Trevor Ashley is heading back to London with his much-loved Liza Minnelli tribute!
Let’s be brutally honest, Liza Minnelli isn’t coming back to London anytime soon. And even if she does, it’ll be at the O2 arena, tickets will be extortionately expensive, and you’ll be sat in Row ZFZ squinting at a miniscule, sparkly dot doing ‘All That Jazz’.
Your next best option? Well, it’s to go and watch Trevor Ashley do his Liza show, which is more than likely a better Liza than the actual Liza can muster up these days. He’s an Australian cabaret superstar, who’s turned his heels to every diva from Shirley Bassey to Miss Understanding, but his heart lies with Liza. He’s returning to London at the end of June at the Underbelly Festival for another brief run of his sell-out show Liza’s Back (is Broken), in which he plays the diminutive Broadway legend singing songs from some of the roles she never had a chance to take on, as well as dipping into her extensive catalogue of classics.
We spoke with the man behind the heavily applied mascara ahead of the upcoming shows.
How long have you been doing Liza for?
It’s starting to sound terrifying, about eight years now! I started doing her when she came over to Australia for a concert in 2009 and I thought I could do a little parody show the week after. So, I did that and since then, I’ve done her all over the world. The theatres have gone from being little rooms under a pub with 100 seats to the point where I sell-out 1,000 seat theatres, 7 nights running!
What’s the secret to doing a good Liza?
There’s a few, but I think the main one is getting her eternal optimism! She’s so nuts and just wants to be loved by everyone, so you have to convey this bananas over-enthusiasm for everything. Also, it helps I can sing just like her as well. I do her as she is today really, only I’m able to walk of course! She now does concerts only sitting in a chair, but I’m still standing!
Have you ever met her before?
I’ve had a couple of moments where I’ve come close. I was seeing The Normal Heart on Broadway and she happened to be in the audience as well. Of course people were flooding over to her and the ushers had to fight them off, screaming ‘leave Miss Minnelli alone!’. Another close encounter came when I’d gone to see a cabaret show by Barbara Streisand’s sister, of all people. My friend was directing it, so he invited to come for drinks and meet her. However, there were two others there when I arrived and my friend introduced Liza’s publicist and personal assistant! He said ‘have you met Trevor?’ and they knew who I was and what I do, and the publicist said back ‘I don’t like you and I don’t like what you do’. It was all very awkward! The PA wanted me to do Liza though, which I duly did. I don’t think I’ll ever get to meet her, her publicist will try and keep me away from her until she dies!
Why do you think the gays still love Liza?
I think it’s her legacy. No matter what, she will always be the woman who made Maybe This Time, New York New York, and Cabaret famous. Just for that trio of songs, she’ll live forever. Also, her strength. People love her because she’s a battler and a survivor. I think people relate to how much she’s gone through and appreciate that despite it all, she still finds it in her to perform for her fans.
What should people expect from the latest run of Liza’s Back (is Broken)?
Well, this show is a bit different, as it’s mainly songs she’s never done. It’s a show about roles she could have performed on Broadway. It’s this odd fantasy that she turned them all down, which of course she didn’t! So, you get to see shows I think she would have been fabulous as the lead, like Sunset Boulevard and A Little Night Music. But, we also do the roles in which she would have been terrible in, like Wicked and The Sound of Music. So, there’s a lot of comedy in it, plus I’m lucky enough to have a big band with me as well. I had such a ball doing it last year at Wonderground, so I’m really looking forward to doing it for a full week!
Liza’s Back (Is Broken) is at Underbelly Festival from 27th June-2nd July.
