User reviews

I saw this for the first time on TV when I was a child. I remembered liking it a great deal-I think it was the first time I'd seen Liza Minelli. Watched it again today on Showtime and was amazed! Liza was fabulous-and the whole thing seemed so undated-that was a real surprise. Bob Fosse's choreography is still so modern looking and sexy. Halston's costumes were gorgeous and even when he put her in knickers (which believe it or not were IN for about 5 minutes during this time) she still doesn't look dated-you just think "Wow, I didn't remember KNICKERS looking that amazing"! The only thing that looks time-warpish is the hair and facial hair of her backup dancers. The guys have big, fluffy mustaches and it looks like she is being backed-up by 1970s porn stars. Other than that this special could have been done yesterday. The decision to do it live was perfect-Liza starts off quiet, and she just does a slow burn. By the end of the show her hair is plastered to her head with sweat and she is just burning and glowing and brilliant. An artist at the peak of her powers. Liza is just as talented as her famous mother, I think. She has all of Judy's raw talent & her incredible vulnerability, but with Liza you also get sex-I had forgotten how very sexy she was. By all means watch this special on Showtime or rent the DVD-you will not be bored.

Right after her Oscar-winning performance in CABARET, Liza Minnelli took her act on the road and it was brought to television in the form of LIZA WITH A Z. Directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, who won an Emmy for his efforts, this breathtaking evening of musical theater showcased Liza Minnelli doing what she does best...singing, dancing, clowning, completely commanding a stage and captivating an audience. From the opening number "Yes" from 70 GIRLS 70 to the title tune, written especially for her by John Kander and Fred Ebb to a striking production number called "Ring Them Bells", Liza doesn't just prove to be a superb songstress, but a great actress who makes every number a show within itself. She brings an intensity to an old Tin Pan Alley classic "It was a Good Time" and rocks the house with "I Gotcha" and wraps the evening with a medley of songs from CABARET...a once in a lifetime concert event and a must for Minnelli fans.

We have really come a long way in terms of visual storytelling and the types of shows that get produced on television, but when I was watching it, the one thing that stuck out was Bob Fosse's choreography. Especially in the "Ring the Bells" number, it really shows how he was able to bring so much to live. Also, we should remember that a primary reason this was able to be resotred was that he paid so much attention to detail, some technical aspects of the show that they were concerned about were able to be salvaged.

On another note, I think you get a somewhat good glimpse of the 70s when you watch this show.

This magnificent film about Liza Minnelli is one of the best films showcasing a popular entertainer at her prime. Bob Fosse directed with a keen eye and great panache. He gets the viewer involved in the performance and what the star is trying to accomplish. The music material by Kander and Ebb never sounded to poignant and fresh, as interpreted by Ms. Minnelli.

The late 60s and early 70s brought forth an unusual talent, Liza Minnelli. She was at the time at the best moment of her career. She had a voice, youth, and she could move well, following Bob Fosse's choreography, designed to enhance the presentation.

The film has been kept in mint condition and just recently released on cable. Fans of Liza Minnelli can rejoice in rediscovering that vibrant entertainer showing her public why she was a star on her own right.

i was lucky enough to have seen the show when it was originally broadcast. I have been looking for a copy of this show either on VHS or Video Disc. But have not been able to achieve my goal. Anyway, I remember that I was impacted, I fell in love with Liza that very first time, what a woman, Energy, Charisma, strength, voice. I remember watching her sing every song, I used to know all the lyrics of all her songs, and even remember some of the steps. It was the best show I ever saw, and actually have not been able to see another show like that. I've seen Madonna or Cher live, but they can't compare with Liza and her voice. I saw her live years later here on my hometown, she is still great, but I think that this is her best concert ever.

It would be difficult to imagine another performer on the planet capable of accomplishing what Liza Minnelli achieved in her riveting hour-long performance of "Liza with a Z." In its beautifully restored version, this stunning television showcase, originally broadcast on May 31, 1972, is now available for a new generation of viewers.

The expression "triple threat" is used in the theatre for those gifted performers with skills in singing, acting, and dancing. Liza Minnelli is at the top of her game in all three areas in this knockout performance. With the brilliant choreography of Bob Fosse and the electric feeling of a live audience at New York's Lyceum Theatre, this was a spellbinding and virtuoso performance. While not listed in the credits, the dancing ensemble also deserves kudos for their supporting contributions to this singular and indeed historic concert.

Among all of the dazzling numbers, including "Bye, Bye, Blackbird" and Liza's "Cabaret" medley, my favorite selection was the most personal and introspective, a quiet love monologue adapted by Liza from one of Charles Aznavour's songs, "You've Let Yourself Go." The song is a confession of a wife to her husband about the rather mundane and unexciting state of their relationship. Liza's interpretation, including her raw emotions and the coloring of the words, was unforgettable in its honesty and simplicity. This song and the other dynamic numbers reveal the range of Liza's performing abilities in a show for the ages!

Liza Minnelli's Emmy-award winning musical TV special, directed by Bob Fosse, and coming right on the heels of their Oscar-winning "Cabaret". After listening to this record album for years, I was quite excited to find a copy on video (transferred from the 16mm print). I was surprised by two things: 1) that the LP captures most of the show's excitement all on its own, which says a lot for the command of Liza's singing and the quality of the music; and 2) that Fosse is irreplaceable in the business of musical-comedy staging. The dancing on numbers like "I Gotcha!" and "Son Of A Preacher Man" is incredible, with Fosse's sensual style of choreography bringing down the house. Still in all, it's Liza's singing that is the show's centerpiece, and she's in fine, clear voice throughout. Dramatic, comedic, self-effacing, flirtatious, silly, giggling, Liza proves to be a virtuoso performer of great magnitude.

Liza/Z is great! Really good bonus features. The Toronto Film Fest alone, proves that Liza is still sharp as a whip! That said, she did forget that at the beginning of Son of A Preacher Man - Fosse was paying tribute to Ailey with those "Revelations" arms. And I'm still trying to find out the name of the male singer that starts Preacherman.

As much as I'm thankful for the careful restoration of this major event, I still feel that an integral part of the show has been slighted: the dancers! I really wish someone had bothered to list the dancers in the credits. While a few names are mentioned, surely the overall group should be known as more than just "the kids". I understand that 1972 was a long time around, but surely someone remembers all of their names. In fact, I would have enjoyed seeing Liza in a room with the some of the dancers - sharing memories. (I know Candy Brown is still around)

Liza Minnelli has it in her genes from her beloved mother, Judy Garland, and Vincente Minnelli. Although she states that her sister Lorna Luft is the singer in the family, LIza is the entertainer of our generation. She can sing, dance, act, and do it all. Thirty years later, her career is revived after another divorce and health problems. Liza may never be as fit as she was when she performed on stage in a live production in 1972. Liza has always been an incredible performer. I love her in Cabaret and I refuse to see any production of the musical because I can't imagine anybody but Liza as Sally Bowles, the sad Berlin singer who craves the love of a good man and the love of her own father in the film. This stage version is like an extended performance of her from the film, Cabaret. Unlike the film, this show is not as dark and lonely. Liza worked hard for six weeks before this production. IT's a once in a lifetime event and I wasn't even born yet. I first bought her Liza with a Z CD to listen in the car. You can't imagine not singing along with her as well. Now I look forward to seeing her dance, sing, and entertain us in the DVD. Believe me, nobody today can touch Liza as a performer.

Although she received considerable attention for stage and film work, throughout the 1960s Liza Minnelli was best known as the daughter of legendary Judy Garland. In the early 1970s, however, Minnelli began to emerge as a distinct talent in her own right, and her Best Actress Oscar win for CABARET put her over the top. In the wake of the film's success, she re-teamed with director Bob Fosse for an hour-long television concert. Titled LIZA WITH A Z, the program was a critical and ratings smash--but television programing is a transient sort of thing, and soon the show was relegated to the vaults. It was not seen again for more than thirty years.

Seen today in the remastered Showtime DVD release, LIZA WITH A Z gives you a very clear idea of what all the fuss was about. It is impossible to watch Minnelli without comparing her to Garland, and it is true there is some actual basis for comparison: the sense of humor, the energy, the intensity are very similar, and from time to time Minnelli's vocal phrasing echos Garland. All the same, the comparison will only take you so far; even when performing such Garland-esquire material as Jolson's "My Mammy," Minnelli is distinctly herself.

Her glitchy body language becomes an asset for director and choreographer Fosse, who used it to such great effect in CABARET and repeats the effect here--and who backs Minnelli with a solid chorus of dancers performing his own demanding, highly eccentric work. When Minnelli blasts out "Ring Them Bells" or down-shifts to a tightly controlled "Bye, Bye Blackbird," Fosse's dancers are memorable indeed.

Whether it's a new take on Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" or a piece specifically written for her such as "Say Liza," Minnelli never gives less than one hundred percent. Even so, there are one or two lapses in the material. In hindsight, such selections as "I Gotcha" and "Son of a Preacher Man" are not really the best possible choices--but even so she works hard to sell them, and while you may question the choice of song you never question her talents.

Of particular interest is the "time capsule" quality of the show. Although she had many later successes, Minnelli was somehow never able to keep her career on a consistent track; LIZA WITH A Z catches her at the crest, before one bad decision too many took its toll. The same "time capsule" quality applies to Fosse's staging; it is also distinctly early 1970s--and when Minnelli steps out in an aggressively pink Halston dress it couldn't be any other period.

The remaster is quite good, and the DVD comes with a number of interesting extras, including Minnelli's audio track and bios of both Minnelli and Fosse; the deluxe DVD edition also includes the audio CD. Recommended for Minnelli and Fosse fans.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

When I first viewed this TV concert in 1972 I thought it the best TV concert ever. Nothing in the intervening 28 years has done anything to change my mind. Liza and director-choreographer Bob Fosse are at the peak of their respective careers and it shows in this luminous performance. I still hope for its return to video in some format.

First off let me make something clear--I LOVE Liza Minnelli. She's talented, beautiful can sing and act. I'm also a big fan of her mom. But this show just bored me. I saw the restored version on Showtime last night.

The show was remastered--the picture was as clear as a 1972 TV special can be, the colors were strong and the sound was excellent. Liza herself looked incredible and belted out the songs full force. But I didn't recognize most of the songs and she seemed to be acting in a REAL strange way during a bunch of lullabies. Also the dance numbers were just OK--nothing special. The show only came to life at the very end when she did all her songs from "Cabaret" (No "New York, New York"--that was 3 years later). Basically I quickly lost interest and patiently waited for the show to end.

I'm not sure why I hated this so much. Minnelli was superb...but I was just bored silly. I can't recommend this at all.

wow! i think Liza was a star that really made it to the top...and then some. i think she was such a great performer in her day , she still have that great performer in her to this day.

she really put a lot of pain and sweat in her performance. she truly is a performer by heart. i could'not believe it was the daughter of the all time greatest Judy gander. i thought she was just a fantastic singer. nobody in the world would have thought that she was Judy's daughter.

but some how,she pulled it of. she is just another icon that was in the making.

Phenomenal is the only word for LIZA WITH A Z - did you notice that there were no spectacular sets or special effects, just an incredibly versatile artist accompanied by a dancing ensemble and an orchestra. Who of today's "artists" could do that? With all the negative news about LIza in the past decade or so, some people tend to forget that in the two decades after CABARET Liza was indeed a superstar of the first magnitude - if her movie career never really took off (remember duds like LUCKY LADY and A MATTER OF TIME?), she was still the Queen of the Concert Stage in the US and Europe.

Liza was absolutely in her prime here - incredibly, she was only 26 in this year of CABARET and LIZA WITH A Z, and her voice was in great shape: rich, resonant and powerful - all the notes were there, big-time! (Check out some 1960s Minnelli recordings like "Come Saturday Morning" - her voice was much higher and sweeter then than we're used to.) And yes, there were certain brief moments when she looked (rather than sounded) like her mother, but she's all LIZA. I saw her on Broadway in CHICAGO in 1975, and caught her first "Post-Betty Ford Center" tour in 1985, and she was still brilliant (That's when she starting singing "When I gooooooooooooo - I'm NOT - going - like - El - sie!") and at an outdoor theater in 1992. What a performer!

Barbra Streisand had MY NAME IS BARBRA - LIZA WITH A Z is Liza Minnelli's MY NAME IS BARBRA! Truly legendary performances by truly legendary performers.

After many years from seeing this performance on TV, I purchased the DVD, and after viewing it I had forgotten how amazing and entertaining this concert was. It is by far the best concert that I have seen to date. What sets it above the rest is the way Bob Fosse directed it. Not only does Liza and company give an outstanding performance but Fosse actually brings you up close and personal with his choice of camera angels, cut a ways to the audience, back stage shots and those beautiful close ups of Liza, you feel like you are there on stage. On the technical side, the costumes, sets and lighting are minimal but pack a powerful image that complements the entire show, kudos to the technical staff and designers. The sound and orchestra are right in sync with the dancers and Fosses choreography. I recommend this DVD and give it a Zen, (oops) I mean a ten. Thank you.

The show was broadcast on T.V. once or twice in the early '70s. Recently I had the rare pleasure of viewing a bootleg video of the show as it was broadcast. If you think you know how well Liza could dance, and how captivating she was on stage, and if you think you know how extraordinary Bob Fosse's choreography & direction could be, and you haven't seen this performance, then you still don't know.

The marriage of Liza, Kander & Ebb, Fosse & the glitz of early 1970s musical theater come together here in perfect harmony. The lighting, the dancing, the songs, the costumes, the star. This was the year that Liza won an Oscar (for Cabaret), and an Emmy & a Tony for this production, "Liza with a Z". She may have also gotten a Grammy that year, but even if she didn't, it's a hat trick that stands alone in the annals of American entertainment. For her and for us, it's been all down hill from here.

To see her do "Ring Them Bells", "Mammy", "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Bye, Bye, Blackbird", just four numbers on this hour-long video, is worth the trouble of finding a bootleg copy.

At some point it must have been decided that some more material was needed, but Liza was in London by then. So Marvyn Hamlisch was flown over and Liza was filmed doing the extra song or songs in a London theatre. I can't remember which one, but the sound crew was hired from Anvil Films in Denham, Bucks.