Blogging Broadway: Christmas With Liza and Irving

Liza Minnelli (Photo:Eric Antoniou)

It's very difficult to review a Liza Minnelli show. The highs and lows of this amazing performer's personal and professional life are so well known, and her appeal to her audience is based so much on emotion, that any sort of "objective" critique of her performance is impossible.  Also, the woman's body has been through so much in terms of illness and substance abuse that, at this point in her career, the condition of her singing voice can vary widely from one appearance to the next.  

That said, let me tell you that Minnelli is scoring a triumph in her current show at the Palace Theater. Looking fabulous, and singing and dancing better than anyone would expect after all the physical challenges she has faced, 62-year-old Liza tears up the stage of the legendary theater. On opening night, her unique brand of showmanship was rapturously greeted by an audience that included such notables as Shirley MacLaine, Tommy Tune, Elaine Stritch, Christine Ebersole, Linda Lavin, John Kander, and Rex Reed.

Read on for more about Liza's at the Palace and the opening of a Christmas classic on Broadway!

The second half of Liza's generous, two-act program consists largely of a tribute to her godmother, the ultra-classy musical arranger, nightclub performer, and author Kay Thompson, who is best known for having written the Eloise books and for her appearance in the film Funny Face. Liza pretty much "plays" Kay during this tribute, having the time of her life with her singing-dancing backup boys: Johnny Rodgers, Cortes Alexander, Jim Caruso, and Tiger Martina.

The rest of the show offers Liza as Liza -- a plum role if there ever was one.  She gives the audience what they want, knocking out powerhouse renditions of her signature tunes "Cabaret," "Maybe This Time," "And the World Goes Round," and "Theme from New York, New York" along with such other songs as "Teach Me Tonight" (an odd choice for the opening slot) and Charles Aznavour's "What Makes a Man a Man" (a moving ode to a drag queen).  The encore, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," is a lovely nod to the season and to Liza's iconic mama, the one-and-only Judy Garland.

One could question some of the song choices; for example, given that Liza is unable to intelligibly deliver the mile-a-minute lyrics of "If You Hadn't, But You Did," I have to wonder why the number was programmed. (It's supposed to be a joke about her epically failed marriage to David Gest, but it doesn't work.)

In general, Ron Lewis's choreography for this show is a lot better than his direction. But the big band that backs Liza and the guys sounds great, even if the sound design is a little overbearing. Bravo to music supervisor Billy Stritch and conductor/drummer Michael Berkowitz for their stellar work.

At the center of it all is one of the most talented people on the face of the earth, giving her utmost to her fans with unfailing energy and incandescent star power. For this show, Liza with a Z gets an A. 

The cast of Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Photo: Joan Marcus)
 

If you're a gay man in New York for the holidays and you're looking for Christmas-themed entertainment other than the perennial Nutcracker at New York City Ballet or the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, I have good news and bad news. On the one hand, you don't have to suffer through Patrick Page's over-the-top camping in the title role of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, since that show has not returned to the Great White Way this season. (Did you know the Grinch was gay? I didn't until I saw this performance!)

On the other hand, if you attend Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Marquis Theatre, you'll be subjected to at least two examples of the kind of sophomoric, borderline offensive gay "humor" that went out with the 1950s.

In one instance, the two leading men (Stephen Bogardus and Jeffry Denman as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis) are in the midst of a number when one of them "jokes" that they're dancing too close together. (This is supposed to be a scary thing because neither of them has been with a woman for awhile.) Later, when circumstances force Bob and Phil to perform a song called "Sisters" in lieu of leading ladies Betty and Judy Haynes (Kerry O'Malley and Meredith Patterson), the men's half-hearted aping of femininity is embarrassing rather than hilarious.

Randy Skinner's spiffy choreography is expertly performed by the leads and the ensemble. The production design, with sets by Anna Louizos, costumes by Carrie Robbins, and lighting by Ken Billington, is top-drawer. And all of the songs we know from the movie, plus several hits from other Berlin sources ("I Love a Piano," "Let Yourself Go," "Blue Skies," etc.), sound great in terrific orchestrations by Larry Blank and Bruce Pomahac.  But the plot of the show is so contrived, the characters so paper thin, and the jokes so lame that the overall impression is of a huge waste of time and money.

A friend of mine maintains that the White Christmas film is more beloved in theory than in actuality. I somehow never caught up with the flick till a few years ago, and I found it insufferable — an adjective that can certainly be applied to this stage version, ineptly adapted by book writers David Ives and Paul Blake, and poorly directed by Walter Bobbie. My suggestion: Look elsewhere for holiday cheer.