FIRST NIGHT RECORDS RELEASES First Night Records is proud to announce the long awaited and much anticipated UK release of Lorna Luft’s debut CD – “Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me” on 22 October 2007. Produced by Barry Manilow and Colin R. Freeman, “Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me" celebrates the music of her mother, “the world’s greatest entertainer,” Miss Judy Garland and features songs from the Hollywood classics The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, Easter Parade, A Star is Born and more. In support of the CD release, Ms. Luft will undertake a 15 city UK tour in “Songs My Mother Taught Me: Live in Concert” commencing 26 January 2008. Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me, produced by Colin R. Freeman and Ms. Luft’s long time friend, entertainment icon Barry Manilow, is an electrifying celebration of the legend, the music and the memories of her mother Judy Garland. This affectionate tribute, based on Ms. Luft’s acclaimed live concert, features riveting interpretations of her mother’s most memorable songs including the signature tunes "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby (With a Dixie Melody)," "Chicago," "The Man That Got Away” and "Come Rain or Come Shine." Amongst the CD’s many highlights is a riveting duet medley in which mother and daughter join voices on “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” and “Through the Years." Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me also features Judy Garland’s live performance of “Lorna;” a song written by Johnny Mercer for Ms. Luft’s childhood appearance on The Judy Garland Show. The First Night Records studio recording of Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me features 11 tracks with over 38 memorable songs including “Born in a Trunk,” Ms. Luft’s musical journey through her mother’s life, incorporating music from Miss Garland’s legendary motion pictures including The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, Summer Stock, Easter Parade, A Star is Born and her legendary 1961 concert at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall. The CD also features two bonus tracks; a newly recorded version of Miss Garland’s Carnegie Hall Overture and Ms. Luft’s showstopping rendition of “Hello Bluebird,” a song featured in her mother’s final film I Could Go On Singing. A critically acclaimed audience favorite in the US, the live concert of Songs My Mother Taught Me, which the Los Angeles Times called “heart-stopping and thrilling… an incandescent revelation not to be missed,” completed an 8 week season in London’s West End at the Savoy Theatre in 2004 and toured Ireland in 2005. In support of the CD release, Ms. Luft will undertake a 15 city UK tour in Songs My Mother Taught Me: Live in Concert commencing 26 January 2008. Track-listing:
You’re Nearer / I Can’t Give You Anything But Love / Through The Years
Children And Art / Born In A Trunk / Jingle Bells / I'm Nobody's Baby / Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart / Follow The Yellow Brick Road / You Stepped Out Of A Dream / Minnie From Trinidad / But Not For Me / The Boy Next Door / On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe / Look For The Silver Lining / Mack the Black / Easter Parade / Johnny One Note / In The Good Old Summertime / Get Happy / Judy At The Palace / I Don't Care / Swanee / That's Entertainment / The Joint Is Really Jumpin’ Down At Carnegie Hall / You Made Me Love You / For Me And My Gal / The Trolley Song
Bonus Tracks:
UK Tour: January 2008 February 2008 LORNA LUFT – BIOGRAPHY Born to legendary entertainer Judy Garland and producer Sid Luft, music was an integral part of her childhood. At age 11 she made her television debut singing on her mother’s series, The Judy Garland Show. At 16, already a seasoned performer, she shared the bill with her mom on Broadway in a fabled month long concert engagement at New York's famed Palace Theater. By 19, she was stopping the show on her own; starring on Broadway in Neil Simon’s hit musical Promises, Promises. She continued on the NY stage as "Peppermint Patty" in the musical Snoopy and then took a dramatic turn alongside Farrah Fawcett in Extremities. In addition to productions of Grease, Carnival, Little Shop of Horrors, Girl Crazy, Mame and Gypsy, she starred in national tours of They're Playing Our Song and Guys & Dolls. She toured the UK in the acclaimed musical revues Hollywood & Broadway and The Magical World of Musicals. Following the 2004 West End debut of her one woman show Songs My Mother Taught Me, she starred in the 2006 blockbuster UK premiere production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The Musical. She quickly followed that success with the 2007 hit revival of Rodgers and Hart’s Babes in Arms at the prestigious Chichester Festival Theatre. Lorna will reprise her role in White Christmas: The Musical at the Edinburgh Playhouse 19 November thru 8 December, then at the Wales Millennium Centre 13 December thru 12 January. Concurrent with her theatrical career, Lorna is a gifted live performer frequently featured as a concert artist at the world’s most prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, The London Palladium, and L’Olympia in Paris. In 2006 and 2007 she garnered acclaim for her surprise duet appearances with singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright at his celebrated tribute concerts to Judy Garland. In the summer of 2007 Lorna joined the talented voice cast of Logo Network’s new animated series Rick & Steve. A UK television favorite, she frequently appears as a guest and sometime co-host on ITV’s popular Loose Women. In 2004 she was the subject of a highly rated BBC documentary titled Somebody's Daughter, Somebody's Son. In the US she’s appeared on virtually every talk and variety program and has had featured roles on episodic series including Murder She Wrote, The Nanny, and Trapper John M.D. She joined her sister, Liza Minnelli, in an electrifying duet on The Tony Awardsand was featured on PBS’s Jerry Herman's Broadway at the Bowl. In films, she is most remembered by fans of all ages as Pink Lady “Paulette Rebchuck” in the camp classic Grease 2. In 1998 Lorna added a new dimension to her multi-faceted career; that of New York Times best-selling author upon the release of her critically acclaimed memoir Me and My Shadows. Lorna co-produced the 2001 miniseries adaptation, Life with Judy Garland: Me & My Shadows, starring Judy Davis. It won 5 Emmy Awards. One of her most ambitious projects to date is the highly acclaimed multi-media production Songs My Mother Taught Me. Blending one of the world‘s most familiar songbooks with personal memories of a loving daughter. Songs My Mother Taught Me, which Variety called “a rousing, dramatically riveting musical event,” was awarded two Los Angeles Theatre Alliance Ovation Awards (Best World Premiere Musical & Best Musical Direction.) Lorna has two children, Jesse and Vanessa, is married to celebrated musician, Colin R. Freeman and currently divides her time between Los Angeles, California and the UK. From her early work with her mother to spectacular concert performances, acclaim on Broadway, and in television, Lorna proves again and again that she’s a stellar entertainer and humanitarian, proudly carrying the torch of her family’s legendary show business legacy. Visit Lorna online at www.LornaLuft.com or www.myspace.com/lornaluft |