Review: LIZ CALLAWAY SINGS STEPHEN SCHWARTZ Album Release Show at 54 Below
A heartfelt, nostalgic evening of storytelling, standout numbers, and a soaring, unforgettable finale
Award-winning Broadway and cabaret star Liz Callaway returned to 54 Below last week for a three-night run celebrating her latest album, The Wizard and I: Liz Callaway Sings Stephen Schwartz, which features Academy Award- and Grammy-winning tunes from Wicked, Godspell, Pippin, The Baker’s Wife, and more. The album was recorded live at 54 Below. Broadway World was on hand for the final performance on March 21.
Callaway, whose sister is jazz and cabaret great Ann Hampton Callaway, has a long musical history and friendship with Schwartz going back more than 30 years. (Coincidentally, Schwartz’s music will be honored by the New York Pops in April.) Throughout the evening, photos of Callaway and Schwartz played on ceiling monitors in the corners of the room.
The trio of pianist Phil Reno (standing in for Callaway’s longtime musical director, Alex Rybeck), bassist Ritt Henn, and drummer Ron Tierno backed Callaway.
Callaway opened with “Spark of Creation” from Children of Eden. As a teen, she saw Pippin three times and spent countless hours listening to the cast album, which showed in her rendition of “Corner of the Sky.” Her voice is light, beautiful, and strong.
The star told a marvelous story of her early days, including a rough Variety review of her 1980 club act, with lines like “mostly a delight” and “generally pleasant.” Turning to one of Schwartz’s earliest tunes, the obscure 1974 “West End Avenue” from The Magic Show, she delivered a very “inside New York” song that cleverly couples “gay bars” with “only a block away from Zabar’s.”
When Callaway appeared in an early production of Godspell (as Joanne), starring a then-unknown Scott Bakula as Jesus, she recalled, “I’m not going to lie. He was hot. His Jesus had no trouble getting disciples.” To help recreate her 19-year-old self, she brought up a pair of young backup singers, Ethan Carlson and Cole Wachman, whom she referred to as “my Lizbeans,” to much laughter. She had never used backup singers before at this venue, but did so here because the shows are being recorded for another live album. She sang the bouncy “Bless the Lord,” one of the best numbers of the set. Though she had to sing it standing perfectly still in the Off-Broadway show, she “restaged” it here with lively movement.
In times of darkness, “Beautiful City” (also from Godspell) gives Callaway hope, she said. This version, slowed down and rewritten by Schwartz for concert performances, brought new meaning and poignancy to the material.
In an especially delightful moment, Callaway played a minute of a digitized cassette of a song Schwartz asked her to demo in 1992, “Just Around the River Bend” from the animated film Pocahontas (written with Alan Menken). Though she was in her early 30s at the time, her voice today is nearly unchanged. Singing with just Reno, and asking, “Did that really just happen?”, Callaway then delivered “The Wizard and I” from Wicked, whose lyrics seemed to reflect her own thrill at being asked by the composer she had long admired to sing his work.
In a very sweet story, Callaway told how Schwartz wrote a song specifically for her. Sitting in his cabin, he asked her questions and took notes, then presented “Fearless” to her a month later. She realized, “He really knows me.”
A sweet, moving rendition of “Out There” (Hunchback of Notre Dame), written from Quasimodo’s point of view, led into a swell medley of Schwartz’s best-known songs, including “Day by Day” (Godspell) and “Magic to Do” (Pippin), with her “Lizbeans” singing backup from a ringside table.
“Meadowlark” (The Baker’s Wife) is not only her favorite Schwartz song to sing, but her favorite by any composer, a number she has performed since her days as a singing waitress. This magnificently performed finale was the highlight of the set, garnering a sustained standing ovation and an encore, “For Good” (Wicked).
This was a lovely, if ballad-heavy, show. Callaway is a performer who sings with a smile in her heart. Her stories and patter are warm and funny, and her voice is excellent. She will return to 54 Below in July with her sister for the 15th anniversary concert of Boom!.
Purchase the new album on Callaway's website here.
Find tickets to more shows at 54 Below, including Boom in July, on their website here.
Photos: Andrew Poretz
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