10 pm and no Liza. The event manager kept telling everyone 'she'll be here in a minute' and no Liza. Top donors getting very upset. Finally, around 10:15-10:30, there's an announcement that Liza was not feeling well, and had to head back to her hotel suite. Needless to say, the top donors who spent thousands of dollars to have a picture taken with Liza were not happy at all. Everyone put down their drinks and plates and headed for the doors. It was a real black eye to the theater manager and event manager and I felt terrible for both of them.

The next day in the papers and all over the local news were reports that Minnelli stood the donors up and headed for dinner at a local well-known Italian restaurant. After that, she headed to a gay disco and danced the night away. There were photos in the paper and footage on the news stations. It was definitely her - not 'rumors'. This story stayed in the headlines for a few days - the theater had to go in over-drive letting the public know they knew nothing about this, and shouldn't be blamed. Everything calmed down after a long while.

Ten years after, their next big fundraiser, they invite Bernadette Peters to be the 'attraction'. It went much better than with Liza.

R17 I will say that for Bernadette Peters. I saw her at Carnegie Hall in 2024 and when she came to the stage door, she posed for every picture with every fan (and none of these kids were donors lol)

I've met her. It's all true. She's very nice, super down-to-earth, will talk to anyone.

But she's also very insecure. VERY. So the NY NY story above makes sense.

She's great. Her NYC friends miss her. Not sure I trust Michael Feinstein.

Liza was never “mean.” But she could be high/drunk, incompetent, inconsiderate, self serving at the expense of others, unprofessional. With fans, Liza loves the adulation and attention and will do anything to show that - when she was able.

I met her briefly during the run of Kiss of the Spider Woman - she came (late) to see her friend Chita, and hung around onstage afterwards practicing some dance steps - I had hopes of her taking over the role - and asked her when she's coming back to BroadWAY - her response was "anytime they'll have me".

She beat me up!!

She also lies. Very little is factual, it’s always SHOW BIZ

Lie-sha Minnelli!

"SHUT YOUR FILTHY MOUTH"

I remember her saying that to me.

A zillion years ago Liza helped me hook up with a gorgeous Glorious Foods cater waiter after a Tiffany sponsored soiree for Paloma Picasso and Elsa Peretti.

I've met her three times and each time she was very sweet and genuine. The first time was backstage at an event and I was wearing a hideous beaded wooden choker necklace that I had seen Janet Jackson wear in a video. Liza kept staring at it and asked me about it. I should have given it to her, but I was really star struck and instead asked her about her dog that looked a lot like Toto from the Wizard of Oz. This was sometime in the 90s. She does like her cigarettes, which didn't really make sense to me since her voice was so strong then, but it makes sense now.

"Oh, one'll do!"

I met her--worked with her for a weekend. She's delightful. Pleasant, friendly, down-to-earth, accessible, funny, chatty, professional and amazingly talented. All in all, Liza is just swell. Loved her.

I’ve told this story before on another thread, but I sat a few seats away from Liza and Billy Stritch at an off-off Broadway show in the late1990s at the Westbeth. Liza was just as delightful and wonderful to be in close proximity to as all the stories I had heard. She smiled at anyone who looked her way and during intermission was friendly and talkative to everybody in the crowd who approached her in the lobby… and it was a lot, not just a few people.

They played some campy disco tune to announce the 2nd act and I remember her shaking her shoulders and doing a little shimmy as we walked back into the theatre. Go ahead and “Mary!” me and I know it probably sounds corny, but even that little action was just so genuinely charming and she radiated such a joie de vivre that you couldn’t help but feel happy by simply being in the same room with her.

I never met her but I saw her at the Pantages in Hollywood back in the 90's performing along with a number of other stars for, if I remember correctly, an AIDS fundraiser that was attended by President Clinton. She was wearing a see-through white chiffon dress that under the lights completely revealed her black bush.

But a friend of mine attended a party in a NYC private home that she was invited to. At one paint, he saw her alone in one of the hallways looking at a picture on the wall. He approached her and said, "So Liza, are you going to delight us with a song tonight?" at which she stared at him stone faced for a few seconds, then turned around and walked away.

[quote] Liza is just swell.

Ish shwell!

I'd rather hang with Liza than Bernadette Peters.

I'd love to hang with Liza, but I would not give her my number. And not let here know in which city I live, nor what country.

R34 she’s become her mother in that regard!

In addtion to Liza, the ones who have never had anything bad said about them are Ann-Margret, Dolly, and Carol.

There's an interesting 'part 2' to my post above at R17, but has nothing to do with Liza. It does, however, have to do with another theater fund-raiser I attended.

In the mid-2000s, I had another friend who was heavily involved with another small theater, this one was a beautiful concert hall about 40 miles away from me. I and a few other friends jumped at the chance to attend (for free) when my friend invited us with comps. The theater was rather neglected over the years (as was the downtown it was in) and there was a big effort by their mayor and business community to revitalize the downtown and to start with the theater. They decided to have a gala fund-raiser to celebrate 70 years of this concert hall, and promised the renovations would be ready for the 75th anniversary. They attracted very big donors to this event, as the star attraction was none other than Patti Lupone. Miss Patti was to perform in concert, then return to the stage a short while later to do a Q&A for the big theater donors, and then do a meet-and-greet / mingle with the donors after that (it was all set up onstage behind her with tables of food and drink).

I was my second time in a year seeing Lupone in concert, and she did not disappoint. What a concert - she was in fine voice that night and had the audience in her hand, with standing ovation after standing ovation. After the show, the theater clears out and we're left with the 'big donors' as we all move down to the front of the theater. All in all, there were about 50 people / big donors waiting for her to take the stage for the Q&A, as the caterers are setting up behind her for the 'mingle'. I want to say the 50 people waiting for her is made up of about 85% overweight gay men (I was part of the other 15%).

Lupone returns to the stage in a white blouse and black slacks - much more casual than the sparkly gold gown she performed in. She compliments the beautiful bouquets which some men brought up to her, and the theater manager hugs her and introduces her once again. She looks at the tables of food set up behind her and laughs, 'Someone's going to have a feast!' The queens laugh.

She makes some comment from the stage that it was nice to see all these faces in front of her, and how honored she was that we 'stayed after her show just to thank her for her performance one more time' (something along those lines). There's a stunned silence in the theater - what the hell is she talking about ? Every queen is shrugging their shoulders. The theater manager looks baffled, and in the microphone tells Lupone 'these are the donors to tonight's theater fundraiser - they're here for your Q&A and 'meet and greet'. The expression on Lupone's face : WHAAAAT? She calls a few men over who were standing on the side of the stage, and they huddle with the theater manager and a few other theater reps. After a minute or so, Lupone breaks away, and says "Sorry guys. No one told me this was a fundraiser for your theater. I'm not doing this. See 'ya !" and off the stage she goes with her 'men'. WHAT ARE WE WITNESSING ?

As she's exiting, she tosses those few bouquets she received into the audience. She's angry. We all stare in stunned silence - so did the theater manager onstage. A few theater people chase after her, and the theater manager assures the big donors it was a misunderstanding, and she'll return to the stage. Nope - one of the theater people returns five minutes after and says out loud on stage to the manager, 'She's gone! They got into the limo and left !" The poor theater manager looked devastated, as she didn't know what to do. The donors grew loud and angry - asking for their money back. Then they moved to the stage to eat (as did my friends and I). It was tense. My friends and I laughed at what happened all the way home.

[quote]Tony Roberts had a lot to say.

I don't think Tony would have gotten along with anyone who wasn't Julie.

Plus Liza had medical problems during the run. Tony was horrible to her from what I've heard.

My brother was a cameraman at our local CBS station. He filmed a Liza interview when she was in town for a concert. Circa late 70s. She hit on him, so the story goes. Made her interest clear. My stupid brother chose to be loyal to his girlfriend. I’m still angry at him.

R37 something fishy about that story. "big donors" = $$$$? how much exactly. Its sucks they didn't get their meet and greet. but she did start by saying thanks and then she did explain why she wasn't do it. And it's fishy she was never told it was fundraiser but I suppose that part of the gig possibly, just possibly, hand never filtered down to her through her agent? She really might have thought it was just singing gig.

Hi. I’m Georgia. I haven’t met Liza, but she did say hi to me once on the phone.

She's terrific!

It’sh terrif!

r31, Her response was appropriate.

[quote]Plus Liza had medical problems during the run

Yeah. VODKA.

[quote] But a friend of mine attended a party in a NYC private home that she was invited to. At one paint, he saw her alone in one of the hallways looking at a picture on the wall. He approached her and said, "So Liza, are you going to delight us with a song tonight?" at which she stared at him stone faced for a few seconds, then turned around and walked away.

I don't blame her.

Stevie Phillips in Judy & Liza & Robert & Freddie & David & Sue & Me wrote some negative things about Liza, as in broken promises or inconsiderateness, but I can't remember what they were.

Her breath consistently has been singularly unforgettable.

I don't have reports since 2018, but I can't imagine it's gotten any better since then.

I told this story here before but a friend of mine went to see her in Victor/Victoria and noticed some of the songs were missing (he's a big fan of the show). He walked over to the orchestra director and told him so, and the director said, "Miss Minelli specifically requested that those songs should not be played tonight."

I met her at a dinner party at John Kander's in the early 80's. She was charming and gracious. There was a hot tub and the host's partner was a bit grabby but it's all a bit blurry, thanks to the obligatory booze and dolls. Anyway, I made the morning train back to manhattan alive, if not intact, so a success all around, I think.

R50 was your hymen broken?

What exactly was Liza addicted to? I’ve heard Valium and booze. Anything else? Was she as bad as her mother? I don’t recall any suicide scares for Liza.

Never met her but have always appreciated her talent.

[quote] He approached her and said, "So Liza, are you going to delight us with a song tonight?" at which she stared at him stone faced for a few seconds, then turned around and walked away.

Although she married Peter Allen, Jack Haley Jr., and David Gest, your friend's sentence was just too gay even for her to stomach.

Famously, at a party in Hollywood decades ago, once a host of a party came up to Liza's mom and told her that Princess Margaret, who was also in attendance at the party, would love to hear Judy sing for her. Garland looked at him and said, "Please tell her I'll gladly sing for her if SHE'LL christen a battleship for me!"

^^ so, it was a no?

Judy was one of the most talented singers ever. She also had a lot of pain and struggle throughout her life. Despite that, she had a good heart, which is hard to encounter in Hollywood. At a time when gay people were oppressed beyond belief, they identified with her struggles and she theirs.

The writer Julia Cameron was once married to Martin Scorsese, and I think she witnessed the NEW YORK, NEW YORK mess firsthand.

Her collection of short stories POPCORN (2000) features thinly disguised stars caught up in backstage dramas. Liza's chapter is about a renowned hairdresser (Sydney Guilaroff did NEW YORK, NEW YORK) who, along with everyone else on the picture, is so fed up with the singing star's self indulgent unprofessionalism that he begins to subtly sabotage her hairstyles.

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[italic]A former member of the Hollywood rat race, herself, Julia Cameron leads us through a labyrinth of intersecting lives and turns that could only exist in our own backyard Babylon. In "Popcorn: Hollywood Stories," the lives of stars are as likely to collide in the psychic's waiting room as they are on-set or in the pages of the tabloids.

Featured cast: the only actor in Hollywood who doesn’t want to sleep with his co-star, a studio head who has secret "talks" with the ghost of history's most beloved animator, a hard-boiled journalist who succumbs to the charms of a philandering director, a hairdresser who has to be blackmailed into doing you-know-who's hair, a filmmaker who's just a cowgirl at heart, a screenwriter who;s battled the old boy's network to find she's got more highballs than high hopes, a homeopathist asked to prescribe something to make Hollywood's most feared actress "nicer," a tony New York editor with an acute case of moviephobia, and an actress with enough character to write a happy ending.

You might call it fiction, but Cameron calls this "friction—the abrasion of reality against dreams." And while none of the tales in "Popcorn" are true (just ask our lawyers), every one of them pops.

R52, that’s because Judy was bi-polar.

Liza’s the type that just ghosts you and avoids the scene, that’s how she maintains a nice image.

R55, you missed the base of the story. JG and Princess M were friends, and Judy was offended that M didn’t go over and ask herself.