Daughter keeping Garland’s legacy alive

Tom Titus

The last movie Judy Garland made was called “I Could Go on Singing.”

In a way, she’s still doing just that, thanks to her younger

daughter, who’s keeping the legendary vocalist’s legacy alive some 35

years after her mother’s death.

Lorna Luft, a Broadway and cabaret star in her own right, has

taken on the mission to preserve the Judy Garland story for

succeeding generations with her touring show entitled “Songs My

Mother Taught Me.”

She’ll bring this very personal tribute to Founders Hall of the

Orange County Performing Arts Center Nov. 16 for a week-long

engagement.

“I’ve been doing the show for five years now, and it’s been

incredibly well received,” Luft said in a telephone interview shortly

after returning home to Beverly Hills after performing for two months

in London’s West End.

At the time, she was getting ready to take her act to Florida --

“I’m so glad it’s still there [after four consecutive hurricanes],”

she said.

There are those who believe no one but Judy should ever attempt to

sing the songs she made famous, such as “Over the Rainbow,” “You Made

Me Love You” or “The Man That Got Away.” Until recently, Lorna and

her more celebrated sibling, Liza Minnelli, were among them.

Minnelli’s Carnegie Hall album contains none of her mother’s

signature numbers.

“Liza’s begun just recently to sing Mama’s songs,” Luft said.

“We’re two totally different people. It took me way into my 40s

(she’ll turn 52 the day after her show closes) to feel comfortable

enough to see that people never, ever forget what she’s done. She was

too important to the entertainment world for us not to say thank you

to.”

Actor Kevin Spacey, Luft said, put it in perspective when,

discussing who should carry Garland’s torch musically, he said, “If

not you, who else?”

Who else, indeed. But Luft’s initial tribute didn’t involve her

vocal cords. In 1997, she wrote the book, “Me and My Shadows,” about

growing up with a legend. In 2001, it was turned into a four-hour

television miniseries entitled “Life With Judy Garland: Me and My

Shadows,” starring Judy Davis and executive produced by Luft.

What was Luft’s involvement with that project?

“Everything down to the color of the costumes,” she said. “I

really wanted it to be right. All other producers and directors would

go on to other things. If this wasn’t done right, everybody would

remember that I did it.”

Evidently, she did it right. The show was nominated for 13 Emmys

and won five. Davis’ performance even was acknowledged by Meryl

Streep when she picked up her own Emmy for “Angels in America.”

In Luft’s musical valentine to her mother, there will be family

songs and stories set against a backdrop of film and video clips that

work in concert with the singer’s live performance, resulting in a

sort of mother-daughter duet similar to Natalie Cole’s

“Unforgettable” number with Nat King Cole.

Their first actual performance together came on TV’s Judy Garland

Show in 1964, when Lorna was 11. During one segment, Garland sang

“Liza” and “Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe” for two of her

children but regretted that “no one ever wrote a song about a Lorna.”

So Garland called on Johnny Mercer, who came up with the number

“Lorna” -- which Luft will include in her show at the center.

Lorna followed in her mother’s footsteps -- only on stage rather

than in film -- headlining regional theater and international

productions of “The Boy Friend,” “Grease,” “Carnival,” “Little Shop

of Horrors,” “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” “Follies,” “Girl Crazy”

(the stage version of one of Judy’s movies), “Mame” and, most

recently, as Mama Rose in “Gypsy.” She starred in the national tours

of “They’re Playing Our Song,” Jerry Herman’s “Broadway Years” and as

Miss Adelaide in the national and world tour productions of “Guys and

Dolls.”

Having established her own name, Lorna Luft then set out to ensure

that audiences would never forget her mother’s. The format for “Songs

My Mother Taught Me” was written by Ken and Mitzie Welch, who

scripted the hugely entertaining Carol Burnett Show for TV. Luft’s

10-piece band will perform under the baton of her husband, Colin

Freeman.

Will the show spark a renewed interest in her talents and perhaps

lead to another stint on Broadway? Luft sincerely doubts it, and

frankly, she’s not all that anxious to pursue it. Broadway, she

admits, scares her, and London is even worse.

“The theater business is so risky right now,” she said. “With the

way critics have been treating Broadway, it’s too frightening. You

put your heart and soul into a show, and people can close it with

what they say.

“London critics are just as cruel. I would rather give people a

great night in a concert and not give them a sitting target. They’ve

stepped over the line so far. There’s a very anti-American feeling in

London right now. It’s very frightening and sad.

“When Judi Dench, Trevor Nunn and Neil Simon start writing

reviews, that’s when people should read them. They’ve been there and

done it. People don’t understand what it takes to put on a Broadway

or West End show, and there are a few critics in London who hate the

theater.

“People really work hard in theater, and concerts are expensive.

If you paid to see someone, you deserve 110%, and that’s what we

give.”

One final word about her mother: “She was an amazing human being.

This is the way I’m able to say thank you. There are generations

growing up that may not know what she did. Please come -- and bring

your children.”

Lorna Luft will be singing all the “Songs My Mother Taught Me” at

7:30 p.m. from Nov. 16 to Nov. 20 in Founders Hall at the Orange

County Performing Arts Center. Advance reservations are being taken

at (714) 556-2787.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.