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Liza with a "Z"
Liza with a "Z"
Soundtrack album by Liza Minnelli
Released	September 10, 1972; March 7, 2006 (reissue)
Recorded	May 1972
Genre	Showtunes; Traditional pop
Length	48:42
Language	English
Label	Columbia Records; Showtime (reissue)
Producer	Andrew Kazdin
Liza Minnelli chronology

*Liza with a Z*
Liza with a Z
	Re-master poster
Genre	Concert film
Written by	Fred Ebb
Directed by	Bob Fosse
Starring	Liza Minnelli
Theme music composer	Kander and Ebb
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Fred Ebb; Bob Fosse; Michael Arick (re-master); Craig Zadan (re-master); Neil Meron (re-master)
Cinematography	Owen Roizman
Editor	Alan Heim
Running time	51 min.
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 10, 1972

Liza with a "Z" is a 1972 concert film made for television, starring Liza Minnelli, produced by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. Fosse also directed and choreographed the concert, and Ebb wrote and arranged the music with his song-writing partner John Kander. All four had recently completed the successful film adaptation of Cabaret. According to Minnelli, Liza with a "Z" was "the first filmed concert on television".^[3] Singer sponsored the production, even though producers did their best to prevent the sponsors from seeing rehearsals, fearing they would back out due to Minnelli's short skirts.^[3]

Filmed on May 31 at the Lyceum Theatre in New York,^[1]^[4] after only eight weeks of rehearsals,^[3] the concert was shot with eight 16mm film cameras^[1] at the insistence of Fosse, in contrast to other television specials of the time which were all shot on videotape.

Throughout the concert Minnelli sings and dances to a variety of popular songs, highlights from Cabaret, and material specifically written for her by Kander and Ebb—most notably the title song.^[5] Minnelli is often accompanied on stage by dancers, backup singers, and musicians. Costumes were designed by Halston, who was also a friend of Minnelli's. Marvin Hamlisch was selected by Kander and Ebb to be music coordinator.^[1]

First broadcast by NBC on September 10, 1972, it went on to win four Emmys and a Peabody Award. Kay Gardella of the New York Daily News reviewed the film as being "sensational with an S."^[4] After the initial broadcast, NBC re-ran the concert only twice more and did not screen it again after 1973.^[1]^[2] The film was not seen for over thirty years and was thought lost until 1999, when Michael Arick discovered that Minnelli owned the copyright and the two set about restoring the negatives.^[3]

Musical numbers

"Yes"
"God Bless the Child"
"Say Liza (Liza with a "Z")"
"It Was a Good Time"
"I Gotcha"
"Son of a Preacher Man"
"Ring Them Bells"
"Bye Bye Blackbird"
"You've Let Yourself Go"
"My Mammy"
Cabaret Medley

Remaster and DVD release

After the initial broadcasts in 1972 and 1973, the negatives were stored in the vaults of NBC, only occasionally being brought out for Minnelli's own personal use.^[6] In the 1980s, the original negatives were lost and feared destroyed. Michael Arick and Minnelli eventually tracked down the original negatives in 1999 in Los Angeles and New York.^[6] In 2005, Minnelli revealed to Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, producers and friends of hers, that she owned the rights to the film and that she had been restoring it with Arick. They introduced her to Robert Greenblatt, President of Entertainment for Showtime, who agreed to finance the restoration, broadcast the film, and release the DVD.^[7]

The re-mastered film was accepted into both the Toronto International Film Festival and the Hamptons Film Festival and premiered September 9, 2005, at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres in Toronto. Showtime broadcast the restored film on April 1, 2006.^[8]

As well as a restored picture, the DVD also offers the option of 5.1 surround sound audio. This was made possible due to a new mix being created from reels of sound recordings Minnelli had personally archived after the original production in 1972.^[6] The DVD also includes a commentary track recorded by Minnelli, a performance of "Mein Herr" cut from the original film, an interview with Kander recorded by Minnelli, a recording of Minnelli and the restoration producers discussing the film at the Toronto Film Festival, and a separate performance by Minnelli at the GLAAD Awards in 2005.

Awards and honors

Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result
1973	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Single Program - Variety and Popular Music	Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb, Liza Minnelli	Won
		Outstanding Directing for a Comedy-Variety or Music Special	Bob Fosse	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Choreography	Bob Fosse	Won
		Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music	Fred Ebb	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition - For a Special Program	Fred Ebb, John Kander	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement in Music, Lyrics and Special Material	Fred Ebb, John Kander	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography for Entertainment Programming - For a Special or Feature Length Program of a Series	Owen Roizman	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for Entertainment Programming - For a Special or Feature Length Program of a Series	Alan Heim	Nominated
	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical/Variety	Bob Fosse, Kenneth Utt, Paul Ganapoler, John Neukum	Won
	Peabody Award	For Timex All-Star Swing Festival and 'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous, 'S Gershwin		Won
2006	Satellite Award	Best DVD Release of a TV Show		Nominated

Soundtrack

Soundtrack reviews
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[9]

The original film soundtrack was recorded to 1/4" tape, and mixed down into a mono track for the 16mm film.^[6] An LP of the soundtrack was released in 1972 and followed in the success of the film by becoming a best seller^[2] and being certified gold.^[6] In total it spent twenty-three weeks in the Top 40 charts, and has never been out of print.^[6] By May 1973, the album had sold 30,000 copies in the UK, selling 1,000 copies a day.^[10]

A CD of the stereo soundtrack was simultaneously released alongside the film's 2006 DVD release.

Track listing

The following is the track listing from the 2006 reissue. There are two differences between the 1972 original and the reissue — the first is that "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Ring Them Bells" were placed in the correct performance order for the reissue. The original release had the two songs in reverse order.^[11] The second difference is that the original had a twelfth track, entitled "Bows".^[12] For the reissue, this track was mixed into the end of the previous track.

"Yes" (Kander and Ebb) — 3:15
"God Bless the Child" (Herzog, Holiday) — 3:07
"Say Liza (Liza with a "Z")" (Kander and Ebb) — 3:06
"It Was a Good Time" (Curb, David, Jarre) — 4:58
"I Gotcha" (Tex) — 3:44
"Son of a Preacher Man" (Hurley, Wilkins) — 3:25
"Ring Them Bells" (Kander and Ebb) — 5:41
"Bye Bye Blackbird" (Dixon, Henderson) — 3:57
"You've Let Yourself Go" (Aznavour) — 3:56
"My Mammy" (Donaldson, Lewis, Young) — 3:03
"Cabaret Medley" (Kander and Ebb) — 10:21^[11] (9:52, 1972 version)^[12]
"Bows" (Gershwin, Gershwin, Kahn) — 0:30 (1972 version only)^[12]

Charts

Chart 1972	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[13]	17
UK Albums (OCC)^[14]	9
Billboard 200^[15]	19

Certifications and sales


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[16]	Gold	500,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Zadan, C., "1972", Liza with a "Z" DVD inlay, 2006, Anchor Bay Entertainment
^ ^a ^b ^c Stanley, Alessandra (March 31, 2006). "Liza With a "Z" Television Review". The New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Shillinger, Liesl (February 26, 2006). "Suddenly Liza". New York Magazine. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Liza with a "Z"". PBS. Archived from the original on 7 March 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
^ The Art Of The American Musical: Conversations With The Creators, Jackson R. Bryer, Richard Allan Davison, p. 102, 2005, Rutgers University Press, ISBN 0-8135-3613-8
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Arick, Michael. "Notes on the Restoration". Official Liza Minnelli website. Archived from the original on 18 January 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
^ Zadan, C., "Flash forward 34 Years", Liza with a "Z" DVD inlay, 2006, Anchor Bay Entertainment
^ "Liza with a "Z"!". Official Liza Minnelli website. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r850665
^ "From the music capital of the world: London". Billboard. Vol. 85, no. 21. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 26 May 1973. p. 55. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
^ ^a ^b Unterberger, Richie. "Liza with a "Z" reissue". Allmusic. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c Unterberger, Richie. "Liza with a "Z"". Allmusic. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 202. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "Liza Minnelli | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
^ "Charts & Awards, Liza Minnelli" allmusic.com, accessed September 6, 2011
^ "American album certifications – Liza Minnelli – Liza with a "Z"". Recording Industry Association of America.