by bill biss –
Lorna Luft, the only daughter of Judy Garland and Sid Luft has “lived it” and she sure has a lot more living to do! Before heading to London, this star is performing at Martinis Above Fourth Table + Stage on Wednesday, September 18 and Thursday, September 19 in her own cabaret. Here is an interview that Lorna and I had that is truly honest, funny and smart in the business of show. She is one-of-a-kind.
It’s such a pleasure to talk with you.
Thank you.
It’s been a while since we last talked. I’m so glad you made it out of the woods in regards to the cancer and brain tumor. I think that’s just so wonderful.
Well, thank you. I would love to say that I am cancer-free but I’m not. It is something that I deal with every single day and I am grateful to the doctors and the scientists and all of those who have taken such great care of me… in the last seven years. I join many, many, many millions of women around the world with breast cancer. What we do every day is get out of bed and put one foot in front of the other.
I interviewed Olivia-Newton John and she described it as being a cancer thriver and I think that’s a positive way to treat this.
I love Olivia. I think she has handled that and life with grace and dignity and she is one of the nicest people I know. She’s just been amazing throughout all of this. We’re all on the same boat.
Pardon me. You’re amazing too.
Well. Thank you.
My partner for 15 years and husband now for ten years got me your A Star is Born book (written by Lorna on the making of her mom’s phenomenal 1954 film) for Christmas last year.
Oh great.
What was that like putting it together? It turned out so beautiful.
Thank you. I’m very proud of that book. I’m proud that I stuck to it. It took a very long time to do. I started the book ten years before it came out; when it was announced that the new version (of A Star is Born) was going to be Beyoncé and the director was going to be Clint Eastwood. I started and I have all these unbelievable photographs so I wanted to share them. I thought, what a perfect time.
Their movie fell apart and so did my book. I thought, okay, maybe it’s not the right time. Then they announced Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper and I called up my literary agent. “Remember that treatment that I did? Get it out of the files.” And we did it. I wanted to share the photographs and the journey of all of the movies. I wasn’t able to write about the Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper film because as I was writing; they were shooting. So, there was nothing for me to really write about.
So, the book had to come out when their movie of A Star is Born came out. I have to say I loved the last one. It’s really wonderful and she (Lady Gaga) has been nothing but gracious and wonderful to me. She is the real deal if you know what I mean. When you meet her… she’s just there and she’s so present. I can’t say enough wonderful things about Lady Gaga.
Bradley Cooper… he and I have had friends in common since he was on Alias. He’s just very, very talented and very kind. He’s just a lovely, lovely man. He’s a real big triple threat. A Star is Born is the same story but it’s their version which I really enjoyed. I’ve never felt that A Star is Born is about Hollywood, it’s about human emotion. We all go through the same emotional rollercoaster that these couples have gone on.
Now, here I’m going to sing. And my voice isn’t so bad if you don’t listen too hard. “The joint is really jumping down at Hollywood Bowl.”
Let’s talk about the Bowl. It was great! It was really, really great. I mean, I’ve played the Bowl before. So it wasn’t my very first time at the Hollywood Bowl. Every time that you go out on that stage and you look at the vast size; it is absolutely staggering.
It’s one of those things that people forget about like they say it makes your heart skip a beat and it makes you breathless… it’s a Xanax moment. It really is. It makes you literally think, “Oh my god. Do you realize where I’m standing and who have stood here?” Then you look up to the very, very last row and people are in another zip code!
Next up is not the Hollywood Bowl. It’s Martini’s Above Fourth in San Diego.
I understand that but you know what’s really lovely? That’s lovely because when you’re at the Hollywood Bowl, you wouldn’t call the Hollywood Bowl a personal venue. You would call it a vast, vast venue. When you go to Martini’s after you played the Bowl… it is a little more intimidating.
It’s so difficult for a lot of people to do the smaller places. You really have nowhere to hide. (Laughter) You don’t have 70 musicians on a stage. You don’t have scenery… it’s just you and the audience and the material. So most of us who have come out of that world and can play the Hollywood Bowl and can play the London Palladium and can play these wonderful venues… but then when you go into Martinis or 54 Below and then I’m going to London to perform at The Crazy Cogs.
It’s again that smaller venue where really there’s no place to hide. It’s like inviting people into your living room. I know a lot of artists who say, “I could never do it.” It’s very intimidating to do a room where literally people are that close. When you do a close-up on a movie, all it is, is the camera. That’s what it’s like playing in a small venue.
You sure did a remarkable job performing over the years with “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” I think now you should call a show of yours “Songs I Learned Myself.”
(Lorna chuckles) Thank you very, very much.
Please share a bit of what you have in store for your show.
The show that I have in store is a show that talks about where I started in rooms just like the room I’m playing. Then, how I was able to do Broadway shows; and the composers and the lyricists who touched my life that I grew up with, that I was able to know. I had a personal relationship with them because they were close to my family and close to my growing up.
Everybody from Johnny Mercer to The Beatles… I have stories about all of that. I feel that to put the show together, it’s not about the songs that you like, it’s about the songs that not only you can relate to but if you have a personal story about that song, the audience really loves that. They love to hear about your journey from why you’re singing this song.
I learned that from Ken and Mitzie Welch. They wrote songs for Songs My Mother Taught Me and they also wrote for The Carol Burnett Show. They taught me. They were my teachers. They were my mentors. Every time I put a show together, I think about them. Putting a show together is an art.
You have to realize what the audience wants; you have to realize how you want to convey it, what you want to say but how you want to bring them into what you’re doing. You have to give them what they want. Ken and Mitzie taught me about never being self-indulgent… that was their big, big lesson.
Oh, it’s been such a pleasure. Thank you, Lorna.
Thank you so much, Bill.
For tickets and more information on AN EVENING WITH LORNA LUFT on Wednesday, September 18 and Thursday, September 19 at Martinis Above Fourth Table + Stage call 619-400-4500 or go to https://www.ma4sd.com/service/lornaluft