‘Liberace & Liza,’ and a performing love affair for David Saffert and Jillian Snow

Published 12:15 am Monday, November 4, 2024

The funny thing is, as far as David Saffert and Jillian Snow know, Liberace and Liza Minnelli never took the stage to perform together.

There is one photo out there that they found with Liberace and Liza together.

“But, Liberace’s music and Liza’s music are a perfect marriage,” Saffert said.

And combining the acts goes off pretty well, too, as Saffert and Snow have found out in the past decade. Saffert playing Liberace and Snow doing Minnelli have thrilled crowds in Portland for many years, including during the holidays. The show “Liberace & Liza: Holiday at the Mansion (A Tribute),” presented by Portland Center Stage, returns this year at The Armory, with previews starting Sunday, Nov. 10 and the regular run staging Nov. 15-Dec. 22 (pcs.org).

What started out as a two-show holiday gig in 2016 has turned into about 50 shows. They’ll sing songs, such as “New York New York” and Cabaret” by Snow’s Minnelli and anything Gershwin by Saffert’s Liberace, and do duets — and even go the contemporary route with Celine Dion, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. A favorite has been “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

Of course, a night of campiness extraordinaire wouldn’t be complete without the fun outfits — sequins, wigs and costumes — and makeup, a set depicting a room in a Liberace mansion in Las Vegas with candelabras, mistletoe and the neon glow and all the guffaws you would want.

It’s been a fun 10 years since Saffert and Snow started developing the act together. For good measure, the music has been led by Bo Ayars, who served as Liberace’s music director.

“It just worked instantly,” Snow said. The chemistry between the two longtime performers has been great.

“He’s amazing,” Snow added “It’s really easy with two people, who are real people, to go over the top and play a very exaggerated version of both of them. But, that’s what I love about David. We are hardcore obsessed with these people (Liberace, Liza), and we don’t want to make fun of them. We want to honor them.”

Said Saffert: “When we started out, we were doing a couple shows a year. We had good chemistry, but when you let four months go by, it’s these rusty gears trying to work again to find chemistry. Now that we’re performing every month, and now doing 50 shows at Portland Center Stage, now it’s immediate (chemistry). We trust each other so much. From the top of the show, we’re on. I know how her character feels, and she knows how my character feels. We’ve created Liberace and Liza as best friends that know each other so well.”

Saffert, who had been, among other things, putting on shows through Fertile Ground Festival of New Works, picked up a Liberace schtick on the suggestion of a friend. He grew up in conservative Wisconsin, and predictably wasn’t too exposed to the flamboyancy of Liberace, but he remembers watching some of his appearances on television and then “researching” the act on YouTube — with the star’s garish outfits and jewelry, big smile and terrific piano playing, he had to do the impersonation.

“I realized I had slept on his act for decades,” Saffert said.

From Salem, Snow was living, attending college and then working in New York City when her Liza act took off. Snow also liked Judy Garland — Minnelli being Garland’s daughter, Snow impersonated the singer/performer/actor in high school, and then some bookings came her way in New York City piano bars and clubs. (Saffert and Snow have incorporated a Lorna Luft character, based on Garland’s other actor daughter, into their non-holiday shows, using the line, “What, you’re doing a show, and you didn’t invite me?”).

Snow performed at some fairly big venues in New York City, on the same night as some “Saturday Night Live” actors, such as Kate McKinnon.

Saffert and Snow met through Snow’s sister, Jade Harris, who told her sister that it’d be cool for them to work together because “we were both whackadoos,” Snow said. And Snow knew Ayars from her time working and performing at Tony Starlight Showroom. Snow and Saffert talked with Ayars about being part of the show.

A show or two took place place in 2015 and ’16, and then the first “Liberace & Liza” holiday shows went off in 2016 — for two nights.

Their two-person act has improved, as have their individual acts.

“I’m not feeling like everything has to be exaggerated so much,” Snow said. “It has to be real for you and who you’re trying to play.”

Said Saffert: “Jillian has every facet of Liza down. Jillian can sing and act, dance, has the voice, the comedy.”

Saffert said that his Liberace act has gotten better — and, ironically, more serious. He went from using a $20 Elvis wig bought from Amazon to a $30 wig to an $800 real-hair wig ordered from Hollywood. And, he uses $100 glue-on sideburns.

“The makeup and hair is 1,000 times better,” Saffert said. “I married a drag queen — my husband Tyler Buswell does drag — and he helped me up my makeup routine, hair and sideburns.

“Liberace’s face was a little shorter than mine. My husband has helped me with makeup to shape my face closer to his.”

So, Snow and Saffert have become a hit. They’ll do a lot of shows over the holidays in Portland, and then set out to do non-holiday shows, including a week’s worth by invitation in New Jersey.

“Instead of us trying to get work,” Saffert said, “the work has been coming to us.”