"Live from Radio City Music Hall" is a live album by American singer and ac… Read Full Bio ↴"Live from Radio City Music Hall" is a live album by American singer and actress Liza Minnelli from 1992. The release came under the Columbia Records label, both in audio and as a video album.

Between 1991 and 1996, Liza Minnelli embarked on continuous tours, with a notable series of shows at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The production titled "Liza Stepping Out at Radio City" took place between April 23 and May 12, 1991, followed by a worldwide tour and a second return to the iconic cinema and concert venue from January 24 to February 2, 1992.

The concert at Radio City Music Hall is divided into two distinct acts. In Act 1, Minnelli performs solo, singing tracks such as "Some People" from "Gypsy," "Old Friend" by Stephen Sondheim, "Living Alone and Like It" by Kander and Ebb, "Sorry I Asked," "Sara Lee," and "Quiet Love" by Charles Aznavour. In Act 2, she is joined on stage by 12 female singers and dancers who emerge from the audience. Minnelli and her "demonic divas" perform a medley of "male" songs, paying tribute to Bob Fosse, and conclude with "Theme from New York, New York" by Kander and Ebb.

Regarding the song selection for the setlist, Minnelli said she chose them because they tell a story. She stated, "For me, it's always about what (a song) says and what it represents, both personally for me and for women. They have a lot on their minds, and I tried to find songs that reflect that."

The show became the most commercially successful at Radio City, not only in 1991 but in the past fifty-nine years, recognized by Billboard magazine as the highest-grossing live stage engagement of the year in the United States, surpassing even the Rolling Stones.

With the excellent reception, Columbia Records decided to record some of Minnelli's performances to release as her sixth live album. Simultaneously, the full show was filmed for television by Louis J. Horvitz and released as a PBS special. The television special received a total of six Emmy Award nominations, including Minnelli's outstanding individual performance.

The promotion for the music project included an event at the Sam Goody store in Rockefeller Plaza, broadcast live by TeleConcerts from the store's event to the Times Square jumbotrons.

The reception from music critics was mostly favorable. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic gave it four out of five stars and wrote that after releasing four previous live albums, it might have seemed to the audience that the artist didn't need another release of this kind. However, he stated that it's in her live performances that Minnelli shines, and in Radio City Music Hall, there's more than enough new material to justify acquiring another live album by Liza Minnelli. He highlighted the ballad "Sorry I Asked."

People magazine criticized the release, stating that Minnelli's voice sounded worn, and the repertoire wasn't innovative. They suggested that the singer "seems more interested in seeing how far her voice can reach than in how much it can express." They praised "Sorry I Asked" as "bitter and melancholic" and "Stepping Out" as "infectious and rhythmic."

Linda Sanders of Entertainment Weekly gave it an "A" rating. She considered the show polished to the last detail with "some of the most elegant musical arrangements ever recorded." Regarding Minnelli, she noted that the singer "stands out as a powerful woman" who combines "the intimacy of a nightclub with the grandeur of Las Vegas."

Commercially, the album failed to chart on the Billboard 200. However, the video album (VHS/LD) reached number 23 on Billboard's Top Video Sales chart on January 9, 1993. The Recording Industry Association of America certified it as a gold record in the United States for sales exceeding 50,000 copies in the country.