An Evening with Liz Callaway – Crazy Coqs

An Evening with Liz Callaway continues at Crazy Coqs, London until 17 March 2025.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

‘Cabaret’ means different things to different people, but for me it is all about the special connection made between a performer and audience in an intimate setting, when the artist in question isn’t afraid to open up about themselves through storytelling and song, when the material chosen has a joyous and emotional impact on those present. It’s such a tricky artform to pull off, but every time I am privileged to be in the same room as American actress and singer Liz Callaway, she makes it look easy.

Around two and a half years ago, at the same London venue, Callaway received rave reviews for her show To Steve with Love, a celebration of Sondheim, with whom she collaborated on several occasions. In fact, when she made her Broadway debut in Merrily We Roll Along in 1981 it was at the same New York theatre where she had watched her first musical, at the age of nine or 10, Sondheim’s Company.

Only recently Callaway was thrilled to discover that her live recording of To Steve with Love had been recognised in the Grammy category for ‘Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album’, and that one of the other nominees was Bruce Springsteen!

It came as no surprise then that Callaway – deftly accompanied by Theo Jamieson – brought together several Sondheim numbers in the second half of this evening’s setlist, but as usual a great deal of thought and consideration had gone into their delivery. It’s never just about ‘and now I’m going to sing…’ for this artist, it’s all about giving context via an anecdote or a combination of compositions that create an engaging musical scenario.

Hence descriptions of Callaway’s early days in New York, juggling auditions and working as a singing waitress, were interpolated with the lyrics of ‘Broadway Baby’. And then, in contrast, there was the poignant pairing of ‘I Remember’ and ‘Take Me to the World’ from the musical Evening Primrose, shown on US television in 1966 – ‘Let me see the world that smiles, Take me to the world, Somewhere I can walk for miles, Take me to the world’.

Sondheim’s work (including Merrily) has also played an important role in the career of Callaway’s special guest, Jenna Russell (characteristically wonderful as Irene Molloy in the recent West End production of Hello, Dolly!) so it was very special to witness her collaboration with Callaway on ‘Losing My Mind’/‘Not a Day Goes By’.

To change the atmosphere in a room in an instant, so that an audience is immediately invested in the stories being told, is a talent these two performers both share. I would have gladly listened to more of this beautiful blend of voices.

Back at the beginning of the evening Callaway explained how she had hesitated about including a couple of songs in the setlist but had concluded: “It’s my party so I’ll sing what I want to!”

That turned out to be lucky for us as musical theatre favourites (‘A Cockeyed Optimist’ from South Pacific) mixed with less familiar fare (‘Since You Stayed Here’ from Brownstone and ‘I’ll Be Here’ from Ordinary Days), plus pop standards (‘You Don’t Own Me’) and Disney treasures (‘Once Upon a December’/‘Journey to the Past’ from Anastasia).

It was hugely entertaining to hear about Callaway’s journey to becoming a Princess (she is proud to have been described as the ‘Marni Nixon of animated movies’). Having been so close to playing Ariel, Belle and Jasmine in the original Disney adaptations, even taking on the role of a napkin ring in Beauty and the Beast, it was Anastasia in 1997 that finally brought her fairy tale success.

Best of all in the programme was the quite exquisite pairing of ‘Make Someone Happy’ and ‘Something Wonderful’, full of yearning and deep emotion, and so hugely relatable. Yet another reminder too of Callaway’s crystal-clear, goosebump-inducing vocals, ranging from the tenderest of touches to soaring notes that leave you feeling uplifted and, not to put too finer point on it, a bit better about the world.

An extra bonus was seeing award-winning composer, lyricist, arranger and MD Jamieson at the piano and throwing in a few backing vocals too. Callaway mentioned that they had only met the day before, but you would never have known, as the excellent Jamieson’s attentive playing and warm personality really hit the spot.

The evening didn’t close with a number from Merrily We Roll Along, Miss Saigon, Cats, Follies or Sunset Boulevard (all credits on the resumé), but from the lesser-known Baby (1983) in which Callaway created the role of Lizzie, a performance for which she received a Tony nomination. It was also during the run of Baby that the actress met her husband.

The lyrics of ‘The Story Goes On’, which speak of ‘a chain of life begun upon the shore’, highlights what makes a cabaret like this one so memorable. So much of what creates the highs and lows of life is there in the words and music. Let’s hope it won’t be long before we see Callaway make a return visit. First class.

Lisa Martland

NB. Liz Callaway’s other special guests at Crazy Coqs are Julian Ovenden, Billy Porter and Paulo Szot