Interview: Liz Callaway is BOUND FOR BOSTON

Liz Callaway isn’t only a Tony Award-nominated actress and singer, she’s also an Emmy Award-winning television talk-show host.

Longtime Boston television viewers likely remember Callaway – who originated Broadway roles in “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Miss Saigon,” and “Baby,” for which she earned a 1984 Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical – as co-host of the children’s talk show “RTG: Ready to Go” on WNEV-TV’s Channel 7 from 1987 to 1991.

The Illinois native – known for providing the singing voices for a number of memorable animated film characters, including Anya/Anastasia in “Anastasia,” Kiara in “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride,” and Princess Jasmine in both “The Return of Jafar” and “Aladdin and the King of Thieves” – will be both singing and interviewing when she hosts “Bound for Boston: An Evening of New Musicals,,” a one-night-only concert event showcasing five new musicals in development being presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, in partnership with Somerled Arts, at WBUR’s CitySpace on October 6.

“It’s going to be a really interesting experience for the audience,” said Callaway by telephone recently from her home in New York. “We’re highlighting five new musicals. I’ll be doing brief interviews with their creators, and some talented Boston performers will perform songs from each show. And I will also be performing a new song from one of the shows.”

Under the musical direction of Paul S. Katz, and curated by SpeakEasy Stage and Somerled Arts as part of a new collaboration to support the development of new musicals and musical theater talent in Boston, “Bound for Boston” will feature songs from five new shows, including:

• “Finn,” a clever coming-of-age tale about a young shark who doesn’t fit in with his pack, created by writers Chris Nee and Chris Dimond, with music by Michael Kooman.
• “Hatchetation,” a comedic take on the life of the infamous temperance activist Carrie A. Nation, with book, music, and lyrics by Amy Jo Jackson.
• “Lewis Loves Clark, a fast-paced tale about Lewis and Clark’s famous Corps of Discovery expedition, with book and lyrics by Mike Ross, and music by Dylan MarcAurele.
• “Present Perfect,” a musical about immigrants and outsiders finding community in a New York City adult English class, with lyrics by Nancy Nachama Cheser, and music, Spanish dialogue, and lyrics by Jaime Lozano.
• “Proud Marys,” a seriocomic story that opens wide the myth of the model-minority Asian-American family one pop song at a time, with book by Jennifer Paz and music and lyrics by Anthony Federov.

The concert will serve as the kickoff event of an annual collaboration between SpeakEasy Stage and Somerled Arts. The centerpiece for that initiative, “At Rise: Boston’s New Musicals Partnership,” will be an annual workshop of a new musical in development, with the goal of propelling new musicals from concept to curtain, either at SpeakEasy or elsewhere, according to SpeakEasy Stage’s new artistic director, Dawn M. Simmons.

“We’re thrilled to have Somerled’s support for and involvement in this initiative,” said Simmons in a prepared statement. “New musicals are the lifeblood of the American theater, and events like this are essential to nurturing the next wave of groundbreaking voices. By giving writers the space to share their work and engage with an audience in its earliest stages, we’re not just developing shows – we’re building the future of the art form. And by doing this work in Boston, we’re supporting the development and careers of Boston-based theater artists while also helping to establish Boston as a center for new musicals.”

For many years now, Callaway has hosted “Bound for Broadway,” a program not unlike “Bound for Boston,” where “Avenue Q,” the 2004 Tony Award winner for Best New Musical, gained early attention. The singer will once again host this year’s “Bound for Broadway” event at Merkin Hall in the Kaufman Music Center in New York on November 17.

“The goal of that program is to share shows at various stages of development with New York audiences and explore Possible Productions on and off-Broadway,” says Callaway, who played Grizabella in the original Broadway production of “Cats” for five years.

A recording artist whose latest CD, “To Steve with Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim,” was released in 2022 on Working Girl Records, and an in-demand cabaret and concert artist who tours the world, Callaway says she hopes to release her next CD – this one a tribute to composer Steven Schwartz (“The Queen of Versailles,” “Wicked,” “Pippin”) – in 2026. She shares news of all her upcoming projects in her “Between Flights” newsletter on Substack.

And as she prepares to head to Boston, the performer – daughter of legendary Chicago broadcast journalist John Callaway and singer, pianist, and vocal coach Shirley Callaway, and sister of singer/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway – is remembering her early days here.

“I loved doing ‘RTG: Ready to Go.’ It was like ‘Good Morning America’ for young people. We went on the air early, though, and I never liked having to get up at 4 am. But my sister Ann would call me every day and say, ‘It’s time to get up, Liz. You have to get ready for work.’ It was as if I had a personal alarm clock. I liked that very much.”

Callaway says she also enjoyed interviewing the program’s wide range of guests, which, she recalls, included the members of the Boston-based boy band New Kids on the Block.

“I got to interview them twice, before and after they became famous,” she says. “The program and the whole experience were wonderful. I only left because I landed ‘Miss Saigon’ on Broadway.”

And memorable for many reasons, including a promo she says still sticks in her head.

“My line was, ‘Tomorrow on RTG, teenage pregnancy and tie-dye,’” recalls Callaway with a laugh.