Liza Minnelli made a surprise appearance at friend Michael Feinstein’s concert over the weekend.
Minnelli hasn’t attended a public event since appearing at the Oscars in a wheelchair in March. The 76-year-old performer took the stage at the Arboretum in Los Angeles on Saturday to sing “Our Love is Here to Stay” with Feinstein.
A gig-goer told Page Six that Minnelli walked out onstage and “was very coherent and in good spirits.”
A source close to Minnelli added, “She wanted to be there to support her friend. She wanted to celebrate him.”
“I’m so excited. I haven’t been out here in so long. I love you. Thank you for all the years of joy that you brought me,” Minnelli told the crowd ahead of her performance.
An insider revealed Minnelli and friends continued the party at Feinstein’s house, where “she sang a couple of songs and reminisced about old times. Everyone was so happy to see her,” they added.
“Liza wanted to make an appearance and perform with Michael in celebration of his newly announced venture at Café Carlyle in N.Y.,” a source close to Minnelli and Feinstein told Entertainment Weekly. “The two are the very best of friends and the audience could see their mutual affection shining through during their performance.”
Feinstein previously spoke about Minnelli’s Oscars appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show”.
The singer revealed that Minnelli originally planned to appear in a director’s chair due to back problems.
“You know, that whole thing was, she was sabotaged. That’s the terrible word to use, but she only agreed to appear on the Oscars if she would be in the director’s chair, ’cause she’s been having back trouble,” he explained.
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“She said, ‘I don’t want people to see me limping out there.’ She said, ‘You know, I wanna look good. I don’t want people to worry about me,’” adding that plans changed after the infamous moment involving Will Smith and Chris Rock.
