Lorna Luft surprised fans at a Wednesday concert in New York with her first-ever live performance of "Over the Rainbow," a song made famous by her mother, Judy Garland.
The singer-actress, 63, told the crowd at Feinstein's/54 Below that she'd never performed the song "not because it was too hard for me emotionally, but because I always felt you can't improve on perfection."
Pointing to the June 12 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Luft added, "I thought to myself, if I'm ever going to sing this, now is the time." (Don't miss the incredible performance in the video above)
Luft's decision to introduce the "Wizard of Oz" classic into her concert repertoire had personal significance, too, as June 22 marked the 47th anniversary of Garland's death at the age of 47.
A beloved gay icon, Garland is often culturally linked to the 1969 Stonewall riots, which are considered the symbolic start of the modern-day lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement. The riots themselves took place in the early morning hours of June 28, less than 24 hours after Garland's funeral and memorial services were held in Manhattan.
"My mother would have loved the fact that people fought back, because she hated bigotry, and she hated injustice," Luft told the crowd. "And don't ask how much she would've loved that rainbow flag!"
Earlier this week, Luft visited the Stonewall Inn, located in New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood, where a memorial to the 49 victims of the Orlando shooting had been erected. Actor-playwright Harvey Fierstein shared a snapshot of Luft kneeling beside the makeshift shrine on his official Facebook page.
According to Luft, it was her first-ever visit to the historic venue, where she was photographed with other members of the New York theater community for a Playbill feature commemorating LGBT Pride. That experience, she said, was "so emotional."
"To realize what happened, and to meet the owner [Kurt Kelly], and for him to say, 'This is where history was made' -- that was fascinating to me," Luft told The Huffington Post. These days, she sees the fact that Stonewall is so intertwined with her mother's legacy as an honor to her family. She said she felt particularly proud when Stonewall staff told her, "Your mom's memory is here, so we always talk to her. When something goes wrong, we say, 'Judy doesn't want that to happen.'"
The fact that her three New York concerts, which feature music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Peter Allen and others, coincide with a Pride week that feels especially poignant in the wake of the Orlando tragedy isn't lost on Luft.
"This past week, we've all been tested," she told HuffPost. "We've been tested with our hearts hurting. We've been tested with our minds asking, 'Why?' I think that it's so important to celebrate for the people who are not [here], and to say, 'We will walk forward,' and that we're all equal."
"Lorna Luft Celebrates Pride Week" plays New York's Feinstein's/54 Below through June 25. Head here for details.
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