Melbourne didn’t see Lorna Luft’s multimedia show Songs My Mother Taught Me. Instead, we were treated to the much more intimate An Evening with Lorna Luft. This gave us the opportunity to see Luft for herself, without immediate association with well-known members of her family.

Luft made her television debut at 11, singing on her mother’s series (The Judy Garland Show). She said she was never comfortable with her legacy. Comfort, acceptance and celebration of her upbringing have come with age, love and distance.  She has also created and maintained her own astonishingly consistent career that spans Broadway musicals (at 19 she stared in Promises, Promises.), national tours, Off Broadway theatre, television, film (she was in Grease 2), concerts and variety. She has also had time to write “Me and My Shadows: Living with the Legacy of Judy Garland” and produce the Emmy winning series based on her memoir.

The evening’s standing ovation declared that Luft is indeed a performer to be reckoned with. She enthralled the eager audience, with a selection of musical and popular favourites ranging from ‘My Funny Valentine’ to ‘Don’t Cry Outloud’ (in tribute to the brother in law she loved dearly).

She was much more comfortable and settled after the interval. It was here that we got to hear her stories, feel her sincerity, laugh at her wit, and share some of Songs My Mother Taught Me. We were privileged to hear her stories (like Judy changing all the shoes outside the doors at the Savoy) and hear her sing some of those songs.  When she stated with, ‘The night is bitter...’ the room belonged only to her.

Luft doesn’t try to emulate her mother. Her arrangements (by her husband and pianist Colin R Freeman) suit her voice, her style and her personality. She captivates by being herself.

Luft is performing in other cities until the end of June. Nothing will stop fans going, but there will also be many more Friends of Lorna by the end of the tour.