Friday, May 24, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
There is Liza Minnelli, a big gap, then all the rest of the female variety performers. No entertainer, male or female, can generate the electricity that precedes the curtain going up when this lady performs. It was true again Thursday in Bally's capacious Celebrity Room, with all 1,400 seats occupied. And very few can deliver 90 nonstop minutes like Liza can -- and does consistently.
Bill "Pappy" LaVorgna is there at the drums, as always, a solid rock, conducting a full orchestra including strings in near-perfect accompaniment. This is a new show with a new opening number, which consists of the lead lines of a dozen or more previous opening numbers, a knockout. "Long Ago and Far Away" is woven into a lovely medley. There's a brief "Hello," and a dramatic reading of "Old Friend" and a special material piece.
More special material, then a mention of her late father, Vincent Minnelli, who directed "Gigi," and she sings the title song as it might be sung to a daughter by her mother, most effective. "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" becomes "Thank Heaven for Little Boys" as an introduction to the Cortez Alexander Trio, superb singers, individually and collectively, a fine complement.
All the Ebb and Kander song classics are there, with "New York, New York" as the closer. The pleasant plus is some heartfelt ballads from her new "Angel" album, which includes a duet with Johnny Mathis on "Chances Are," duplicated during the show.
This was a special night, one for this critic's memory book. We were there when she made her Las Vegas debut at the Sahara somewhere in the 1960s. Working as a critic or not, we will always be there for this lady.
JOE DELANEY is a SUN entertainment critic.
archive
