"HONEY," says Lorna Luft, “let me get to Edinburgh first”.

Lorna had just been asked what was on the schedule after completing the tour of Judy: The Judy Garland Songbook, which will play the Grand Opera House, York, from tonight until Saturday after opening in the Scottish city.

At the time of this interview, she was far too busy to contemplate what comes next, “doing double duty” as she rehearsed for both the Songbook and a one night only, star-studded concert version of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies in London’s West End She may be uncertain about the future but she’s clear about the past and the “tragic” label that has often been attached to the life of her mother, Judy Garland.

Lorna was around 11 when she appeared on her mother’s television show and discovered a liking for showbiz. “That’s when I knew this is really what I wanted to do. I had a really great experience. And then, of course, we went on tour. It was all very positive.”

She uses the same word – positive – about her mother and takes the opportunity to put the record straight about Garland’s so-called ‘tragic’ life and times. “She was always positive. The press has confused people. There’s a big myth about my mother being this tragic figure and she really was not.

“Yes, she had some tragedy in her life but she was funny and incredibly positive. She was one of those people for whom the glass is always half full.

“I am really positive. I really am. I want that energy and all that around me. We turn on the news, open newspapers and it can be really overwhelming and depressing. I’m a news junkie. I want to know every day what’s happening. I read it and keep up-to-date. I find it fascinating. I was raised and brought up on wanting to know what’s going on.”

What’s going on is the 19-date tour of Judy: The Judy Garland Songbook, featuring Luft along with a cast of West End singers and dancers delivering the songs associated with Garland, as well as showing never-before-seen film clips and interviews. Choreographer Arlene Phillips is the show’s creative director.

“It’s really about the songs everyone grew up with and everyone knows and everyone sings and everyone loves. It’s a great tribute and thank you to this great star,” explains Lorna, half sister of Liza Minnelli.

Audiences can expect to hear classic hit songs from Garland’s popular films such as A Star Is Born, Meet Me In St Louis and The Wizard Of Oz, including, of course, the song that’s most associated with her, Over The Rainbow.

Just don’t ask Lorna to name her favourites. “I guess that I can’t say my favourite because then all the others would not be. We put all the songs through a list and chose them. Those are the songs, not only my favourites but the audience’s too. The show is, put simply, a tribute to the Judy Garland songbook.

She’s certainly not fed up with singing Garland’s greatest hits. The cast of the show, which includes Wicked star Louise Dearman and Ray Quinn, will be putting their own stamp on the songs. “We are not copying, what we are doing is saying ‘thank you’,” says Lorna. “There are big production numbers and film clips. It’s the first time we’ve done this type of show.”

Lorna is no stranger to this country, having lived here on and off since she was eight. “Work takes me all over the place but I am a first-time grandmother and have an eight-month-old little granddaughter. Her family live in Seattle so the States is really my home, but I love coming over here. I love British audiences, they have been very good to me and I am grateful.”

Judy: The Judy Garland Songbook, Grand Opera House, York, tonight until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york