EDGE Interview: Lorna Luft On Returning to NYC for NYE with New Show

Lorna Luft made her show business debut in a big way – singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" on national television. The year was 1963, Luft was just 11, and the show was that of her mother, Judy Garland. She often performed with her mother and Liza in the years up to Garland's death in 1969, an event synonymous with the Stonewall Riots.

In the fifty years that followed, Luft has never stopped performing. Theater and concerts have been her focus, but she has also made numerous television appearances and film roles, such as one of the Pink Ladies in the campy cult hit "Grease 2." Luft is also a successful author, having written a book about her childhood called " Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir" that was later adapted into a hugely successful television mini-series that starred Judy Davis as her mother in an Emmy-winning role.

For years one of her favorite events was appearing at Rainbow and Stars on New Year's Eve where she would toast the new year from the top of Rockefeller Center. That was some time ago, but this year Luft is back at a swank club performing on New Year's Eve, this time at 54 Below, situated beneath the disco-turned-theater Studio 54, with a show entitled "Lorna Luft: New Year's Eve in NYC."

EDGE caught up with the 71-year old star to talk about what she is planning on New Year's Eve, her ties to the LGBTQ community, and how she celebrated the 40th anniversary of "Grease 2" coming to theaters.

EDGE: Tell me a little bit about your New Year's show.

Lorna Luft: I used to perform on New Year's Eve in New York City at a wonderful club called Rainbow and Stars. It's hard to do a New Year's Eve show because everybody is out for a good time and they paid a lot of money to see a show, so as a performer, you want to make sure it's great. When they asked me to perform at 54 Below, I was thrilled. I haven't done a New Year's Eve in a long time and to be able to do it near Times Square is a little overwhelming and wonderful at the same time. I want to put on a show that covers everything people are feeling about NYEs and what have we learned in the last year. New Year's Eve can be hard for some people, so I want to choose songs that the audience will identify with. I'm planning on doing a show that will not only be personal to me but personal to the audience.

EDGE: Do you have a favorite composer whose songs you love to sing?

Lorna Luft: No, not really. I think that if you do that, you're handcuffing yourself a little bit. I'm a big advocate for lyricists and I know the composers are brilliant and wonderful. I truly love and respect them, but they sometimes get all the glory and I'm someone who thinks more about the lyric and what they say. There are so many wonderful lyricists out there. I tend to choose the song by the lyricist more than the composer. I know that sounds a little odd, but I think I have more of a connection to the words.