'Tony and The Lady' Pays Tribute to a Musical Legend

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. On the surface, theirs would seem to be an unlikely musical partnership. After all, the singers were separated in age by more than 60 years and several generations. But in the twilight of Bennett’s life and career, the pair’s bond was solidified, buoyed not just by their incredible talent and a mutual love for a certain era of music, but also by a truly authentic friendship.

Through two albums and a pair of shows at Radio City Musical Hall in August 2021, which marked the poignant finale of Bennett’s career, the love and deep respect between the 90-something Bennett, who suffered from dementia in his final years, and the 30-something Gaga was evident and enduring in both their recordings and on stage.

Which is why singers Amanda Lee Myers and Larry Miso were so inspired to create “Tony and The Lady,” a new live show that pays tribute to Bennett and Gaga’s friendship and musical partnership. For the last year and a half, Myers and Liso have been working to perfect this new show, and on Saturday, September 9, at 8 p.m. they bring “Tony and The Lady” to Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center.

Trained in opera and dance, Myers is a Pennsylvania native, but she describes herself as a theater nomad who follows the performance contracts, wherever they take her. Her most recent gig was as an entertainment director for a resort in St. Maarten in the Caribbean.

Conversely, Liso, who hails from Riverhead, spent the last two decades entertaining audiences as a singer in Las Vegas until COVID-19 brought him back to Long Island so he could be near family.

“I was doing a Sinatra show out there for a long time, performing on the strip with Tony Orlando and people like that. When COVID shut the strip down, I came back home,” explained Liso, a huge fan of Tony Bennett’s music who was eager to perform it live.

“He always wanted to sing Tony’s music,” said Myers of her musical partner. “Larry was inspired by Bennett and Gaga’s relationship and he had the idea to do this show.”

Liso’s friend Dean Vali, who owns an entertainment company and had worked with Myers in the past, felt she would be a good fit for the project in the Gaga role, so he recommended her to Liso.

“He said, ‘I got a girl for you,’” laughed Liso.

Myers, who is not only a singer, dancer and actor, but also a writer (she took a comedy writing course with Second City), loved the idea of paying tribute to Bennett and Gaga’s relationship in a new show. So she eagerly jumped in on the project and began working with Liso to craft the script and curate the songs that would be included in it.

“We rehearse all the time and have been prepping for this show and planning on making it a full time gig for us,” she explained.

With a 30-year age difference between Liso and Myers (not 60 years like Bennett and Gaga) in “Tony and The Lady,” Myers sees an opportunity to bring multiple generations together.

“When I talk about this show to young people and say ‘Lady Gaga,’ their eyes light up. For older people, when I say ‘Tony Bennett,’ their eyes light up, and when I talk about the two together, all their eyes light up,” she said. “We’ve got young people coming to the show for sure, I think it will be a widespread audience.”

Though the music is from a different era, Myers admits that she was in love with jazz from a young age and grew up listening to any CD she could get her hands on — including Etta James and Frank Sinatra.

“I ate it up and had a natural knack for it, but I never had a huge outlet to purse it,” explained Myers, who even worked as singing server at Ellen’s Stardust Diner in New York City. “I did the musical ‘Swing’ a couple times, which is almost entirely jazz music, but besides that, it was just an occasional gig.

“In terms of Bennett and Gaga, I knew about Gaga’s advocacy for mental health and justice, and I knew her pop music, but not that she could sing jazz until she teamed up with Tony Bennett,” added Myers. “It was cool and reaffirming. Sometimes as an artist people will box you into one type of thing. I sing opera, will people think I’m just that? Mostly, I do musical theater and jazz. You can be good at more than one thing, it should be encouraged.”

For his part, Liso recalls hearing Bennett’s music played at his local diner and was taken by the sound.

“I thought, ‘This guy could sing,’” said Liso. “I really always wanted to do his style of music, but I had a problem with range. So I took some lessons and they helped me with that. I can sing Tony Bennett now.”

As a jazz fan, while Myers knew of Bennett’s music, once she started doing research into his life for the show’s script, she learned a great deal more about his background, including his passion for social causes.

“I had no idea he was such a huge advocate for equal rights and justice,” she said, “from fighting Nazis in WWII, to standing up for African Americans and marching with Dr. King, he was a pacifist who cared about humanity. He was an advocate who gave voice to those who don’t have them.”

Similarly, Lady Gaga’s advocacy work led her to establish the nonprofit organization “Born This Way” in 2012 to support the mental health and wellness of young people.

“Gaga brings in the young people who love her. They’ll get interested in jazz music, I love that,” said Myers. “It’s great for me and it will also help them connect with their older relatives. [Bennett and Gaga] are a generational bridge. It’s sad, for older people, the common complaint is they get a little forgotten. But when you look at the history and wealth of knowledge there, it’s a reason to come together.

“There’s so much that’s beautiful about the relationship.”

In “Tony and The Lady,” the musical numbers are drawn from the two albums that Bennett and Gaga recorded together — 2014’s “Cheek to Cheek” and 2021’s “Love for Sale,” which both won Grammys. While Liso performs as Bennett and Myers takes on the Gaga role, she notes that straight imitation is not the goal of the show.

“Stylistically, you can hear a whole lot of similarities. The instrumental parts are similar, but we’re using our voices and our own personal style, flair and personalities,” she explained. “I’m trying to make this music new again and really tell a story. In the script, I’ve played with the lyrics a lot so those are a jumping off point. We’re playful with the lyrics and the whole show is a flow from beginning to end.

“The whole world was taken by storm by their unique relationship,” she added. “It was Gaga from the pop world who was known for being a little outrageous, and Tony who was the last of the crooners holding his own. We’ve allowed ourselves to be ourselves. We have fun and are loving, almost like a brother and sister relationship.”

“We use our personalities,” added Liso.

In addition to the music, the show includes biographical facts about Bennett and Gaga’s relationship and their passion for the topics that were important to them.

“Overall, it’s very light hearted, fun and a lot of energy,” said Myers. “We’re a little silly at times, think Rat Pack humor, old school made new again. It takes you on a journey through love and having a family member with dementia, and going through a heartbreaking scenario.”

Though Bennett and Gaga’s 2021 Radio City Music Hall show was titled “One Last Time,” and it didn’t hide the fact of Bennett’s declining health, when it was announced this summer that Tony Bennett had died on July 21 at the age of 96, less than two weeks before his 97th birthday, it still came as a shock to Liso and Myers, who had been working on the show since February 2022.

“I was a mess,” admitted Myers. “I found out right before I had to be somewhere, but I had to take two to three hours to cry. We knew he was aging and what he was going through, but we were still not ready for it. It felt like a sucker punch.”

“It was supposed to be a birthday celebration,” added Liso of the new show.

“I even had a hard time changing the script from 97 back to 96,” said Myers. “I knew he was not doing well, but I’m not going to lie, a big part of me was hoping I’d get to meet him, sing for him or just sit with him. I just wanted to be in that man’s presence somehow at some point. It was heartbreaking.

“I hope people don’t get the wrong idea,” added Myers, expressing concern that there may be a perception that the new show is capitalizing on Bennett’s passing. “We had been working on this since early 2022, we kept silent for a good while.”

But now, Myers and Liso are ready to channel their grief and take the show on the road, paying tribute to Tony Bennett, the man, the performer, the music and his strong ties with Lady Gaga.

“We had our grieving period. We went through it. Now, this music and show is a celebration of that man’s life, his art and legacy,” Myers said. “We’re big fans of both of their’s as musicians and human beings. I hope it’s healing for people. If anything, we have a few sentimental moments in the show where we reference his life, their connection and saying goodbye to him

“Tony and The Lady” will be performed Saturday, September 9, at 8 p.m. and features live music by a quartet including music director Ben Stivers on piano, Andy Bauer on drums, Sam Weber on upright bass and Ilya Maslov on keys. Tickets are $35 to $53 at whbpac.org or 631-288-1500. Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center is at 76 Main Street, Westhampton Beach.