Customer Reviews

The Act (1977 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In 1978, a friend and I drove overnight from Ohio to New York City without tickets to try to see "The Act." The Broadway Gods were looking down on us, because we were able to get front row aisle seats for an outrageous $25.00 a piece. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. What a wonderful reminder this CD is of that evening. Every song is a gem, but the showstoppers are "Bobo's," "There When I Need Him," "Arthur in the Afternoon," and of course, the mega-showstopper, "City Lights." But my favorite moment from the CD and from that night 25 years ago is "The Money Tree." Even typing those three words just now, gave me chills. The only thing better than hearing Liza sing that song on this CD was watching her sing it in person.

My first copy of "The Act" is in vinyl from the late 70's and during one of my trips to the US in the 90's, I was so happy to come across the cd version of this Broadway musical in one of the small record shops in San Francisco . This cd has always been on major rotation in my player and has provided me with great music ever since - everytime! Liza is at her best in this recording. Every number, from "Shine it On", to "Walking Papers" is electric! Liza tears into each song and makes it her own - and no other singer attacks and gives 101% on every number like Liza does! She makes you want to jump and tap during her showstoppers - particularly in "City Lights". She also hypnotizes and makes you listen to each of the words - big and small in her ballads. She breaks me everytime I listen to "There When I Need Him" and the "Money Tree". Even the gosple-like "Turning" and the naughty "Arthur in the Afternoon" never fail to amaze. My husband even whistles to "Bobo's"! A friend who listened to this cd in the car asked for a copy and has been hooked ever since. I can't blame her.

Anyone lucky enough to experience the Magic of Minnelli in the Kandler-Ebb classic "The Act" which was specially created to showcase Liza's kaleidoscopic talent, knows that this Legend has no peer then or now on the live concert stage and each time I attended this incredible event standing ovations were far too many to count and all well earned by Miss Minnelli. From the exhuberant opener "Shine It On", it is apparent that Liza is in peak vocal form singing with all of the passion and greatness that is her trademark. Romantic and reflective make "It's The Strangest Thing" a wonderfully appealing ballad while "Bobo's" is fun and energetic. Liza wearing a beautiful red dress came twirling down a pole and "Turning" became a beautiful and flowing ballet that turns into an engrossing up-tempo spiritual! "Little Do They Know" is a cute number for the chorus while love in the afternoon to relieve stress with a personal trainer make "Arthur In The Afternoon" a Liza classic which she would continue to include in her concerts for a number of years to great effect. Torchy and soulful make "The Money Tree" a passion filled stunning masterpiece as Liza pours everything she has into this greatly sung song and follows with a equally engrossing tour-de-force performance of "City Lights" which builds into a classic dance routine with Liza being lifted high into the air by a troup of dancers while belting out this showstopper making this one of Liza's major classics...full and rich yet tender and passionate is Liza's breathtakingly beautiful vocal on the winning "There When I Need Him" making it easy to see why so many fall in love with Minnelli's magical voice. I cannot think of any other singer who could bring so much to these songs as Liza does...she is simply incomparable throughout this great collection! "Hot Enough For You" is funky fun and the chorus does a reprise of "Little Do They Know" while Liza readies for the finale which is the reflective ballad "My Own Space" which is just a sublime Liza vocal with piano which is always a special treat! A soaring and soulful "Walking Papers" end this classic Tony Award Winning Show in a great spiritual fashion that has Liza singing with a great deal of passion and unmatched vocal brilliance. Anyone who appreciates a truly great singer will not want to miss this classic as Liza Minnelli is in peak form showing off the range of her remarkable talent~Viva Liza Minnelli!!!!!

My first Broadway musical, all the way from Virginia to see this ultimate diva. Cast album is a pretty good approximation of the performance, though I don't like a few of the arrangements and some of the chorus' voices. "City Lights" is great, as is "Bobo's" and the fantastic "Money Tree", which brought the house down as the first act closer. Glad to see this is readily available again.

Vintage Minnelli. This is one of those sets of songs that come to you when you are driving, or happy, and you can't remember quite where you heard them, but they lift your spirits. Funny lyrics, great music, it's a fun one to have!

THE ACT was written for the talents of Liza Minnelli by her longtime friends and collaborators John Kander and Fred Ebb. It earned Miss Minnelli a Tony Award, though quickly began to flounder when she became ill and started missing performances.

THE ACT was built for Liza, so we're not going to see a revival of this show. The score is second-rate when you compare it to other Kander-Ebb scores like CABARET, CHICAGO and even THE RINK.

Liza Minnelli is the only reason to buy this cast album, where she belts out numbers like "Shine It On", "There When I Need Him", "Walking Papers" and the gorgeous ballad "It's the Strangest Thing".

A fine testament to Miss Minnelli's talents. [DRG CDRG6101]

Liza had so much talent and energy,no one knew what to do with this ball of FIRE.I remember readying the review of "THE Act" in Newsweek,and they said the same thing.I didn't get to see this play,(even though i got to see Liza in concert that year)but had to buy the album,and later the CD."BoBo's" is my favorite cut."Authur in the Afternoon"and "City Lights" were two of the songs Liza sang when I got to see her live in concert that year,and 2 show stoppers.This album was almost not made.No record label would produce it,and it was recorded in a couple of days to save money.If you are a Liza Minnelli fan,you have to get this CD.

The Act, an old show from the 1970's was first directed by Martin Scorcese after he directed Liza Minelli and Robert DeNiro in New York, New York. While the show was not an unqualified success, those fans of Ms. Minelli will think this an absolute "must-have" for their collection. Given a wonderful songlist of pure Broadway "show tunes" the singer does not disappoint, particularly in the big belting numbers, City Lights and Money Tree. Additionally, the ballads are moving and provide vintage Minelli emoting.

Just a bit of trivia..... this show opened as "Shining On" in Chicago and set a record by having a top seat price of $50.00. That was unheard of at that time... but Liza got it with no complaints! Also, it was the only show that I ever saw that the star had a standing ovation to come out and sing from her concert series and not from the score. Liza was at her zenith!!!

THE ACT opened on Broadway at the height of Liza Minnelli's popularity. She had proven herself to be one of the few "triple threats" (she had already won the TONY Award for Flora The Red Menace, she had recently added an EMMY for Liza With a Z and the OSCAR for Cabaret).

When THE ACT opened, the thought of Liza appearing live was too good a lure for the public to ignore. It seemed a natural and from the moment it was announced, people were proclaiming it another classic (it followed hot on the heels of A CHORUS LINE which had just reinvented the American musical). Almost immediately, THE ACT was in trouble. Liza Minnelli had prolonged absences due to illness (no understudy as the show was considered an opportunity to see and hear Liza, not an understudy); then the book was deemed too weak to sustain an audience (even an audience that was hell-bent on seeing Liza) and finally came a dual crushing set of blows: a few of the songs were "pre-recorded" so all Liza Minnelli did was lip synch them on stage/ no Original Cast album was going to be recorded (which, when considering the numbers had already been recorded, was quite absurd).

Finally a small label released THE ACT on vinyl and the public got a chance to hear the score. It was strong and, if the book had at least half of its strength, would have made it a success. Here you can hear the very good music that Liza capably delivered and resulted in her second TONY win.

BoBo's is a curious tune and Liza's rendition of it could be almost chilling at times ("So lonely here a heart can break/ bet a dime you'd never hear it"). "Shine It On" is also good fun. The best of the numbers are: Arthur In The Afternoon (no relation to the Arthur films she later did with Dudley Moore) and the hit from the show: City Lights which was so good, Liza was nightly commanded to do an encore.

In a nutshell, it was a weak show (which explains why it has not been revived) that was quickly forgotten. However, it was a triumph for Liza Minnelli who proved that she could carry it. With this CD, you get the best of it - Liza's voice was fine and strong; never sounding husky as it does today.

This is an album that Liza fans should give a try. It may not be spectacular but it is interesting.