23 September 1969: ". . . John [Kander] and I are hard at work on a musical now. As a matter of fact there are two that interest us and I guess it will depend on which one we finish first. One is for Liza Minnelli [Liza (1974)?] . . . ."
[6 November 1969]: ". . . It makes me feel wonderful to know that someone is really looking forward to seeing our work. At the moment . . . we are working very hard. There is the musical for Liza Minnelli which I like very much but sems to take forever to get 'right'. . . .
"Saw a lovely play called BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE [by Leonard Gershe (1969)] and I recommend it to you. . . . Also, try and catch Liza's movie called THE STERILE CUCKOO [1969] if you haven't already because it's a very nice picture and she is wonderful in it. . . ."
19 December 1969: ". . . Hal Prince has bought a home in Mallorca and he had to go over there to sign some papers or something. He said, 'Why don't you come along?' . . . we left the next day. . . .
". . . We wound up going to East Berlin as well and Stockholm on the way back. . . . Hal is a perfect traveling companion too. Funny, alert and adventurous. So, we had a ball. But now we are back to work on getting the ZORBA road company in shape. . . .
". . . The project for Liza is moving along too and there's a motion picture we might do that I like quite a lot [Cabaret (1972)?]. . . ."
[27 January 1970]: ". . . Liza Minnelli decided to play the Empire Room of the Waldorf starting this coming Monday and it was all a very hurry up and let's-do-it-now type of arrangement and being bored and free and in love with her I agreed to write and stage the act. . . . It turned out . . . to be incredibly difficult and we are at it night and day. It occurred to us (Liza says it was my idea and I say it was hers) to use a Rock and Roll group with her this time . . . . We found them in a lounge in Dallas, Texas . . . . They are marvelous and funny and attractive and hard as hell to get moving. . . ."
[19 February 1970]: ". . . Liza's act is off and running now and very good it is too. The audiences have been wild and very appreciative. They jump up and down at the end at that's nice. Liza is very happy and so am I. We did make a fatal mistake opening night though. We packed the audience with friends and celebrities and it turned out that they did us more harm than good. They 'over-reacted' and it didn't seem genuine. (Some critics even mentioned that and it bothered me.) . . . .
". . . Tell your friend that his report that 'Tomorrow Belongs to Me' is an old German folk song is absolutely FALSE! John and I wrote it with our own two heads and I am shocked that someone wouldn't think so. . . ."
[26 June 1970]: ". . . Liza's special is done with and will be aired this Monday (the 29th of June) at 8 o'clock on N.B.C. It's called LIZA and I hope you get a chance to watch it. . . ."
[11 August 1970]: ". . . Deeply involved at the moment in my new project which is called '60, Girls, 60' [70, Girls, 70 (1971)] and what with the meetings every day and the general mechanics of getting it all together I've been all disoriented. . . .
". . . Ron Field will direct and choreograph it and Ruth Gordon will star in it and Joe Masteroff (he did Cabaret) will write it. It seems very exciting and I am 'turned on' by it. But like all projects, it's very spooky when you think of it in terms of success and failure and so I try not to. . . ."
[7 June 1971: ". . . I'm glad you enjoyed '70, Girls, 70'. I must say it was the most frustrating and heartbreaking experience we've ever had in the theatre. Nothing seemed to go our way and eventually the producer simply ran out of money . . . . It's made me seriously think about how much I want to stay in the theatre in the first place and I am really discouraged and down right now. . . ."
[30 November 1971]: ". . . I thought I'd never recover from the last one [70, Girls, 70] but I have (the way everyone predicted I would). The album of the show is selling very well and also there is some indication of interest in it either as a special or a continuing series. No real info on that--just rumors. Poor little jinxed 70, GIRLS, 70. My very favorite. . . ."
[5 March 1972]: ". . . Glad you like the movie version of 'Cabaret'. . . . I'm thrilled that it's turned out to be the kind of hit it is. I certainly didn't expect that despite my own enthusiasm for it. It shows you what I know. . . . I thought it would have a hard time finding an audience. Apparently there is even a larger audience for it than there was for the show. That's an astonishing fact to me. But I am happy. . . ."
[30 September 1972]: ". . . I'm glad you liked the TV special. It was a ball to do and I really loved Bob Fosse and you know how much I love Liza. So, the show was a sheer joy for us from beginning to end. It apparently got very good reviews too and there is a good chance that it will be repeated, which is swell news for all of us. . . ."
[16 April 1973]: ". . . Working on a new musical tentatively called CHICAGO. Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera will star in it and Bob Fosse will direct. Isn't that terrific? I am very happy and excited about it. . . ."
With--Group of 12 items, unsigned: 9 Playbill programs, mostly for performances with lyrics by Ebb including the 1968 Broadway production of Cabaret. Each 8vo. 1965-83 • Two long playing records containing the original Broadway cast recordings of Happy Time and Zorba. Each 12¼x12¼ inches. 1968-69 • Compact disc containing the original Broadway cast recording of Steel Pier. 4¾x5½ inches. 1997.