liza minnelli met johnny while he was entertaining at lyricist fred ebb's christmas party in 2002. she recognized johnny's talent taking him on her world tours as her pianist and then as featured singer, dancer, pianist, and songwriter in the tony award-winning "liza's at the palace...!", which played on broadway in 2009/2010 and now shows on pbs television. johnny co-wrote the featured song "i would never leave you" and is included on the show's dvd release as well as the grammy-nominated cd.