Restored, remastered, digitized up the Dolby wazoo, this one-hour Bob Fosse shake-and-bake from 1972 lets La Minnelli run around on a Broadway stage in various Halston outfits, channeling Al Jolson, Charlie Chaplin, Jimmy Durante, the Weimar Republic, and her mother. It looks as good as it ever did, somewhere between a simper and an anxiety attack, and sounds a lot better in stereo, with original musical material by Fred Ebb and John Kander. The best stuff is from Cabaret, where Minnelli seemed to find a corollary of herself in the game thrashing of Sally Bowles. What a poor custodian she was of her prodigal talent—and so desperate for our approval that you wonder what we ever did to deserve the power to confer it. By what right was sanction ours? And such a discouraging waste: I can’t look at her without also seeing Dwight Gooden.

Showtime, Saturday, April 1, 8 P.M.

Related:

• Archive: “Television”
• Articles by John Leonard
• Table of Contents: Apr 3, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!