Album Review: Sondheim & Callaway! Always an unbeatable pair... TO STEVE WITH LOVE: LIZ CALLAWAY CELEBRATES SONDHEIM

Heigh Ho, dear lovely rainbow tribe, Bobby Patrick, your rainbow reviewer is back in CD-Land to offer another broken-down breakdown of a new music release. So, strap in and get ready, as Bobby goes on the record ABOUT the record.

This week's album entry in the BobbyFiles, TO STEVE WITH LOVE: Liz Callaway CELEBRATES SONDHEIM, was one of the most highly-praised new cabarets of 2022, and, now, my lambs, it is a live recording being released on November 11th. Captured in performance on the stage of our beloved 54 Below, this cabaret tribute plays like a magical piece of musical theatre. Liz and her Ace director/co-writer have put together this concert as though it were a play, a walk down memory lane that can play the clubs, the concert halls, or even a (gay gasp) theatre! This one-woman-show cast album is (IBobby'sHO) one for the history books, as those of us who saw the show will always remember it as one of the great nights out on the town; the recording will take its place in all of our collections, alongside all the best Sondheim albums from the great man's heyday. A Stephen Sondheim EVENING and SONDHEIM: A CELEBRATION are the two that spring, quickest, to mind, because what fan of the man didn't treat these albums like water in the desert when they were released? La Callaway's Sondheim tribute is perfection on any stage, anywhere, and she and her FAB team have captured all the excitement and pathos of her friend's words and music in this very special recording.

First off - the show actually includes an overture - for a cabaret?! Yes, please! Liz's script, penned by herself and her husband/director Dan Foster, is seamless in its construction, and the acting of that script is even more so. These narrative moments are essential to her story about her pal, and she performs them in a manner that gives her listeners a theatrical storytelling experience of her near life-long orbit around Sondheim's sun, from her first exposure (courtesy of a family outing), to their first meeting (thanks to an early-career opportunity), and followed by the relationship that they made together.

Singing songs from 11 Sondheim scores, the Tony Award nominee showcases that ineffable (what? Bobby knows words!?) Callaway voice, not-to-mention those one-and-only interpretive skills that have made her a favorite on the concert circuit, in the recording industry, and a favorite of the man, himself. Liz is in terrific voice, here, especially on a personally-informed duet with the beautiful-voiced singer Nicholas Callaway Foster, with whom Liz and Dan have a slight association (he's their son {wink}), but there is never any reason to think Liz Callaway wouldn't be in great voice. But no matter how marvelous all her previous recordings have been, to have over an hour of Sondheim in the Callaway voice, added to some supremely satisfying stories, trivia, and history is such joyful fun. The MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG stories put you in the picture of what the young cast went through, way back when, and tidbits about prank-themed good show notes left at stage doors give you an idea of what jovial men Messrs. Sondheim and Prince (that's Hal, to you my dearlings) were, especially around the young Lady Liz - who they clearly adored. The stories she tells resonate more and more as she sings songs from DO I HEAR A WALTZ, FOLLIES, and COMPANY, applying Stephen Sondheim's lyrics in personal ways to her on and off-stage lives. It's a cleverly and compassionately constructed script that the Callaway/Fosters have created and the fact that all three members of their family are participants in this musical tribute really touches the heart.

Now, Little Bobby would be remiss if a few words weren't written about the quality of the recording because making a record is hard enough: making a record of a live performance is akin to making a record while standing in Times Square. Producer Michael J. Moritz Jr. is listed as the Mixer, and the work he has done with Master Greg Reierson, Engineer Jakob Reinhardt, and Recording Artist Amanda Raymond is unbeatable, darlings. Together, this team has made a listening experience in which Liz and Nicholas come through the speakers in crystal clear sounds, but so do musicians Alex Rybeck, Ritt Henn, and Ron Tierno - nobody drowns anyone out. The musical presentation is never out of balance! Also, the live audience reactions enhance the album's theatricality - you know, my dears, on some live records the audience is like a faint subway rumble, off in the distance... but not here. This audience is like another cast member in the play, for, on this record, you dear Bobby readers will get the full show in your little earbuds. And speaking of the full show - even though the album is available for digital downloads, those with a CD player might consider buying the CD for the visual feast that is the booklet - you all know Bobby loves a good CD booklet!! There was no scrimping here - the booklet is filled with photos from Liz's life and career, Michael Hull's beautiful shots of this show, with lots of liner notes, and goodies to read that make grander the enjoyment of one of the loveliest albums a person might ever be given during the gift-giving season.

But we don't need occasions to give gifts, do we, dear ones? People give gifts every day, just out of the goodness of their hearts. That's what Liz Callaway did - she gave the world this show as a gift. Liz Callaway gave the world this album as a gift. And what a gift it is, and, for that gift, Bobby must award TO STEVE WITH LOVE: Liz Callaway CELEBRATES SONDHEIM our full...

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows - We love this one.

To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim will release digitally on November 11th. Pre-order a CD on the Liz Callaway website HERE.

New Yorkers can catch the release party performance of TO STEVE WITH LOVE at 54 Below on November 9th at 7 pm by making reservations HERE.

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