"Liza! at 80: A Celebration in Song and Dance" lit up the stage at Carnegie Hall last week. Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock And now for some truly old school showbiz gossip….
Die-hard fans of Liza Minnelli were sad that the legend didn’t attend a tribute at Carnegie Hall for her 80th birthday, “Liza! at 80: A Celebration in Song and Dance” last week.
(Andrew Rannells had gotten their hopes up when he apparently hinted to Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live!” that Liza might be there in the flesh, according to Liza obessesives.)
But either way, Rannells appeared on stage at the Transport Group’s tribute, along with stars including comedian Mario Cantone, Broadway hoofer Robyn Hurder and “Wicked” star Kristin Chenoweth.
A source told us, “Also missing was Liza’s longtime accompanist Billy Stritch, and some fans speculated it was due to friction between him and Michael Feinstein,” who has been Minnelli’s more recent right-hand piano man.
Added the insider, “Although Donna Murphy forgot some lyrics to ‘Colored Lights’ from Liza’s Broadway show ‘The Rink,’ and had to start over, that didn’t stop many in the audience from giving the Tony winner a standing ovation.”
But, we hear, “The evening’s true standout was Julie Halston, a friend of Liza’s, who told an uproarious story about attending a Barbra Streisand concert with Liza at Madison Square Garden in the ’90s alongside her late husband, NYC radio legend Ralph Howard — and how they came upon a weeping Richard Simmons trying to get backstage to give Streisand a doll he had made. She said Simmons stopped crying long enough to tell Howard how handsome he was.”
One of the evening’s final performers was Minnelli’s sister, Lorna Luft, who sang the Gershwin tune, “Liza.” “Lorna has not been in great health recently, although many said she looked and sounded better than she had in some time,” said the source.
And despite Liza’s absence, one fan told us, “It was over two hours of Liza being lauded in the loftiest terms. We were in heaven.”
