The Z Factor : Vocal strains aside, Liza Minnelli proves she can put on a show, tapping the strengths that delight her fans: acting and storytelling.

Liza Minnelli’s voice wasn’t exactly her best friend Thursday in the opening performance of a three-night run at the Pantages Theatre.

But it didn’t really matter--for two important reasons. First, an overflow crowd was with her all the way--so enthusiastic, so eager to shout “Bravo, Liza,” to applaud the opening bars of every familiar number, that it probably would have cheered if she had simply chanted the lyrics to her songs.

Second, and more to the point, the handicap created by Minnelli’s voice problems simply underscored her powers as an entertainer and as a musical communicator. Deprived of the capacity to rely on melodic exposition, she instead emphasized her acting skills, her body language and her storytelling powers.

Wearing a glittering sequence of outfits designed by Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Donna Langman and Halston, Minnelli uncoiled her arms and legs in every direction. Her various poses--one hand in the air, legs askew, arms held high--her dance movements, with their immediately identifiable qualities, were so stylized and familiar that even the briefest suggestion of one or another drew instant, spirited audience approval.

When she sang, her actor’s sense of phrasing came to the fore. A song such as Kurt Weill’s “My Ship,” with its roving melody, became a dark, moody anthem. In “Sara Lee,” Minnelli used gesture, mime and sing-song phrasing to convey the song’s whimsical message. Her Kandor & Ebb medley, dedicated to tunes written by the Broadway composing team, was a demanding routine, filled with such songs as “Cabaret,” “Maybe This Time” and “Liza With a ‘Z.’ ” Here, too, however, her sense of timing, her unerring ability to match a word or a phrase with the most telling physical gesture or brief dance step, more than compensated for the rough edges of her vocals.

Hoarse on the low notes, occasionally dropping out in the mid-range and simply not there on much of her high range, her vocal production was, at best, uneven. Still apparently recovering from throat surgery, Minnelli was obliged to perform without her usually full range of lusty vocal powers.

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Interestingly, Minnelli managed to regenerate her voice for a dramatic closing encore. Explaining that although she had long ago said she would never sing a song associated with her mother, Judy Garland, she has decided to change that vow, offering a tribute to Garland’s 75th birthday (which would have been June 10). And a superb tribute it was--a lovely, heartfelt, a cappella rendering of “You Made Me Love You”--the high point of the evening.

Minnelli was assisted on several numbers by the Cortes Alexander Trio, a male vocal ensemble whose lush, soaring harmonies were reminiscent of both the Hi-Los and the Beach Boys. Drummer Bill Lavorgna, Minnelli’s longtime music director (and musical associate of her mother, as well), did his usual solidly supportive job of leading the orchestral accompaniment.

* Liza Minnelli plays tonight at the Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., 8 p.m. Sold out. (213) 480-3232.