LORNA LUFT LETS LOOSE
LUSTILY AND WITH LOVE

A veteran performer pushes through rough patches
with grit, gratitude, and plenty of show-biz heart

There’s plenty of energy and goodwill going back and forth between performer and audience when singer Lorna Luft takes the stage. Those who’ve followed her over the decades know that the trouper has been through a lot (surviving cancer, for example), and her vocals can evidence rough patches with intonation and precision issues. The sound, while often full of old-school brio and dynamism, can seem forced and effortful at times, and one wonders if she feels obligated to go BIG as a belter, due to audience expectation, her reputation, and her determination. She’s game and a musical gladiator, ready to charge forth, with plenty of charge in her show-biz battery power.

It’s somewhat puzzling since the bumpy moments can be unpredictable, not directly proportional to the range or length of notes in a musical phrase. Her somewhat uneven solo show on February 18 was an “off” night compared to her far more on-target concert in April, which was rather swell: (shared with Andrea McArdle, who, like Miss Luft, is performing once a month at the Laurie Beechman Theatre). Other reports over the last several months have been OK, too. And there are always songs that excite and delight that make a night with this lady a loving Lorna-palooza.

The opening number of the set, “Who Will Buy?” (from the musical Oliver!), seemed strident and unnecessarily forceful when it could have opted for gentler joy, serenity, or awe about reveling in the glorious blue-sky morning described in the lyric. The next selection forecast sunnier moods ahead: “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive.” So let’s take a cue from that tune’s title and philosophy and emphasize the best of the rest.

The gracious performer did well with some well-chosen, welcome repertoire, some of which the belter first had under her belt years ago. For example, a mega-medley of famous movie songs that did not win the Oscar for Best Song — and were “not even nominated” — was a treat. She aced this well-paced whirlwind of samples and snippets of classics interspersed with connective tissue by composer Larry Grossman and Fred Ebb, with a lyric lamenting the overlooked gems. (It was first performed at the 1979 Academy Awards ceremony by Sammy Davis Jr. and Steve Lawrence, and taken up by savvy Lorna the next decade. It remains a surefire audience-pleasing highlight.)

Subjects for her spoken commentary included gratitude for the recently refurbished and reopened venue, moving back to New York City, and a memory of advice she got as a young performer from Lena Horne (“You’ve got to make friends with yourself”), which led to “My Own Best Friend” from the musical Chicago. Her patter could use some editing, as her enthusiasm leads to repetition of certain phrases (“And I have to tell you…”) and the hyperbolic adjectives “amazing,” “incredible,” and “wonderful,” which become less impactful when used to describe so many things and people.

Also discussed was a new movie-industry award named for her mother: the Judy Garland Legacy Award. While she didn’t dwell on memories of her mom this time around, some of the night’s set list overlapped with the legend’s repertoire. That giant medley of non-nominated screen gems included a generous-length version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” introduced by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis. She also spoke about recording a studio cast album of the 1930 Gershwin score of Girl Crazy, offering “I Got Rhythm,” and did a segment about being part of a recent mounting of Babes in Arms, with its hits penned by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (Judy co-starred in movie versions of both musicals with Mickey Rooney). Hart was also discussed at some length, fondly, in relation to the recent film about the last year of his life, Blue Moon.

As usual, music direction and piano were handled solidly and with grace by husband Colin Freeman, without drawing attention to himself as he led a trio with bass and drums.

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Lorna Luft: The Beechman Residency
Laurie Beechman Theatre in the West Bank Cafe
407 West 42nd Street, New York, NY
upcoming performances: March 27, April 25, May 21, and June 20
for tickets, visit The Beechman

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