Jeremy Benton, who plays Bob Hope in the Off-Broadway musical Cagney, will join singer-actor Lorna Luft for her April 6–8 concert series at Feinstein’s/54 Below.
The daughter of superstar Judy Garland and producer Sid Luft, and sister of Liza Minnelli, Luft will sing favorites from throughout her career, and share personal memories.
Luft told Playbill, "This concert is about my very very very favorite time of the year, spring.” She said the show will include a medley of spring-related numbers, which she will perform with tapmaster Benton. “We're going to open with ‘Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here’ from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and continuing with some of my favorite spring numbers, and another very famous song that I think the audience can guess.”
She said her celebration of spring is related to more than just the time of the year. “The whole show is based on the times we’re living in and what’s happening in the world. You turn on the news and it’s so frightening. I think people really need to find a way to have a positive attitude, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. If I can help them hit the ‘high’ button, then that’s what I want to do.”
The rest of the show will be “not exactly the American Songbook, but there will be songs that everyone knows. It will just be my personal journey. It’s all about new beginnings, which is what spring is all about. Because, frankly, last winter sucked!”
Cagney is scheduled to continue through May 28 Off-Broadway.
Luft made her professional singing debut on TV’s The Judy Garland Show, and went on to featured roles on film and television, including Grease 2, Where the Boys Are ’84, and Murder, She Wrote. Luft technically made her Broadway debut in 1967 when she joined her mother onstage in her Palace Theatre concert, but she took the stage on her own in 1971 as a replacement as the female lead in the musical Promises, Promises. Other stage appearances include the 1981 national tour of They're Playing Our Song, the 1992 tour of Guys and Dolls, and both U.S. and U.K. tours of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Her 1998 family memoir Me and My Shadows was adapted as an Emmy-winning TV miniseries.
Tickets for the April 6–8 concerts cost $50–$100 and can be ordered by clicking here. Doors open at 5:15 PM and the concert begins at 7 PM each night.
Luft was a special guest performer on Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas 8 cruise to the Caribbean. Playbill’s inaugural river cruise along the Rhône River in May 2017 is sold out, but cabins are available for the Rhine River cruise in August 2017, featuring Seth Rudetsky, Andréa Burns, Faith Prince, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d’Amboise, and Santino Fontana. Playbill Travel is now also booking Broadway on the Danube River for November 2017, with celebrity guests to be announced. Visit PlaybillTravel.com for booking and information.
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