Review: Lorna Luft Celebrates Gay Pride and Mom Judy Garland Through Jubilant and Poignant Standards at Feinstein's/54 Below

When preparing to watch Lorna Luft perform in concert, it is impossible not to feel nostalgic about her late mother, the legendary Judy Garland. Perhaps no one is more aware of this conundrum than Luft herself. And yet, at her return engagement to Feinstein's/54 Below on June 22 (the opening of a three-show run), performing a show celebrating Gay Pride Month, Luft managed to pay homage to both her mother's influence on herself as well as her enduring cultural impact, while also reminding audiences why she's had staying power in this industry in her own right. And yes, there was a juicy Judy story or two.

The show almost had to start on a somber note given the shock to the LGBT community with the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 12, in which 49 people were killed. After acknowledging the tragedy, Luft's song choices refrained from dwelling on the world's dire state, but rather were intended to elevate the necessity of love. Hence, Johnny Mercer's "Accentuate the Positive," segueing smoothly into a multi-song Mercer medley. This afforded Luft her first opportunity to delve into her mother's fascinating show business and personal lives, and how they often were intertwined. From the time Garland was a teenager, she engaged in a not-so-secret relationship with Mercer, despite the fact--Luft recounted with a chuckle--that both were either engaged or married to someone else. However tempestuous their personal relationship may have been, the Garland-Mercer creative collaboration was far more fruitful and, at Garland's request, Mercer wrote a song for her called "Lorna." To hear her mother sing it was "the biggest thrill of my life," Luft remarked with touching sincerity.

The sentimental nature of the show grew from there, as Luft took on the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, "Cockeyed Optimist" (from South Pacific) with lyrics marked by the all-too-resonant, "I hear the human race/Is falling on its face/And hasn't very far to go." As she soared to the song's climactic final notes, in great and fervent voice, it was the first of a few times throughout the show in which Audience members were roused from their seats.

Luft then reeled off a heavy hitting set of standards that required unrelenting belting. Much to the singer's credit (and unlike some other performers of her stature), the between-song banter was quite minimal, with small talk only relevant to the given song. Luft delivered three tunes by the great Peter Allen (the first husband of her half-sister, Liza Minnelli), whom Luft Lovingly called, "My champion." At the end of an "Everything Old Is New Again/When I Get My Name in Lights" medley, Luft cocked her head towards the sky. She recalled an instance when she was 14 and suffering, Allen would tell her through a dense Australian accent that none of it would matter when her name was in lights. "Peter, I did it," she said. "You'd be proud."

Luft continued her mini-Allen homage with "I Could Marry the Rain," and a surprisingly cohesive mash up of "I Honestly Love You" and "Don't Cry Out Loud." She then moved on to two Irving Berlin classics which, frankly, felt more obligatory than inspired--a truth which Luft herself acknowledged, explaining that, "You can't have July 4th without Irving Berlin. It's the law of show business." Luft then announced that she will once again be participating in a production of Berlin's White Christmas this coming holiday season and, though the balmy heat outside would beg to differ, Christmas came early to Feinstein's/54 Below, as she joyfully crooned "Blue Skies" and "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy."

Luft then turned her attention back to Gay Pride. "I went down to the Stonewall Inn for the first time a couple of days ago," she said of the iconic West Village venue, known as the birthplace of the LGBT movement. "I am so honored the owners of the Stonewall are with me tonight," she added as the houselights came up and two men stood to rapturous applause. "I stand here tonight, shoulder-to-shoulder with my brothers and my sisters with every fiber of my being," she said. "I wanted to find a song that sort of said what we hope for." What followed was equal parts emotional and shocking.

"I've never sung this song, not because it was too hard for me emotionally, but because I've always felt you can't improve upon perfection," Luft told the audience, as they collectively bated their breath. "But if ever I'm gonna sing this, now is the time." As she let flow the first instantly recognizable bars of "Over the Rainbow," the air in the room became mystically rarified.

"Why, oh why, can't I?" Luft triumphantly concluded, through tears that felt neither contrived nor indulgent. Just before the song's end--this is true--two separate people knocked their chairs over while leaping to their feet to applaud. In fact, the response was so vigorous, that were it up to the audience, they would probably still be standing there now, days later, cheering with as much passion.

On one final, elated note, Luft concluded the jovial evening with Paul Jabara's "Last Dance," receiving some onstage accompaniment from four, drag queens dressed to the glittering nines, "This is for everyone tonight," she whooped, inviting the audience to join her in dancing and celebrating. As you might have guessed, they happily obliged.

Photos by Walter McBride