Saturday, May 06, 2006

I listen to the audio commentary so you don't have to

I'm standing next to Spencer thinking "Oh my God I'm so sweaty." Yeah Freddy! Wipe off and go get 'em girl. There they are, the guys! Here we go. And they stood up! I nearly fell down. They stood up, just, that was it! Nobody's telling anybody to do anything. This is the live performance. He caught everything just then, when Neil looked at me like, "Wow!" See look at them standing, I couldn't believe it. I'm so relieved. I thought, "Oh I did a good job. Fosse'll be happy, Freddy'll be happy. I did 'em proud." Yeah guys! Huh! I want to step off the stage, but no. Now right here I want to step off the stage and Fosse is yelling, "Stay there! Stay there!" And they brought the curtain up again! ... Thank God for people. ... And thank you you guys for buying this. I hope I was able to just tell a little bit about what it felt like to be there. I get all excited and stumble over my words. But you know what? That's O.K.

3 comments:

Middento said...

So did you like it? Given that this is one of the lost films by the guy that gave me my fraternity nickname, I've been interested, yet too busy to watch it.

Beedow said...

funny the timing that life arranges: i haphazardly purchased this album about 6 weeks ago and then, one night in Owensboro, KY alone in my hotel room eating a peanut butter sandwich, i tuned into Showtime, which was featuring the concert. this woman is brilliant. if you haven't seen her interview with Jim Lipton, you need to.

J.J. said...

JMR: Yes, it was extraordinary. It is the gold standard for one-person shows. This woman is something -- not conventionally beautiful, not vocally proficient. But her ability to entertain and combine her careening charisma with wild energy is really something.

I first got to know her on Arrested Development, believe it or not. She's brilliant on the show. Like, comic genius. Then I finally saw Cabaret, then Liza with a Z. What a knockout. And the special features on the new DVD illustrate how happy she is with her life, how cognizant and grateful she is of her luck and legacy. The audio commentary is a whole one-woman show itself. You can picture her remembering the steps and dancing along as she comments.

I'd compare her joie de vivre and longevity to William Shatner. In fact, the two of them should have their own variety show: LizaShat. I'm completely serious.