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Liza Minnelli: Liza's At the Palace
'Liza's At the Palace' captures Minnelli's thrilling midnight performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on October 1, 2009, where she re-created her Broadway show at the Palace Theater, which, just a few months earlier, had won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event. The concert features songs written by such greats as George and Ira Gershwin , Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Sammy Cahn and the team most associated with Minnelli, John Kander and Fred Ebb, composers of the showstoppers "Cabaret," "Maybe This Time," "But the World Goes 'Round" and "New York, New York." Divided into two acts, Liza's At The Palace' also includes two special tributes: to Liza's mother, Judy Garland, via a performance of Garland's own 1951 Palace Theater tribute to vaudeville; and to Liza's godmother, Kay Thompson, a groundbreaking singer-dancer, songwriter and vocal arranger/coach at MGM in the 1940s. David Rooney of Variety echoed that enthusiasm, noting that "Minnelli's charisma is undiminished and her vocals still have power, warmth and a startling ability to make every song personal." 'Liza's At The Palace' won the 2009 Independent Theatre Reviewers Association Award for Best Female Theatrical Performance and a Drama Desk Special Award for a "beloved American musical theater icon, for her enduring career of sustained excellence, and her glorious performance in 'Liza's at the Palace.' " The production was also nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and the Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Musical. Minnelli is joined in the program by her Broadway co-star and musical director, the legendary pianist, singer and composer Billy Stritch. 'Liza's At The Palace' is directed by the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated Matthew Diamond ("Dancemaker," "So You Think You Can Dance"). Nominated for an Academy Award for 1969's "The Sterile Cuckoo," Liza Minnelli won the Best Actress Oscar three years later for her unforgettable performance as Sally Bowles in Bob Fosse's "Cabaret," which also won her a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the U.K. She won an Emmy for her 1972 special "Liza With a 'Z' "and received a Grammy Legend Award in 1989. Her films also include Otto Preminger's "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon," Stanley Donen's "Lucky Lady," her father Vincente Minnelli's "A Matter of Time," Martin Scorsese's "New York, New York" and the comedy smash "Arthur."