Liza Minnelli, the star of stage and screen whose new memoir revisits the highs and lows of a life in show business, is coming to San Francisco next month for a conversation at City Arts & Lectures.
Minnelli is scheduled to join singer and pianist Michael Feinstein on April 9 at the Sydney Goldstein Theater.
The appearance comes as Minnelli, 79, promotes “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!,” published March 10 by Grand Central Publishing. The memoir — shaped in part from years of taped conversations with Feinstein and co-written with journalists Josh Getlin and Heidi Evans — revisits her childhood as the daughter of Judy Garland and filmmaker Vincente Minnelli, her rise to stardom and long struggle with substance use disorder.
“As I approach eighty years of great living, high kicks, face-plants, and hell-raising, sharing my recovery journey feels more meaningful than anything,” Minelli said in a statement announcing her upcoming appearance.
Minnelli — one of the few entertainers to achieve EGOT status, winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony — writes in the book that she is 11 years sober and that recovery remains a daily task.
“I haven’t ‘beaten’ addiction. Nobody does if it’s in the blood. It can flare up without warning if you’re not vigilant,” she writes. “But for the first time, I’ve fought it to a draw. I’m keeping it at bay. That’s the truth. That’s the difference. One day at a time. And baby, there’s no going back.”
Readers and reviewers have zeroed in on several headline-making revelations from the memoir, including Minnelli’s accounts of a close friendship with Princess Diana; recollections of her fraught relationship with her mother; and a volatile, drug-tinged affair with Martin Scorsese during the filming of the 1977 musical “New York, New York.”
“Truth be told, our love affair had more layers than a lasagne. We were both Italian. Passionate. Intense,” she writes. “He was a diabolically handsome man who shared my love for film. I was a director’s daughter who respected Marty’s role and authority.”
The City Arts & Lectures conversation is likely to revisit those episodes onstage, combining anecdotes, music and the frank reflections that run through the memoir.
Tickets and membership pre-sale details are available through City Arts & Lectures.