Liz Callaway: Celebrate — 54 Below
Liz Callaway
Celebrate
54 Below, NYC, December 23, 2014
Reviewed by Joel Benjamin for Cabaret Scenes
Liz Callaway has a warm presence that has grown richer with age. She’s no cockeyed optimist, though, but a mature woman, totally in command, whose interpretations only get deeper.
Celebrate, her holiday-themed program at 54 Below, began with an upbeat “I Know a Place” (Tony Hatch), but turned more thoughtful with “Grown-Up Christmas List” (David Foster/Linda Thompson Jenner), a wistful wish for peace and friendship, and the sardonic Rodgers/Sondheim “What Do We Do? We Fly!” a prescient kvetch about air travel from 1965’s Do I Hear a Waltz?. The mordant message of “Marry Me a Little” (Sondheim) was softened by John Bucchino’s song about domestic bliss, “It Feels Like Home.”
Nepotism was the order of the day in two luscious duets—first with her sister Ann Hampton Callaway, combining “Silent Night” (Franz Gruber/Joseph Mohr/John Freeman) with “Mary, Did You Know?” (Mark Lowry/Buddy Greene)—and another, “The Prayer” (David Foster/Carole Bayer Sager/Alberto Testa/Tony Renis) with her son, Nicholas Callaway Foster, who possesses a resonant bass voice. Both teemed with pride and love.
Liz celebrated her 35 years in NYC with Cole Porter’s “I Happen to Like New York,” the passionate crescendo expressing her happiness. Her encore, “The Story Goes On” (Maltby/Shire)—which she introduced on Broadway in Baby—wasn’t exactly a holiday song, but it was a song of celebration, which she delivered with fervor and emotion.
Her musical director, the wonderful Alex Rybeck, led Jered Egan on bass and Ron Tierno on drums in his festive arrangements.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
