Liz Callaway at 54 Below

[Mildred Plotka]

Anyone go last night and know what she sang? Seeing her Friday night. Very excited.

[RippedMan]

I saw it tonight. I won't lie, I had no clue who she is, but girl can sing me the phonebook. Such a wonderful voice.

I didn't recognize everything but she does a Billy Joel song, a song from Baby, "How Glory Goes" and this really great Sondheim song where she replaces the lyrics to "100 People Just got off the of train" to "100 different lyrics just fell out of my brain." It's a showstopper.

[emo_geek]

If you got me drunk enough , I would have shouted out requests for her to sing songs from Anastasia...

[RippedMan]

Right? Sadly no Anastasia.

Oh! And she sings "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney which was cool because Len Cariou was in the audience.

[PalJoey]

I saw her Wednesday night, and it was one of those perfect 54 Below evenings where the singer and the room come together.

Liz Callaway's voice has not aged a bit since Merrily We Roll Along and Baby. It is still pure and strong, in a magical place between belt and soprano, She has the ability to completely inhabit every song she sings, and frankly, I could have stayed there all night and listened to her.

Her voice hasn't aged but her perspective has, so songs like "The Story Goes On," which she sang in Baby before she had her son, and "Not While I'm Around," which she said she used to sing as a lullaby to her son, and "Now You Know," which she offered up as advice to her now-21-year-old son--they were all imbued with a wisdom that contrasted with the sweet innocence of her voice.

She also did a sexy version of "I'm Going to Wash That Man Out of My Hair" and a perfect reading of Adam Guettel's "How Glory Goes." And a version of "Music and the Mirror" that showed how brilliantly Marvin Hamlisch wrote for singers, even when he was writing a song for a dancer.

I only wish that she had sung "Meadowlark," because despite her sweetness, her version of that song is one of my three favorites, along with Patti and Betty Buckley.

And Ripped--the Sondheim parody lyrics were by Lauren Mayer, and they are really brilliant:

Another hundred lyrics just flew out of my brain,
As I stand here on stage
With another hundred lyrics that I'll never recall,
And on every damn page
There's another hundred lyrics that'll drive me insane
Right in front of you all,
'Cause the words are a pain--
Not to mention the sprawl
Of the melody.

But we're all singing Sondheim;
Some songs are sweet; some are strange.
We're all singing Sondheim;
There's not one tune in my range
And every song
Is too damn long.

So we try to follow the internal rhymes
And infernal counts,
With the tricky meter and the picky words
In absurd amounts.
And we lose our places where the phrases change
With a rhythmic flounce.
Now I think I've got it, and this part's a breeze
But you never know.
Will the tempo switch? Or will he change the key
'Cause something has to go.

Did you find my measure, 'cause I looked in vain?
And another modulation to increase the strain!
Look, I'll learn it by tomorrow
If I don't go insane!
And another hundred lyrics just flew out of my brain!

But we're all singing Sondheim;
Some words are weird; some are quick.
We're all singing Sondheim;
And when the rhymes get this thick
It's hard for me
To parody.

But I'll try to follow the internal rhymes
And infernal counts
With the tricky meter and the picky words
In absurd amounts.
At a speed like this, you'll miss the syllables
That I can't pronounce.
Now I think I had it 'cause this part's a breeze
But you never know,
'Cause he switched the tempo and he changed the key,
Well, something had to go.

Did you find my measure, 'cause I looked in vain?
And another modulation to increase the pain!
I could learn it by tomorrow, but I'll prob'ly be insane!
And another hundred lyrics just flew out of my brain.
And another hundred lyrics just flew out of my brain.
And another hundred lyrics just flew out of my brain.
And another hundred lyrics just flew out of my brain.
Another hundred lyrics just flew out of my brain!

[Kaplan18]

LOVE 54 Below! What a great space!

[RippedMan]

Her show is fairly affordable, so check it out.

[pinoyidol2006]

I hope it's recorded! I love Liz Callaway.

[Polka Dot2]

Has anyone tried doing student rush for this show?

[Rodgerdodger]

Those "Another Hundred Lyrics" lyrics are brilliant. I've always liked Liz, and would also root for a recording of this.

[RippedMan]

You could def. get in with student rush if you wanted. Her shows aren't like crazy sold-out, so you'd be fine.

Tonight people cheered for "meadowlark."