More On: frank sinatra
Trini Lopez, singer and actor in ‘The Dirty Dozen,’ dead of COVID-19 at 83
Liza Minnelli’s ‘New York, New York’ gets its due after Sinatra singalong ticks off fans
Weeks after a New York peace choir inadvertently rankled Liza Minnelli fans by holding a citywide singalong to the Frank Sinatra version of “New York, New York“ — a song Kander and Ebb wrote specifically for Minnelli — the org assuaged fans of the “Cabaret” Oscar winner. Last month, the Peace of Heart Choir — …
Weeks after a New York peace choir inadvertently rankled Liza Minnelli fans by holding a citywide singalong to the Frank Sinatra version of “New York, New York“ — a song Kander and Ebb wrote specifically for Minnelli — the org assuaged fans of the “Cabaret” Oscar winner.
Last month, the Peace of Heart Choir — launched after 9/11 to promote community bonding in the Big Apple — sang the Sinatra version of the song, prompting Gay City News to note that: “More than a few gay fans — and members — of the choir took note that Sinatra shoved Minnelli out of the way for the April 16 sing-along.”
The choir seemed to heed the musical outcry, and on May 14 — in its final scheduled city singalong simulcast on WKCR and WBAI — performed the Minnelli original from the 1977 Martin Scorsese film co-starring Robert De Niro. (Ol’ Blue Eyes recorded his cover version in 1979, which plays at the end of Yankees games.)
Minnelli’s “Cabaret” co-star Joel Grey — who was among those singing from his West Village apartment — told us via his rep, “I’m glad they came their senses. It’s Liza’s song … Sinatra was born in Hoboken and lived in Beverly Hills. The song ain’t called ‘New Jersey, New Jersey’ or ‘LA, LA.’”
