Liz Callaway: Yuletide Revelry

When Ann Callaway got sick just before their tandem program, her sister Liz determined to take the stage solo, quickly putting together a part seasonal, part Sondheim show. Collaborative musicians stepped up (and vocally backed-up) with fluency and brio.  “I understand a lot of you came just to see Ann. No, I’m ok,” Liz quips. A version of Walter Mark’s “I Gotta Be Me” follows: …What else can I be, cause I’m not Ann…You know how she sings/So what she can scat…

“Joy to the World” (Lowell Mason/Isaac Watts) begins a capella with vocal accompaniment. The performer has that kind of voice – open-throated, pristine; clarion, but controlled. Melodic singing with an excellent rock arrangement adds to message exuberance. “I love singing holiday music,” she tells us grinning. (Liz has two Christmas CDs.) “Grown Up Christmas List” (David Foster/Linda Thompson-Jenner/Amy Grant) offers a universal wish: No more lives torn apart/That wars would never start/And time would heal all hearts…

Photo by Jeff Harnar

Part of Liz Callaway’s enduring appeal is that we feel she’s one of us – albeit with considerably more talent! There’s a warmth to her shows. Even rehearsed stories feel honest. Yes, she’s an actress and brings that to interpretation, but in between there’s no pretension. Nor, like so many musical theater artists, does she look over our heads. Liz Callaway shares.

Chuck Mangione’s “Land of Make Believe” bridges holiday hopes and the performer’s musical theater history. “Broadway Baby” then arrives the first of several Stephen Sondheim songs intertwining her own association with the master. At 18, the young performer had a role in the original production of Merrily We Roll Along. She delivers her three lyric lines. “Not to toot my own horn, I still sing them in the original key.” Most recently, the auspicious relationship is bookended by a recent tribute album, To Steve with Love, nominated for a Grammy.

Two songs from Merrily are low key and thoughtful. Charlie, nothing’s the way that it was…she sings brow furrowed, hand laying open on her knee. (“Like It Was.”) From Sondheim’s Evening Primrose (available on YouTube), we hear “I Remember” and “Take Me to the World,” rife with longing. The room seems to breathe together. Not a glass clinks.

Lauren Mayer’s brilliantly funny “Another Hundred Lyrics,” satirizing Sondheim by way of Company’s “Another Hundred People,” shows Liz in top form. Punctuating with her arms (a rarity), the performer is physically loose, yet every acrobatic word is perfectly enunciated; every lengthy phrase surges like a salmon swimming upstream. The rest of us feel out of breath.

Photo by Jeff Harnar: Alex Rybeck, Liz Callaway, Ritt Henn, Ron Tierno

“Once Upon December” and “Journey to the Past” (Lynn Ahrens – in the room tonight, and Stephen Flaherty – from the beautiful score of Anastasia) embark with music box evocation. Melody arrives like a figure skated helix. Jingle bells help conjure. Cinematic sweep and whoosh carry us. Liz’s voice takes flight. 

The evening ends on an up note with “New World Coming” (Barry Mann/ Cynthia Weil): There’s a new world comin’. and it’s just around the bend./ There’s a new world comin’, this one’s comin’ to an end./There’s a new voice callin’, you can hear it if you try./And its growin’ stronger with each day that passes by… Yes, please.

Liz Callaway (and her eminent musicians) pulled a terrific show out of a veteran hat. Brava/bravo to you all.

Opening Photo- Conor Weiss

Liz Callaway: Yuletide Revelry
Directed by Dan Foster
MD/Piano- Alex Rybeck
Bass- Ritt Henn; Drums- Ron Tierno

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