Liz Callaway and Ann Hampton Callaway
Broadway the Calla-way
Feinstein’s/54 Below, NYC, January 5, 2022
Reviewed by Ron Forman
I have seen both Liz Callaway and Ann Hampton Callaway perform many times in their individual shows, and they have never been less than wonderful. However, when they perform together the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is especially the case in their latest show Broadway the Calla-way at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Their wonderful voices blended perfectly together and their verbal interaction was always sparkling and often laugh-out-loud funny. Their selection of Broadway songs and their performances of them made every number a show stopper. Alex Rybeck’s (music director/pianist) arrangements are perfect whether the ladies are singing solo or in their often-thrilling duets.
The show opened with Ann alone on stage belting “Some People.” Liz walked on stage with her mouth covered with black tape, which she proceeded to rip off and joined Ann by singing the song written with special lyrics that described their relation as sisters. They then joined voices for a jazzy version of “Lullaby of Broadway,” which featured both of them nicely imitating the sound of trumpets. After telling us that seeing A Chorus Line motivated her to pursue a career on the Broadway stage, Liz performed a very dramatic “The Music and the Mirror.” Ann recalled how as a 16-year-old she played the title character in a high school production of Mame which led into her very moving “If He Walked Into My Life.” The sisters then had a funny interchange about how Ann actually became an Auntie Mame to Liz’s son. Their voices soared marvelously together with Stephen Schwartz’s “Corner of the Sky.” During “Broadway Baby,” Liz interspersed comments about her life as said baby. The performance was enhanced by Rybeck’s wonderful piano accompaniment.
In memory of Stephen Sondheim, the sisters performed a medley of his songs beginning with a very dramatic “Not a Day Goes By” followed by a thrillingly dramatic “Being Alive.” Ann told a funny story about how the producers of the show Swing spent months searching for an “Ann Hampton Callaway” type to star in the show before she actually got the part. “Blues in the Night” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer) was a song she performed in that show, and she belted a bold and brassy version of it that was as good as any I have heard of that classic, ending to thunderous applause. The first show Liz starred in was Baby and she reprised the song she introduced in that show, “The Story Goes On.” The finale was a medley of Broadway songs beginning with a very funny “Bosom Buddies,” and including a powerful “A Boy Like That” and ending with “I Will Never Leave You.”
They closed the show with a lively Q and A session with questions from the audience, who had been provided with index cards on which to write the questions for the sisters.
