When Liza Stepped Into Chicago

[PalJoey]

1975. Gwen Verdon takes ill and has to leave the cast of the ailing Chicago for 5 weeks.

With only one week of rehearsal--and no prior public announcement--Liza Minnelli steps into the show to critical and public acclaim...and a greatly boosted box office.

Shortly after debuting in the show, Liza and Chita appear on Sammy Davis Jr's talk/variety show and Liza sings this knockout rendition of "My Own Best Friend," which Bob Fosse allowed her to do in the show as a solo and not as a duet.

http://youtu.be/Ra4Plaw3c-k

When the 5 weeks were over and Gwen returned to the show, Fosse presented Liza with a 18-karat gold Lifesaver.

[qolbinau]

Wow, that must have been such an 'event'. Great clip. I wish they could inject this kind of life and talent into the current revival, it really needs it.

[CurtainPullDowner]

I saw Liza in the show three times, she was great and knowing she was helping out people who had helped her made it very special.
And Liza and "Cheets" together were Golden.

I love the mini doc about this on the Chicago 2 disc DVD (or is it on the Liza with a Z disc? LOL) Did Gwen really swallow a feather? Oy.
Isn't this when Me and My Baby became a full on cakewalk, as opposed to the short ballad you hear Gwen sing on the cast album?

[husk_charmer]

I know Liza didn't want any advertisement about her being in the show...but did they put a slip or anything in the Playbill?

[KylePKJP]

In March of 2004 I spent 4 hours in a car in LA with Liza - my ex was a personal assistant to producer friends' of Liza so we were elected to chauffeur her that day. She had been in LA to present an HRC award and was supposed to fly back to NYC the next day, but an inner ear infection kept her from flying for several days.

Took her all over LA to appointments and got a history of LA from her perspective. For four hours, listened to amazing stories - while she chain-smoked Marlboro Lights - of life with Judy, making movies in LA, the shows she had done, etc. She kept coming back to her time starring in Chicago and expressed regret over not being involved in the film version. She said she had finally figured out how it could be made just as she learned it would be going into production. There was a sadness in her about that.

She's not at all what the public perceives of her. Full of life, sad that she can no longer dance (said she had enough metal in her hips/legs to run NASA), but was eagerly planning a big stage show for NY but wouldn't do it until she had it right. Guess her Palace show which she was nominated for in '09 was it.

During the whole car ride I kept thinking to myself "I can't ever tell this story because no one will believe me." But as a parting gift/thank you that day she gave me her agent's card and said if I was ever in NYC to call and she'd make sure I was well taken care of. I still have that card.

Kind of off-topic, but the thread's mention of Chicago brought back that day in LA and how much she talked about the show, and the sadness she felt about those days being in the past.

[best12bars]

^ Great L.A. story! Thanks for sharing it. Sorry she felt sad, but we all go through that. Maybe she just wanted to vent at that moment, and you were the lucky ear that was bent.

Oh, and having lived in L.A. for 23 years, I believe you. I have several of those "nobody would believe this" stories myself.

[best12bars]

"I know Liza didn't want any advertisement about her being in the show...but did they put a slip or anything in the Playbill?"

Husk, Actor's Equity requires you to do at least 2 of the following 3 things:

Slip of paper in the Playbill
Written notice in the lobby
Announcement before the show

I'm not sure if they could have gotten away with "less than two" back then, but perhaps they only made the announcement prior. Anyway, the union rule is 2 out of 3.

[madbrian]

I wasn't there, but every story I've heard about that night claimed that the only notice was a pre-show announcment.

[best12bars]

I'm sure it wasn't a hard rule to "bend" with AEA, particularly if the actor in question is the one who is asking for it. The whole reason it's there is to protect actors and their presence in the show.

[D2]

I saw Liza in CHICAGO, and despite the claims that she didn't want publicity about it there was a ton of media coverage for several weeks before she took over the role. Her "opening" night was well represented on all the evening news shows and in the papers the next day.

It's true that the only announcement made in the theater (at least at the performance I attended) was a slip of paper in the Playbill. But her taking over for Ms. Verdon was announced several weeks in advance, and her run pretty much sold out before she even stepped on stage.

She was terrific in the role -- a very funny, very naive and yet hard-as-nails Roxie. And I've never laughed as hard at any other Roxie's delivery of "Are you kidding?" in "We Both Reached For The Gun."

[PalJoey]

That Equity rule may have come after 1975.

The story about the pre-show announcement is about the first night she went in. Most people in the audience didn't know that Gwen was out when the announcer said "At tonight's performance, the role of Roxie Hart, usually played by Gwen Verdon will be played by..."

And, of course, everyone groaned. Then he went on, "Liza Minnelli!" And everyone went crazy.

A few months later, in November, Liza appeared on Dinah Shore's show with John and Fred. She started to sing "Nowadays," and they brought out a surprise:

http://youtu.be/oIxC-h8MWeo

[silversurfer2]

1975 was a special year in my life. It was when my Mom introduced me to Musical theater. I was 11 at the time, and my first show was A CHORUS LINE. I was hooked from that point on. My Mom was a big JUDY fan, so when it was leaked that LIZA would fill in for Gwen, she got tickets. I remember that night as we stepped into the lobby, their was a big sign that stated. "At tonight's performance, the role of ROXIE HART will be played by Liza Minnelli." I don't think anyone was surprised, the press had been al over this for weeks prior. I remember her performance. She was Terrific, funny, sad and dynamic. Something to see and remember. Thanks Mom.

[once a month]

Her performance in Chicago was taped and the entire show is widely available through private users, at least in cassette form. Anyone know of any video footage available?

[PalJoey]

I think there are two audios but no video.

[PalJoey]

[WOSQ]

There were daily Liza updates and photos in the News and Post back in 1975. (PS: the Post was a semi-reputable paper back then.) At Liza's request, Gwen's name remained in the ads and on the marquee, but there was a lobby sign and a pre-show announcement.

Lenora Nemetz was Gwen's understudy and played the role for maybe 10 days. This was a break for her and she went on to some other shows and star status in her hometown of Pittsburgh.

Chicago had gotten off to a shakey start. It got decidedly mixed opening night reviews and word-of-mouth was not great, plus the theatre party ladies felt the show was a bit raw for their groups so they weren't buying. And the original was a lot more sordid and darker than the revival.

There was also the negative publicity because Chicago was the first show to break the $15 orchestra price barrier which was a level that had held for maybe 4-5 years. $17.50 and even $15 was big money to people (especially people like you and me) in those days.

And yet another negative, A Chorus Line had opened 2 weeks prior to major acclaim and super hit status. It had a huge and growing advance sale and was getting a lot of buyers who might have bought Chicago tickets. Chicago had become the homely step-child.

With all the publicity that Liza generated, both in NY and nationally, her appearance is thought to have "saved" the show from an earlier death. She paid off a lot of debts to Kander, Ebb and Fosse when she did Chicago.

The party line on Gwen has always been that she swallowed something--a feather or a piece of the glitter that was used at the end of the show. There were also rumors, never proved, that the problem was a node on her vocal chord that needed to be scraped off and then given time to heal. We'll probably never know.

[CurtainPullDowner]

We need a good biography of Gwen Verdon, wonder why no one has written one.

[best12bars]

" ...but there was a lobby sign and a pre-show announcement."


There's your answer. They had 2 of the 3, per Equity. Thanks, WOSQ.

[Jordan Catalano]

Ah PalJoey, but you are wrong. :)

There is video of Liza during her stint in the show. Around 20 minutes of it, actually.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Jesus, did Chita have great breasts or what?

[PalJoey]

Jordan--I dub thee Keeper of the Crypt.

[WOSQ]

Chita still has great breasts. They're just pushing eighty, that's all.

And Jesus had nothing to do with her great breasts either.

However Jesus may have had something to do with the invention of the Wonderbra.

[Gaveston2]

There's no people like show people!

Maybe the Dinah Shore staff successfully surprised Kander, Ebb and Minnelli with Chita Rivera. And maybe it was a pre-rehearsed bit. (After all, Kander never misses a note at the piano.)

But Minnelli carries on as if Rivera had been lost at sea and presumed dead.

(ETA Sorry, joey. I didn't mean to sound so cranky. But if one can't be a little cynical when discussing CHICAGO, then when?

I very much appreciate the clips and the reminder of the days when Liza used to actually sing rather than merely shout her way through a song.

I couldn't get to NY when she was in CHICAGO, but I remember it was all anybody was talking about.)

[BrodyFosse123]

Isn't this when Me and My Baby became a full on cakewalk, as opposed to the short ballad you hear Gwen sing on the cast album?

As is/was the case with countless Original Broadway Cast Recordings pre-CD era, due to the time limitations of LPs (Long Playing records), they chose to just include the 1st part of "Me and My Baby" and the 1st part of "I Can't Do it Alone" on the Original 1975 Broadway Cast Recording of CHICAGO.

"Me and My Baby" was indeed a full-out dance number for Gwen Verdon in the actual show. She began the number singing that slow rendition of the song while sitting in a wheel chair covered in a blanket. She then tossed away the blanket, jumped out of the wheel chair and did the danced 2nd part of the song.