Ron Howard, Emma Rice, Neil Tennant and more on Liza Minnelli: ‘She vacationed at my little house on the Corniche’ | Liza Minnelli

Ron Howard: “She taught me card tricks when I was seven years old.”

I first met Lisa in 1963 when I was playing Eddie in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. I was seven years old and I got this casting role that was directed by the great Vincente Minnelli. There were no other kids in this movie, so I had a welfare worker who was also a teacher at the studio, and I was alone in my little second-grade classroom. But one day, Vincent introduced me to his daughter, who he said would be hanging out here.

She was 14 years old. Spending time with this seven-year-old must have been painful for her, but she was full of energy and fun. I remember feeling so cool that this teenage girl was showing me card tricks. You taught me how to shuffle a deck of cards. She taught me how to play solitaire. When she became a star, many years later, I recognized her and said to myself: “Okay, that’s Liza Minnelli.”

We never saw each other again until she did Arrested Development in 2003. [Creator] Mitch Horowitz had a great idea for this character, Lucille II, and Lisa was the only person we followed. He knew I knew her, but I said, “Well, I don’t know if she remembers me or not.” But her agent told me about it, so I called her to try to recruit her. We laughed about our relationship and she was glad I remembered that. And I was thrilled that she did too.

I was always laughing on the show and I always had to pull myself together. I just marveled at how great Lisa’s comedic energy was at that point in her life. But she was always bold. She hasn’t played it safe her whole life. She has always been a fearless actress and artist. Ron Howard is an actor, director, and was the narrator and executive producer of Arrested Development

Bruce Roberts: “I Spilled Red Wine on My White Carpet”

Lisa and I were neighbors in Los Angeles, and she drove up one day with her manager, Barry Crost. “This is my new client,” Barry said to me, and she looked out the window and said, “Hi, honey!” I had some songs and I said, “Why don’t you come over and record them?” “Okay, I’ll think about it,” she said. A day later she called: “Hi honey, it’s me. I want to sing.” I just got new white carpeting in the basement of my studio. I walked in and the first thing I did was pour a glass of red wine over everything. So it started like this.

I had to be in Lisa’s mode, so I quickly got into it, singing 25 songs while sitting on my couch. [The resulting album, Confessions, came out in 2010.] It was all very informal. The performances were great. Just pure Liza Minnelli.

She had a very social life. She would have dinners, parties, and everyone at work would come. She’ll have a grand piano, Billy [Stritch, Minnelli’s musical director] They will play, and everyone will sing. From Quentin Tarantino to every star, oh my god. Anyone in town knew their Friday would be brightened up. It was the best time I had in Los Angeles. Those are my golden years.
Bruce Roberts is a singer and songwriter

Emma Rice: “She’s an absolute glamor bomb.”

In my three meetings with Lisa, she was the opposite of stellar. She has always been very generous. She is very young and cute. She’s such an absolute charm bomb. But also with amazing humility.

I stayed at my house once when I lived in Cornwall. I wasn’t there. I did it well but it was a prefab house, not a glamorous house. She went to the local pub and didn’t reveal her identity, but she had great conversations with the locals. I really immersed myself in Cornish life.

Every time I meet Lisa, she is flattered by my work. And it feels very awkward because you want to say, “You’re Liza Minnelli, I was in a club.” I’ve always wanted to be on my knees and bow to her. Really, they were two ladies who were very nice to each other.

Lisa came to see Brief Encounter when he was in New York, and the ill-fated Umbrellas of Cherbourg. He was liked by a few people. Liza Minnelli was one of them, and it turns out you need more than that to succeed. But as far as my life story goes, it’s been a lot. She came and joined the cast backstage, including Cynthia Erivo. It was so magical. And you know, a woman like Lisa doesn’t have to do that.
Emma Rice is a theater director and former artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe

Neil Tennant: “I took it to an acid club with Bruce’s Matt Goss”

The thing about Lisa is, yes, we all loved David Bowie in the early ’70s, but there were other things that were really important: films like A Clockwork Orange, Death in Venice, and Cabaret. The way Sally Bowles looked and dressed was, to use that awful word, iconic. Goes to punk. Siouxsie Sioux is sort of a version of Liza in Cabaret.

Lisa is a big star, and the boys at the pet store have always been fascinated by big stars. She was embarking on a tour with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. in 1988, and we met her at the Mayfair Hotel in London. Chris [Lowe] And I got out of the elevator and we were laughing because it seemed so ridiculous. She replied: We rang the doorbell to Lisa’s suite, and the three of us laughed. It was really funny. We had tea and discussed the idea of ​​making a record [released as Results in 1989]. I don’t think Lisa knew much about the Pet Shop Boys. The great thing about her is that she will wholeheartedly immerse herself in something and take direction, and at the same time she has the essence of Lisa.

Matt Goss was trying to write the Bros’ second album in the studio upstairs while we were recording the scores. So Lisa started getting dressed because every morning she had to pass through this crowd of bruceites, who were becoming increasingly fascinated by her. We — Chris, Matt, Goss, Lisa, and I — ended up going to an acid house night in heaven called “Land of Oz.” Matt was probably the most famous among us at the time, and he was certainly the only one with a bodyguard.

I’m always a bit wary of works related to the “gay symbol” – I think it’s a straight forward idea. We weren’t trying to do something at camp. But there is a definition of camp that revolves around the idea of ​​doing something with complete sincerity, and Lisa has incredible sincerity. For example, “If There Was Love,” which is a bit of an acid song, has a really poignant moment. We were recording strings with Ann Dudley, and during the sessions my best friend died of AIDS. I had been asked to read a Shakespeare piece at the funeral, so I had the sonnets in the studio with me, and we were going over them with Lisa to choose one for me to read. Then we thought: “Why doesn’t Lisa read Shakespeare’s sonnet about If There Were Love?” I read Sonnet 94 in one take and it is so beautiful.

Lisa performed Top of the Pops when Losing My Mind was the highest charting entry of the week, and she went with it. She wants to be liked by the audience but I said: “No, you have to look great, don’t smile.” So Lisa invented electro-pop. The BBC redecorated the dressing room pink for her, and I said to her: “Oh my God, they would never do this for us.”
Neil Tennant is the singer of the Pet Shop Boys

Audra McDonald: “She said ‘Audra, honey!’ and it melted me.”

I first saw Lisa at Arthur’s. So before I knew her as an amazing live singer, I knew her as Dudley Moore’s friend. I was completely fascinated by it – I knew every line from that movie. Then, when I was in college, I would constantly listen to Live at the London Palladium by Judy and Lisa.

Later, I fell in love with everything Lisa stood for. She has amazing talent – she’s an amazing singer, an amazing dancer, an amazing actress, and the energy she brings to the stage is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before – but the vulnerability and joy she brings to everything she does is so moving.

My friend was at an event that both Lorna and I were involved in [Luft, Liza’s half-sister] Lisa was home, and he said to them: “You know, my friend Audra is a big fan of you and your mother.” Lisa signed his business card for me, and Lorna signed an autographed photo of herself from Guys and Dolls. When my friend sent them to me, he wrote: “These are just two things I think you might enjoy from people who have seen inside Judy Garland’s womb.”

Later, Lisa and I organized an event together at Carnegie Hall. “Audra, honey!” she said. And it just melted me. I have had the good fortune to meet many very famous people, and with some you see character, and with others you see humanity. Lisa’s “personality” is exactly what she is: a brilliant, frenetic, beautiful ball of humanity and light. If I were to buy her an 80th birthday present, I think I would buy her another 100 years.
Audra McDonald is a singer and actress

Michael Feinstein: ‘She was worried she would die at 47’

Having been her friend for 40 years, it is amazing to watch Lisa continually develop and grow in so many beautiful ways. It is a personal victory for her to turn 80, as she once feared she would not live past 47, the age her mother Judy Garland was when she died. She finds it difficult to believe that she has reached this age and deals with it with her characteristic humor: “Bring me to the doctor’s face quickly!”

But she looks amazing, and Lisa will always be forever young, even ageless in the way she approaches life. She is as wise as a Zen master. Even if life is not always a club, it is constantly focused on joy and vitality. Thanks so much for the life lessons, Lisa. I am so glad you were born.
Michael Feinstein is a musician and archivist of the Great American Songbook

Gene Simmons: “She’s royal and great and wonderful.”

I first met her at fashion designer Halston’s house, which was a celebrity gathering place. I will never forget how Lisa walked into the middle of his room, along with the likes of Rudolf Nureyev, Cher and others, and started singing a beautiful melody. This single act made me feel at ease. Even then, I felt out of place.

I got to know Lisa a little more, and she eventually asked me to manage her music career. Shortly thereafter, she picked up the phone and called Walter Yetnikoff, head of Columbia and Epic Records. He asked us to come to his office and Lisa took it immediately.

I’ve had the privilege of being around men and women who have scaled heights and achieved greatness, but Lisa has always been in a class by herself. It is royal, grand and wonderful. Do yourself a favor: gather a group of your friends, dress up for a club and prepare to have your mind blown with an icon like no other.
Gene Simmons is the guitarist and vocalist for the band Kiss, and was Minnelli’s manager in the late 1980s.

Robert DeNiro: Happy birthday, long time no see

Robert De Niro co-starred with Minnelli in New York, New York

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