Minnelli Will Guest on "Rosie Live" Variety Special

By Andrew Gans
17 Nov 2008

Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Photo by Rick Day

Tony, Grammy, Oscar and Emmy Award winner Liza Minnelli, who is scheduled to return to Broadway in December in a limited run of Liza's at the Palace . . .!, will guest star on Rosie O'Donnell's upcoming television variety show, "Rosie Live."

TVweek.com reports that Minnelli, Kathy Griffin, Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski, hip-hop artist Ne-Yo and singer Alanis Morissette are all currently scheduled to join O'Donnell for the NBC variety special, which will air Nov. 26 at 9 PM ET live from New York's Little Shubert Theatre.

When asked whether O'Donnell would duet with Minnelli, the former "View" co-host told TVWeek, "Of course! What, are you kidding me? This is the dream for every girl from Long Island who ever sang in the mirror to 'Cabaret.' This is as good as it gets for me."

"Rosie Live," according to a previous NBC press release, will feature "a topical monologue, musical production numbers and hilarious comedy sketches." The program is produced by Universal Media Studios in association with KidRo Productions. O'Donnell and David Friedman are the executive producers.

Rosie O'Donnell made her Broadway debut as Rizzo in the 1994 revival of Grease!, played a limited engagement as the Cat in the Hat in the Ahrens-Flaherty musical Seussical, and portrayed Golde in the recent revival of Fiddler on the Roof. The performer also spent some time on the other side of the footlights as producer of the Broadway version of Boy George's Taboo.

O'Donnell rose to fame as a stand-up comic before landing roles in such films as "A League of Their Own," "Sleepless in Seattle," "The Flintsones" and "Exit to Eden." Her Emmy-winning talk show, "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," ran from 1996 to 2001, and her more recent TV credits include appearances on "Will & Grace" and "Queer as Folk" as well as the made-for-television movie "Riding the Bus with My Sister" and the cable series "Nip/Tuck." She also spent a year as co-host of ABC-TV's "The View."

O'Donnell is married to Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell; the couple has four children. O'Donnell's autobiography is titled "Find Me"; her newest book is "Celebrity Detox."