Ann Hampton Callaway
Jazz Goes to the Movies
The Hamilton, Washington, D.C., September 22, 2019
Reviewed by Michael Miyazaki for Cabaret Scenes
Photo: Stephen Sorokoff
After a rousing sequence of “From This Moment On” and “As Time Goes By,” Ann Hampton Callaway explained why she wanted to do a show focused on classic songs from the movies of the 1930s and 1940s. She felt that, writers at that time were writing “the most glorious, powerful, and beautiful songs about life and love” in order to give the nation uplift—an uplift that she felt was necessary for our current era.
She proceeded to provide that uplift with the sensitive ballads “The Nearness of You” and “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” (framed with an effective anecdote about Peggy Lee); the charmers “The Way You Look Tonight”; and the rousers “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” For the latter, she provided the vocal equivalent of trumpet and sax solos. The show featured her signature—a song improvised from audience suggestions (in this case, a love song for two inert Washington lovers who find their single moment of passion at a production of Waiting for Godot). As an encore, she provided a touching, a cappella rendition of “Over the Rainbow.
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Callaway performed the show as a solo act, accompanying herself instead of having her usual music director Ted Rosenthal and side performers. Her interpretations featured her usual long melodic lines contrasted against a rhythmic backdrop. Most importantly, the Callaway wit was on full display, not only in the improvised song, but in many of her patter breaks with jokes such as having “jazzheimers” or being the love child of Lionel Hampton and Cab Calloway.
While the show’s theme was about a previous era of movie music, the show itself evoked nostalgia for a later era—when one got to experience the pure, undiluted, intimate Ann Hampton Callaway riding herd on the crowd as a singer/pianist in the in the early morning hours at Don’t Tell Mama.
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