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Judy Garland and family.
September 2, 2022
By Lydia E. Ringwald
Singer, actress, author and film producer Lorna Luft performs a medley of her mother, Judy Garland’s most famous and fabulous songs in two stellar performances on September 21-22 at the Carpenter Center Theater in Long Beach.
The show commemorating Judy Garland’s 100th birthday is a grand celebration that originated in New York City on June 9 this year with a spectacular performance of Lorna Luft singing ‘Over the Rainbow’ on the spectacular staircase of the Empire State Building that included a lighting ceremony illuminating the top of the majestic landmark building in honor of Judy Garland’s stellar career and artistic achievements.
Lorna Luft continues the100th year celebration at the Carpenter Center in a performance that includes Judy’s memorable melodies, many from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Lorna Luft
In her unique performance, Lorna shares insights into her mother’s personal and professional life with sparkles of experience that illuminate the lyrics of the songs that continue to bring meaning and value into our lives.
Lorna Luft, Judy’s second daughter, the younger sister of Liza Minnelli, has also celebrated her mother’s legendary life in the publication Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir, also made into a movie with Lorna as co-executive producer.
Lorna Luft’s scripted stage performance Songs My Mother Taught Me included videos of Judy Garland on screen, performed together as a duet with Lorna live on stage.
Songs My Mother Taught Me was featured with Lorna’s live performances throughout the U.S. and Europe and on world cruises.
In October 2007, Luft released her debut album Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me in the U.K. produced by Barry Manilow and Luft’s husband Colin R. Freeman.
Lorna Luft is also an actress who performed in both television and film. Acting roles in CBS television series ‘Trapper John, M.D.’, in an episode of ‘Murder, She Wrote’ and as a co-star with Farah Fawcett in the film ‘Extremities’ represent a few of her many credits.
From her Broadway debut in 1971 at the Shubert Theatre as a replacement cast member in the musical Promises, Promises, adapted from the classic 1960 Billy Wilder film The Apartment, Lorna has starred in numerous musicals throughout her career.
She appeared in the stage adaptation of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas and this season Lorna Luft is featured in a lead role in the the popular musical version of White Christmas tours the U.K.
Accompanied by gifted pianist and music arranger Colin Freemen, Lorna Luft’s lyrical vocals evoke the deep emotions that lie latent in in our collective memory; the unforgettable songs from the musicals and the films that have become part of our own indelible history.
Lorna Luft’s rendition of music and lyrics of the songs that Judy Garland performed in films and in concerts, resonates with the feelings and experiences that define our identity; our human experience, of all that we are.
The performance is included in the Carpenter cabaret series, in an intimate setting where theater patrons may enjoy refreshments in a nightclub ambiance both in the lobby and in the theater.
For tickets and information about this very unique and rare theatrical experience, please visit www.carpenterarts.org
