Garland’s daughter embraces legend’s legacy

By Jerry Fink

Monday, June 16, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Lorna Luft, youngest daughter of Judy Garland, is a card-carrying member of a small club. The members include the likes of Lisa Marie Presley, Frank Sinatra Jr. and Sean Lennon.

“Lots of us have stars as parents, very few of us have legends,” the 55-year-old Luft says during a phone interview from her home in Los Angeles. “We all handle it in different ways. Maybe it has taken all of us some time to deal with, but it’s not where you start but where you finish that counts.

“All of us have these huge shadows, so it’s all about how we embrace them. It’s an odd phenomenon we have in common.”

Luft has adapted quite well, thank you.

“I’ve come to peace with all of that,” she says, her vocal intonations sounding a bit like those of her legendary mother. “I have embraced my legacy. It took me awhile. It takes us all a long time.”

She’s cool with her sister, Liza Minnelli, but they don’t get to spend a lot of time together. They both lead busy lives, chasing the legacy willed to them by Garland.

“When she’s in England I’m here. When she’s here I’m in Australia. We’re traveling so much,” Luft says.

She will be traveling to Las Vegas for a three-day engagement at the Suncoast this weekend.

The first time she performed in Vegas was more than 30 years ago. She was on the bill with Danny Thomas.

Over the years she performed at most of the old venues, such as the Stardust and the Desert Inn.

“All of the places that all of us used to play, those with the smaller show rooms, have gone by the wayside,” Luft says.

She’s pleased to be coming to the Suncoast, which seats about 500.

“I think it’s great that they haven’t lost all of the smaller showrooms which, to me, is what Vegas was all about,” Luft says. “The Strip is for the tourists. It’s really great to go to a hotel that’s not on the Strip and be there for the people who actually live there.”

She loves Vegas.

“I liked the old Vegas. I’m glad it’s going back to being adult-friendly,” Luft says. “When they started making all the theme parks in the back of hotels for children, that wasn’t right. Vegas isn’t about that. Vegas isn’t for kids. Vegas is for big kids. I’m glad there are shows like ‘Zumanity’ and all that.”

She hasn’t performed here in a couple of years because of a hectic schedule that included several English theatrical productions, including “White Christmas” and “Babes in Arms.” She also has been touring to promote her 2007 CD release, “Songs My Mother Taught Me.”

Her Vegas show will be in the style of “an evening with Lorna Luft.”

“It’s a combination of all the shows I’ve been lucky enough to create and star in — the theatrical and Broadway shows,” she says. “That and a lot of other songs. Basically it’s my life onstage.”