'Judy & Liza' returns

Suzanne Goulet will visit with donors during a champagne reception after their show, Judy & Liza Together Again! which is scheduled Saturday evening in the Franciscan Theatre & Conference Center of Lourdes College.

David's House Compassion is having a fund-raiser, and donors will get to mingle with Judy Garland and her daughter, Liza Minnelli - sort of.

Julie Sheppard and Suzanne Goulet, who channel the mother and daughter performers, will visit with donors during a champagne reception after their show, Judy & Liza Together Again! which is scheduled Saturday evening in the Franciscan Theatre & Conference Center of Lourdes College.

The performance is separate from the fund-raiser, but Tami Williams, chairman of the David's House event, insists that theatergoers will miss a real treat if they go to the show only. "All of the food is being prepared by chef Jeff McKahan of Manhattan's, and it is delicious," she said.

The evening begins at 6:30 in the Franciscan center lobby, where appetizers will be served and live music performed. After the show, which starts at 8, donors can visit with the stars during a dessert and champagne reception.

This is the second area visit in a year for Judy & Liza Together Again! It played the Stranahan Theater last February.

"We were wonderfully received," Goulet said in a telephone interview this week, adding that she hopes theatergoers are equally enthusiastic this year. "We love it when the crowd is good, when they whistle and stomp and clap."

She promised that there will be plenty of opportunity for enthusiasm this year, too. Not only will she and Sheppard be presenting some of the same signature moments from last year's show - yes, "Somewhere, Over the Rainbow" is still there - they have added new numbers, notably two extravagant production numbers: "Bye, Bye Blackbird" from the show Liza with a Z and "Get Happy" from the movie Summer Stock.

Another added song is "The Day After That" from Kiss of the Spider Woman, which Minnelli recorded for an AIDS benefit. That's fitting, because David's House Compassion provides education and support for Toledo and area HIV patients and their families.

"Judy & Liza Together Again!" is scheduled at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Franciscan Theatre & Conference Center of Lourdes College, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania. Tickets, available from the Franciscan center box office, are $29.50 for the show only, and $75 for the David's House Compassion event, which includes preshow appetizers and cash bar, the show, and a champagne/dessert reception. Information: 419-824-3999.

Contact Nanciann Cherry at: ncherry@theblade.com

or 419-724-6130.