Greg In Hollywood talks to Lorna Luft about “Grease 2” and taking her kids to see their grandma Judy Garland’s greatest film

Great to see Lorna Luft last week at the opening of In the Heights at the Pantages Theater.

It’s a venue that holds special significance for the daughter of Judy Garland and Sid Luft: It was at the Pantages that the premiere of A Star is Born was held back in 1954 when Lorna was just two years old.

The film earned her mother an Academy Award nomination for best actress and was produced by her father. It is considered Miss Garland’s greatest performance in a career that included so many great ones in such movies as The Wizard of Oz and Meet Me In St. Louis.

I had last seen Lorna back in April when A Star is Born opened the TCM Film Festival at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. She was there with her two children who had never seen the movie before.

“It was so emotional, it was uplifting, it was heartbreaking and everything that I thought it would be,” Lorna said. “The ride I took that night with my children, it was extraordinary. They had never seen it because I didn’t want them to see some cut up version, I wanted them to see their grandmother’s and grandfather’s movie put back together as well as it could be. It was amazing.”

I wondered if she was aware that Grease 2, the 1982 musical that starred Maxwell Caufield and a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer has been selected as the musical sing-along film for next month’s Outfest Film Festival.

Lorna played one of the Pink Ladies named Paulette Rebchuck and was a part of such numbers as Who’s That Guy?, Girl for All Seasons and We’ll Be Together.

She was not aware of the Outfest event but smiled wide upon finding out about it: “I had a great time and I made great friends on that film and I loved, loved making it. I always giggle and laugh at myself. It’s a very cute movie.”

She also was unaware that some very early recordings of her mother singing have been packaged for release. But Lorna said  “it’s interesting to hear this amazing, amazing talent that young. I think she kind of set the bar, she broke the mold.”

That is for sure!