A Tribeca Fan's Love of Liza Brings Her to Life On Off-Broadway Stage

Leah Reineck sings Liza Minnelli, backed by dancers Gareth Hogan, Victoria Pantagis and Katy Flannery at the Triad Theater. Photo courtesy of "Hats Off to Liza"

They don’t get more star-struck than Larry Capici. The longtime Tribecan and retired Board of Elections administrator (and former Tribeca liquor store owner), Capici, 68, has been attending performances of Liza Minnelli for 45 years. And he’s got the Playbills to prove it—dozens of them are in his Independence Plaza apartment, where he has lived for 41 years with his wife, Rhonda. This month, his show, “Hats Off to Liza,” a song-and-dance medley in her honor, played two sold-out performances at the Triad Theater on the Upper West Side. (The next performance is Sept. 6.) The revue is a neighborly effort. It was co-produced by Capici’s downstairs neighbor Marnee May, and with Gina Regruto, his upstairs neighbor, as stage manager. 

This is Capici’s story behind the production, as told to the Trib’s April Koral. 

When I was about 17, my friends were going to see Liza at the Winter Garden Theatre. I had no interest in her then, but I went anyway, and I couldn't believe what I saw. She was so amazing. I felt like she was performing just for me. 

Years later, I saw her again. I was living on Mulberry Street, where I grew up, and some of the neighborhood kids were getting into trouble so we wanted to give them something constructive to do. I formed a musical group called The Italian Stallions. The first thing we did was a show with songs from movie musicals. These kids were unbelievable. Wow, they loved doing theater. We did it at the local church, the Henry Street Settlement and other places.

One day, when we were coming up the block from a rehearsal, someone says to us, “Liza’s in the Italian Food Center.” And, sure enough, she was there. She started talking to my cousin who was with me about the best olive oil to use. And then one of the little kids goes up to her and says, “Would you come to my show? I’m singing ‘New York, New York.’’’ So Liza said, “Listen, write to me and let me know when it is. If I can get away, I’ll come.”

Video courtesy of "Hats Off to Liza"

Well, the day of the show, no Liza, no flowers, no nothing. The day after, my father gets a phone call from her assistant that Liza was very upset. She had sent flowers but the church couldn't accept them because there was a funeral going on. Well, the next day we were having a party for the kids, and this guy comes in with a huge balloon, like out of the Wizard of Oz, with ribbons and a basket of roses. And Liza wrote a beautiful note that she was sorry she didn’t make it and wished us all luck with the show. I was like, wow, she’s nice! 

Years passed and I moved to Tribeca and opened up a liquor store on Greenwich Street. Then all of a sudden I came up with this idea for the Legendary Ladies show with Judy Garland, Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf songs. But this time, I wanted to do something in a real theater, and I wanted to do it with adults.

My neighbor Marnee arranged for us to go into the Greenwich House Theater which is a beautiful little theater on Barrow Street. It was a huge success but it cost a lot to get it up. And Marnee and I were the only investors. Every musical arrangement was like $300, and it had 22 songs. And you had to pay for the band and the pianist and rehearsals and more rehearsals. 

But I believed in the show very much and I knew it was good and I kept on hoping someone will come in and write about it and it would go to the next level. But to get that person to come is very difficult no matter how good it is. 

Then in 2000, I started working on the Liza show. The first performance was in about 2002 and we did about two dozen performances and it got better and better. Liza sang a lot of good music from years ago, songs I identified with, songs that meant something. A lot of them were about surviving, about getting past a bad day, being down but not getting stuck. 

It wasn’t until last year that Marnee and I decided to produce it again. I got to see Liza at Carnegie Hall, at Radio City, at the Palace. People don’t have the opportunity anymore to see what I saw. And I wanted to do a show that would capture what I experienced.

I booked the Triad Theater and hired a choreographer and singer. But then weeks before the opening they told me they didn't think there was enough time to do the show. My blood pressure went to 185 that night. And now it’s, like, three weeks before the show. I’m not the most religious person, but I swear to you. I prayed very hard. 

Then I go on TikTok and I see this woman named Leah Reineck and she’s singing a Liza song. If I had auditioned 50 people, she was the person I would have chosen. She was just who I had imagined for the role.

So I wrote to her, and she said, “Yes, I’ll do it.” [Singer Danielle Fiorello, who had performed in “Hats Off to Liza” years ago, would co-star with her.]

I went, “Yes!” and I was very happy. But now I’m saying, I need a choreographer. How am I going to do this? And now I start praying again. I’m not Mr. Religious, but I do have a strong faith.

So the next thing I know, I’m talking to Pam [Rainey Rogers], the woman who found dancers for me. I said, please, now I need a choreographer. And she said, I can do it. And Pam did three numbers in one day. And she did a great tap dance number. She nailed every one.

And that’s how we put up the show—in two and a half weeks. I could not believe it.

A lot of fans come to the show but also some young people who don’t really know about Liza. But everybody leaves smiling. It makes me really happy when I look around the room and see that people are enjoying themselves. It makes all the hard work worthwhile. 

For tickets to the next “Hats Off to Liza” at the Triad on Sept. 6, go to InstantSeats.com. Singers are Leah Reineck and Danielle Fiorello; choreography by Pam Rainey Rogers. Dancers: Katy Flannery, Icarus and Victoria Pantagis. For information about future shows, write to Larry Capici at ljc516@aol.com.