Glitter, little fire in Minnelli, Grey SPAC reunion

by Mary Anne Leonard, The Knickerbocker News, August 24, 1981

The glitter was there — from the spangled red jumpsuit to the familiar neon sign that spelled out “Cabaret.”

But in the Liza Minnelli-Joel Grey concert Sunday at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the neon was just about the only sign of real electricity in a show that was certainly entertaining and sparkling but never seemed to catch fire.

Ms. Minnelli is one of the top entertainers today, as she’s demonstrated at SPAC and elsewhere for many years. She has a masterful voice that can wrap itself around a ballad or belt out a showstopper better than most of today’s singers. She can electrify an audience from her entrance and keep them that way throughout. And perhaps once you’ve seen her at full voltage, it’s hard to accept a version that doesn’t completely light up the stage.

Before an audience of 7,000 Sunday, she came close several times — reclaiming the song she reminded her audience was written for her, “New York, New York,” and working her way through an impressive list of Broadway showstoppers.

Embracing “Cabin in the Sky” in a sweet, vulnerable way or brassing out numbers from “Gyspy,” she made it easy to forget the people who originally stopped shows with those numbers. Singing “The Man That Got Away,” though, it was too hard to forget — Ms. Minnelli has finally included one of her mother’s songs in her act, and it’s an eerily effective tribute to both of their talents.

Joel Grey opened the show with a 45-minute routine, proving a charming entertainer who can laugh at himself (singing “Short People” while on ersatz stilts, for instance). He’s not much of a singer, so he relies on amusing vaudeville-style shtick. One was sometimes left wishing, though, he would forget the imitations and do a few more songs of his own.

Ms. Minnelli followed, and her segment of the show seemed to ebb and flow too radically. The ballads were just too lifeless at times, however well sung.

Fans looking for a reunion weren’t disappointed. Grey joined her on stage for the finale, three recreations of songs from the play/movie that made their careers. Though brief, the “Cabaret” segment was the most nostalgic of the night and a glimpse of the magic of which Minnelli and Grey are capable.

They will perform again tonight at SPAC. Reserved tickets are sold out, but lawn tickets are available.

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