Minnelli Vanilli

You get the feeling that back in the day, Liza Minnelli was the girl to party with. Not the bland, vapid Lindsay Lohan-type, but the kind of girl Perez Hilton would have lived and died for—the cerebral, storied partier: the girl with issues, with an undeniable image, with questionable taste in men, but also the girl with real, stunning talent. Like Amy Winehouse with classier drugs. Liza ruled the New York City party circuit in the '70s with her buddy Halston, flitting about from party to party in fabulous clothes and probably taking home legions of fabulous men. Despite her hard-partying lifestyle, the girl worked it. Hard. As an 18-year-old, she literally upstaged her mother, Judy Garland, at a London concert. Before the age of 30, she had an Oscar for her role in Cabaret. While, frankly, I know her best from a 1979 episode of The Muppet Show and her role as dizzy Lucille Austero on Arrested Development, she has one of the most recognizable voices in music. And she just seems like a classy broad. I bet she'd still be a blast to hit the town with. Something tells me that her rehabbed, 62-year-old self wouldn't be up for that, but she will be in Fort Worth to help celebrate Bass Hall's 10th Anniversary 8 p.m. Saturday at the performance hall located at Fourth and Calhoun streets. Buy your tickets online at basshall.com; the songs and stories this legendary performer has to offer shouldn’t be missed.
Sat., May 3, 8 p.m., 2008