Showbiz History: Liza Minnelli, Broadway behemoths, and a wedding for Hollywood Royalty
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 9:24AM 7 random things that happened on this day, March 12th, in showbiz history...
1946 To Each His Own opened on this day 75 years ago. It would win Olivia de Havilland the first of her two Best Actress Oscars.
1969 The 11th Grammy Awards are held. "Mrs Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel wins Record of the Year and "Hair" wins Original Cast Show album...
1987 British mega-musical Les Miserables opens on Broadway. It will run for 16 years becoming the sixth longest running Broadway show of all time. It's just ahead of A Chorus Line and just behind Wicked. Eight of the ten longest running Broadway musicals of all time have either become movies or were movies to begin with. The exceptions are Wicked (who knows when that will ever be filmed since we've been hearing about its movie plans since roughly the day it opened in 2003) and the very naked musical revue Oh Calcutta! (1976-1989).
Bening & Beatty circa 1992
1992 Happy 29th anniversary to Warren Beatty and Annette Bening who were married on this day. Their relationship was extensively obsessed on by the media since no one ever though that Hollywood's biggest player would ever settle down.
2012 The Hunger Games has its world premiere in Los Angeles. It opens two weeks later in theaters becoming a global hit and making Jennifer Lawrence a superstar.
2017 Happy fourth anniversary to Oscar hopeful Amanda Seyfried (Mank) and her hubby Thomas Sadoski, married on this day.
2020 Exactly one year ago on this day Broadway went dark due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial announcement was that Broadway would be closed for 32 days. How naive we all were! Broadway contributes literally billions to the NYC economy each year and thousands of jobs have been lost since, some of which will never return just as some beloved bars and restaurants have closed for good due to the hard economic hits of the pandemic. Broadway has yet to reopen but rumors now suggest it will happen this fall rather than in early 2022 as previously assumed. Super long-running shows (and tourist favourites) like Phantom and Chicago and Wicked are expected to be the first to return. As soon as April some specific performance venues will reopen in NYC but not Broadway houses yet.
Today's Birthday Suit:
Happy 75th to EGOT superstar Liza Minnelli who has been famous since literally the day she was born.
My best friend bought us a virtual ticket to a star-studded "live" event honoring her tonight. So many awesome celebrities appearing including Lily Tomlin, Jonathan Groff, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ben Vereen, Andrew Rannells, Chita Rivera, Nathan Lane, Sandra Bernhard, etcetera. Cannot wait. Tickets are still on sale and $30.
Reader Comments (6)
Reassuring to hear Broadway is inching it's way back to life, perhaps ahead of schedule!
Hard to believe Liza is 75! It's been an often bumpy road but good for her.
Barbara Feldon-Agent 99 herself turns 88 today and the underappreciated Gordon MacRae was also born on this date.
Happy birthday, Liza! Easily one of my favorite Best Actress winners. "Maybe This Time" in Cabaret is right up there with my all-time favorite scenes in film.
I love the throwback pic of Liza in The Act. The original Kander/Ebb musical was mediocre, but Minnelli was electric. She won a Tony. Even though the tix were the highest priced in Broadway history, the show lost $ due to Liza's frequent no shows.
When she performed, it was magic. I remember mid show she had a simple routine with her dancers that was so thrilling. Her dancing was just as on point as the chorus boys. As an audience, we leapt to our feet. I pounded my hands clapping till they ached the next day.
The main problem with the show was the inept direction of none other than Martin Scorsese. He lacked skill. Gower Champion was broght in for a month to rework the show. He saved it.
The love story of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening is A Star is Born with a happy ending ... "and they lived happily ever after".
Post-Grifters Annette Bening as Catwoman...thanks, Warren. I used to obsess over how many Oscars she would have by now if they had never met... Ah, well. As long as they’re happy.
I also saw The Act (standing room ticket) and I loved every minute. Check out the audio on YouTube of Liza‘s terrific renditions of Kander-Ebb rarities (“The Strangest Thing,” “The Money Tree,” “There When I Need Him”).
Liza is 75? Damn!