Filmmaker Bruce David Klein on How Liza Became Liza (With a Little Help from her Friends)

EDGE: You don't really delve into a film career all that much. Was that left out consciously on your part.

Bruce David Klein: It was the time we had originally a long section on "The Sterile Cuckoo," which I consider, you know, just a masterpiece of acting. I mean, she was nominated for Academy Award, but that occurred just before our storyline, and we could never figure out a way to fit in, because she had done the movie before Judy died; but the movie came out after Judy died, so it was kind of in that kind of Netherworld in terms of her career. The movies we obviously focused on were the ones who made her Liza – "Cabaret," and to some extent "New York, New York." But I definitely dropped "Arthur," which was cut for time because, again, it didn't fit the storyline. But I always tell people to watch "The Sterile Cuckoo," which was just a brilliant movie.

EDGE: How did the moment when she sings "The World Goes 'Round" with Michael Feinstein come about?

Bruce David Klein: Well, for obvious reasons whenever we interviewed Liza, we made sure there was a piano in the room, because you are always hoping that after we talk, she might sing some songs. So that was sort of planned, if you will. But in terms of the song, that scene actually went on for a while. She and Michael were fooling around at the beginning, just singing random stuff; but then I suggested, 'And the World Goes 'Round,' because I felt it is a song that resonates with her life. What was funny is that we had these guys on the set that afternoon – really big grip guys moving stuff around – and when she began that song, she became Liza before our very eyes. And as she was getting pumped while singing it, moving her arms and her hands, I remember turning and looking at one of these grip crew guys. He was the big, husky guy and he had tears streaming down his face. I mean everybody was crying because in that moment we were locked into this woman and this enormous talent that you just can't deny. And we were so happy that we were able to capture that.

EDGE: How did you choose the talking heads that you use in the film?

Bruce David Klein: We tried to only use interviewees who actually know Liza and have spent time with her. People know how close she is to Michael Feinstein, Ben Vereen, and Joel Grey; and how close she was to the late Chita Rivera. They are entertainers she worked with. People are surprised at how close she is to Mia Farrow. And they really don't know Alan and Arlene Lazare, who are not public figures but have been Liza's friends for fifty-plus years. (Note: Alan Lazare passed since the film was made. Both he and Rivera are acknowledged in the credits.) We wanted it to be intimate, and we tried to avoid too many cultural experts and that kind of thing and rely more on people who knew her, knew her as she was becoming Liza.