Lorna Luft Pays Tribute To Her Mom

Judy Garland

By John Voket

RIDGEFIELD — More than a decade ago, Lorna Luft launched a very special and personal tribute to her mother. The showcase, “Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me — A Celebration of the Music of Judy Garland,” melds one of the world‘s most familiar songbooks with personal memories of a loving daughter. 

The multi-media show, which captured Ovation Awards as the Best World Premiere Musical and Best Musical Direction award from the Los Angeles Theatre Alliance, hits the boards at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Thursday, January 20, at 8 pm. Call 203-438-5795 or visit www.RidgefieldPlayhouse.org for ticket details and reservations.

In an exclusive interview with The Newtown Bee, Ms Luft candidly discussed her relationship with Judy Garland, and talked about the dynamics of being a companion and confidant to a person The American Film Institute named among the top 10 “Greatest Female Stars of All Time.”

The Newtown Bee: Did your mom, Judy Garland, ever sit you down at any point in your life in the context of teacher-student, versus mother to daughter, to talk to you about singing?

Lorna Luft: No, she wasn’t a teacher. I think she believed that if her kids were around the office work enough, we would pick it up. She wanted me to be my own person. And when she learned my sister [Liza Minelli] and I wanted to go into show business, she said you have to go study. So we did.

My sister went and studied with Uta Hagen and I went with Herbert Berghof. That was a ripe piece of advice because you don’t want to rest on the laurels of your parents. And we were also able to watch her from the wings. We learned from the best by just watching.

Newtown Bee: Either through your own observation or by her showing you directly, what was the most important technical skill you learned from your mom that you have applied to your craft every day since?

Lorna Luft: It’s learn your craft. Go out and see other performers. Keep up with the music of today even if you don’t like it.

My mother turned me on to the Beatles...I didn’t know about the Beatles in the early ‘60s, she did. And she listened to everything, as I do. Some of it I don’t get, maybe I’m not supposed to, but I listen to it. If you want to go into show business join a choir, take drama, sign up for an acting class, pursue your passion. I was brought up with the best. Frank Sinatra was always singing in my living room, and Tony Bennett visited so often I called him ‘Uncle Tony.’

Then I started learning about The Beatles, The Stones and The Who – all the bands of my generation as a teen and young adult. And I learned to listen to everything. The great opera singer Renée Fleming is a great friend of mine, but so is Mick Jagger.

Newtown Bee: What about the artists of today?

Lorna Luft:I just met [Def Jam Records co-founder] Russell Simmons. That rap world is a whole other thing. I admire artists like P Diddy and all the rap artists who bring something new to the table. I love Mary J. Blige – I listen to all of it.

I’m not going to tell you that all of it is on my iPod, but listening to it widens my range. It’s important for you to listen to everything. That’s how I grew up.

Newtown Bee: As much as stadiums and concert halls provide their own level of energy and economic benefit, you strike me as someone who has a love for the intimacy that small clubs can provide.

Lorna Luft: I started doing nightclubs with other people of that nightclub era like Bette Midler. My best friend in the world, Barry Manilow and I were just talking about how much we used to love going to the clubs to see all of these great acts. But it’s dying. There’s no place for artists who want to do the cabaret style shows. They were a great place to go and try out new material. And in their day, those venues were very important to us. But today, because of economics, they aren’t there anymore.

Newtown Bee: Is there a particular song that you loved hearing your mother sing, that she just made so much her own, that you have purposely avoided adding it to your repertoire?

Lorna Luft: “Over the Rainbow” — but that is not to say it is not sung in the show. My mother sings it and I sing along with another song that has a counter melody.

Newtown Bee: Your husband, Colin Freeman, leads your backing band. How has your husband helped you extract the best performances from the most beloved and popular songs in your set?

Lorna Luft: He’s my arranger and conductor and an extraordinary musician. And I’m extremely honored that every night in concert he is my safety net. He also respects the music so much, and understands coming from a musical place that he can give me some pointers — how to attack a note or a passage to make it my own. I don’t read music so I depend on him to tell me if something will work for me or if it won’t.

Newtown Bee: It has been reported that you traveled extensively with your mother, as you saw her deal with fans, and her support personnel. Can you recall any impressions she made on you related to these various relationships that were aided by the blessings of her celebrity?

Lorna Luft: She loved her fans, but she was in show business since she was 2½ years old, and went through the whole MGM years, so she was always very comfortable with fans. She taught me to always be gracious, say thank you, sign every autograph. And they are the ones who are going to put the rent money in the bank, right?

As far as her support people went, she always taught me to treat everyone the way you would want to be treated. I grew up in a terrible time of racial violence, but I grew up color blind. I never understood why one person would pick on another human being.

Newtown Bee: Were you in attendance at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961, a magical night that is commonly referred to as “the greatest night in show business history”?

Lorna Luft: Well the 50th anniversary of that night is coming up. But the only thing I truly remember is never seeing adults act like that before in my life. They were standing up shouting, and running down the aisles and trying to pull her off the stage. There were not acting like the adults I was used to seeing in a concert venue. I had never seen adults act like that — it was like a Beatles concert.

Newtown Bee: In relation to your experience with your mother’s battle with addiction, as well as your own, is there anything you can offer to help guide or comfort children of a parent who is affected by addiction?

Lorna Luft: Look, I’ve been sober 28 years myself. And today we have the knowledge and facilities and education that my mom did not have. Today we have the support systems and we have come so far in the world of addiction. There is a number in every single phone book for AA, if you want to get the help, in every single solitary town. And for a child of an addict parent there is Al-Anon.

Just find someone to talk to, and who will listen and understand and guide you. I’d like to say I was the last child of an alcoholic or a drug addict, but it happens every day. The stigma today has changed because of people who say I have this disease, and I’m going to get help. The more people who do that and understand this is a disease we may have been born with, the better.

Just don’t bury your head in the sand as bad as it may be. Go out and get help. It’s there if you want it and you ask for it.