“Gloriously camp, wonderfully funny and endlessly entertaining, this is a tribute that leaves you wanting just one more encore.”
David Saffert and Jillian Snow lead Liberace and Liza: A Tribute, paying loving tribute to two performers who, sadly, never had the opportunity to perform together. Thanks to this creation, however, we have the next best thing: a high-camp, song-and-dance love letter to two showstopping performers, brimming with side-splitting humour.
Liberace, played by David Saffert, and Liza Minnelli, played by Jillian Snow, imagine what a musical meeting between the two icons might have been like. Comic anecdotes and a plethora of musical numbers ensure that Liberace and Liza is a non-stop hoot, featuring classic hits such as Cabaret, New York, New York and Over the Rainbow, alongside unexpected modern twists, including covers of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears.
Saffert’s Liberace opens the show decked out in a dashing royal blue cape, complete with two hanging pom-poms that he delights in inviting the audience to squeeze. The star dazzles with a costume reveal, emerging in his own kilt before welcoming his co-star onto the stage. The pair share a legendary rapport, both musically and throughout their comic exchanges. The duo shine through their renditions of classic Liza hits, with a particular highlight being an extended version of Cabaret, complete with Snow’s impressively studied Liza-isms.
The pair launch into witty exchanges as Liza tells stories of her incomprehensible memories with her mother, Judy Garland, while Liberace bounces off the audience, drawing attention to one audience member he labels his mother, as well another who he dubs as the notorious troublemaker Palm Springs Sally. This light audience ribbing, combined with the comic chops of Saffert and Snow, makes for an intoxicating treat that maintains the laughs throughout its full-hour runtime. Conversations about Liza’s film career also lead to some humorous exchanges, with plenty of comedy found in her apparent affection for the 1980s box-office flop Rent-a-Cop.
There is a real creativity and sense of fun in the surprising covers of Britney Spears’ Toxic, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow, and a showstopping finale of Pink Pony Club. These performances put an old-school Hollywood charm on modern pop classics. The traditional numbers shine too, with Saffert delivering a piano performance of Carmen that showcases his brilliant musicality. With a stage decked out with a candelabra, piano and studio chair for Liza, this Underbelly production really does transport audiences to the glamour of old Hollywood.
Liberace and Liza: A Tribute is a joyous, high-energy celebration of two unforgettable entertainers. Packed with powerhouse musical performances, quick-fire comedy and plenty of affectionate nods to both stars, Saffert and Snow create the fantastical meeting that never was and make it feel as though Liberace and Liza might just have been destined to share a stage. Gloriously camp, wonderfully funny and endlessly entertaining, this is a tribute that leaves you wanting just one more encore.
Liberace and Liza: A Tribute plays at the Underbelly Bristo Square. Tickets are available here.
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