Liza (on an E) was performed at the Theatre Royal, Brighton.
There was theatrical magic on stage from the moment Australian performer and drag artist Trevor Ashley strode on as his alter ego Liza Minnelli. At times she was presented as a grotesque caricature, and at others she appeared a fragile and pathetic soul.
Ashley came to Brighton for one night only in preparation for a short tour which ends in the West End. His act as Minnelli is so much more than mere impersonation. It provides a delicious evening that pays tribute to Minnelli, yet sends her up wickedly. All the flamboyant gestures, giggles and gushiness are there, but there are times when he portrays her pain at never having found true love and the realisation at an early age that there would always be competition with her mother.
Ashley’s performance, a brilliant tour de force, combines superb singing with outrageous comedy as Minnelli recounts, between musical numbers, her life and failed love affairs. Some songs are delivered straight, while others are clever parodies. ‘Liza with a Z’ and ‘Yes’ are fully laden with drug references while ‘Mein Herr’ soon slips into marital warfare with David Gest.
Away from the comedy, Ashley’s strong voice impresses with the pairing of ‘Losing My Mind’ with ‘Maybe Next Time’ and with terrific versions of ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’ and ‘Some People’. Obviously, a highly personal number for Ashley is Charles Aznavour’s ‘What Makes a Man’.
The guest appearance of Chris Mitchell singing one of Peter Allen’s songs leads into some scurrilous tales of Minnelli’s husband, but also into her hilariously mentoring him a la The Voice. Additionally, they re-create the Minnelli and Donna Summer duet ‘Does He Love You?’, with the former singing Summer’s part and taking it way over the top. Another OTT impersonation is Minnelli’s take-off of Lady Gaga with ‘Poker Face’.
Returning to Minnelli, Ashley has the audience clapping along to the trademark numbers, ‘New York New York’, ‘Ring Them Bells’ and, of course, ‘Cabaret’. Here Ashley cleverly morphs into Minnelli’s mother and delivers Judy Garland’s imagined version.
Garland also appears for the encore number when the performer sits on the edge of the stage and sings the song always requested at Liza concerts and the one she always refuses to do – ‘Over the Rainbow’.
This must surely be the funniest, wickedest, most outrageous show that audiences will be likely to see for some time to come. Head for London’s Lyric Theatre before this boy from Oz returns home.
A seven-piece band, led by musical director James Simpson, provides excellent support.
Barrie Jerram
* Liza (on an E) plays Liverpool Auditorium at Echo Arena (5 October) and London’s Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue (7 October)
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