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Liza Minnelli, the daughter of famed singer-actress Judy Garland and auteur Vincent Minnelli, moved from Los Angeles to New York City at the age of 16 to pursue a life of singing and dancing on the stage.  After initially being passed over in favor of Eydie Gormé for the lead role in the new musical Flora, the Red Menace (1965), legendary director George Abbott eventually saw fit to go back and cast Minnelli in the title role, upon the insistence of songwriting team John Kander & Fred Ebb (who were also making their Broadway musical debut).  So it was, that at age 19, Minnelli won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, proving that she was no longer just "Judy Garland's daughter," and forging a life-long friendship/collaboration with Kander & Ebb, even though the production was a flop.  After winning an Oscar for her work in Bob Fosse's film version of Cabaret (1972) and an Emmy for Liza with a ‘Z’ (1972), she returned to Broadway to play Roxie Hart in Chicago (1975), while Gwen Verdon was on vacation, and to play essentially herself in a Las Vegas-style Kander & Ebb vehicle called The Act (1977), directed by Martin Scorsese.  She proved her acting chops playing "spangles-free" Angel Antonnelli  in The Rink (1984), a gritty, realistic Kander & Ebb musical that co-starred Chita Rivera.  She took a long hiatus from the Broadway stage, returning to appear in her only non-Kander & Ebb Broadway musical, succeeding Julie Andrews in the title role of Victor/Victoria (1995).  Most recently, she has had many successful "one woman shows" on the boards, such as Minnelli on Minnelli (1999) and Liza's Back! (2002).