Liza with a 'Z'

To see Liza Minnelli in fine voice in Birmingham last night. This child of the sixties plays her mother's daughter to perfection and rewarded a devoted audience with songs from Cabaret, Gypsy and Chicago in a belter of a first half where the singer who has had more than her fair share of illness showed just how strongly she had overcome it. The second half was less impressive with an overlong tribute - accompanied by a take-off of Andy Williams and his brothers - to her mentor and godmother Kay Thompson. But she redeemed herself with a cracking finale of New York, New York that showed her splendid orchestra to full effect followed by a tender rendition of I'll be Seeing You. Clearly overwhelmed by the audience response, she took several encores even as the lights came on. She's a living legend, and she knows it.