I've been listening to the off-Bwy recording of Best Foot Forward, and I can't get over how much emotion she put, as a 17 year-old, into the number "You Are For Living." I imagine audiences must have gone wild.
I grew up near the Mineola Playhouse and Westbury Music Fair on Long Island and luckily my mother was a big Judy fan. As a result, I saw a seventeen-year-old Liza carry the musical CARNIVAL on her young shoulders.Shortly after she appeared in THE FANTASTICKS with Elliott Gould. For my birthday, I asked for tickets to FLORA, THE RED MENACE. The next year she appeared at Westbury Music Fair in THE PAJAMA GAME (though Luba Lisa stole the show and was my first celebrity kiss). Liza was indeed a triple threat. And like many others, I find it hard to believe she was never a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award. And yes, her version of "You Are For Loving" is wonderful.