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By KEVIN WALKER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

TAMPA - TAMPA - Liza Minnelli is on the telephone, calling from New York, New York.

She's also on the computer screen, singing "New York, New York" onstage with Luciano Pavarotti in a concert in Italy.

"Really? When was that from?" Minnelli asks. Then she laughs. "Nine thousand years ago?"

No, 1996. And Pavarotti looks positively delighted, grinning like a little kid, when Minnelli joins him onstage.

Amazingly, Minnelli admits she is unaware of her presence on the Internet, especially places such as YouTube, where there are clips of some of her iconic moments, including scenes from the film "Cabaret" and the award-winning TV special "Liza With a Z."

"I have a computer, honey, but I don't even know how to turn it on," she says.

It's a cliché, but here it is: At 61, Liza Minnelli has not slowed down. This year, she has already done a 21-city tour in South America. This summer she played Cape Cod, where Harry Connick Jr. joined her onstage. She played one show in August in Italy. She's working on a Showtime special about her godmother, Kay Thompson. She also sang the national anthem at the U.S. Open in September.

She even loves to rehearse.

"I love working through the material, getting things just right," she says. "It's in my blood. I've got performers going back in my family on both sides."

Why should you care? Because you will get a chance to see all the rehearsing pay off Saturday, when Minnelli performs at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center's 20th Anniversary Gala.

Minnelli's performance is the centerpiece for the center's big night, which replaces its annual Broadway Ball. Those paying for the gala will get premium seats for the concert, as well as a dinner from the center's new chef, Rusty Evers. There will also be an exclusive meet and greet with Minnelli after her performance.

Minnelli says she'll perform many of her famous songs, as well as songs by Thompson. She's especially excited about that material, which is part of her latest project, a show featuring Thompson's songs that will air on Showtime next year.

It's the latest in a string of projects that have kept Minnelli's career fresh, including 10 episodes playing Lucille Astero on Fox's "Arrested Development" and a part in the 2006 film "The Oh in Ohio."

Thompson, who died in 1998, lived with Minnelli in New York the last few years of her life. Thompson — perhaps best known as Maggie Prescott in "Funny Face" and author of "Eloise," the popular series of children's books — also was an accomplished pianist.

"We were close; she was an extraordinary woman," Minnelli says. "She did what a godmother is supposed to do; when my mother died, she picked up the ball."

But their relationship involved more than just family ties; it also involved music. Before her Hollywood fame, Thompson already was accomplished as a musical arranger, but "she got bored with that," Minnelli says, and wrote a musical. Thompson hung microphones from the ceiling so that the singers could move around.

Minnelli's parents — Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli — took her to see Thompson's shows when she was a small child.

"I remember these feet flying around and the most beautiful shoes," she said. "And the music! She was a remarkable woman, gifted both musically and intellectually."

Singing that music has been difficult, Minnelli said, because the pieces are challenging. There's also dancing, of course, and Minnelli is working with choreographer Ron Lewis.

"He's my favorite of all the people I've worked with. He's just tremendous. I have these great people in the show — they're all great singers — but we didn't ask them to be dancers. He's got them dancing like they've been dancing all their lives."

Kevin Walker can be reached at (813) 259-7975 and kwalker@tampatrib.com.

ON STAGE

WHAT: Liza Minnelli performs at center's 20th Anniversary Gala.

WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Carol Morsani Hall, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa

WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday

TICKETS: $59.50, $69.50, $75.50, $100 and $150; (813) 229-7827

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