ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY’s show Sirens of Swing arrives at London’s The Pheasantry this week, from 25-27 October 2024. The Tony-nominated will be performing selections from her highly acclaimed recordings To Ella with Love, From Sassy to Divine: The Sarah Vaughan Project and Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration! as well as signature songs from singers Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Anita O’Day, Josephine Baker, Julie London, Etta James, Carmen McCrae and more. The first half of the night will celebrate groundbreaking legends and the second half will spotlight more contemporary greats.
Ann Hampton Callaway is one of America’s most gifted artists in pop and jazz. A leading champion of the Great American Songbook, she’s made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host and producer.
Voted by Broadwayworld.com as “Celebrity of the Year” and two years in a row as “Best Jazz Vocalist,” Callaway is a born entertainer. She is best known for her Tony-nominated performance in the hit Broadway musical Swing! and for writing and singing the theme song to the hit TV series The Nanny.
She made her feature film debut opposite Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon in the Robert De Niro film The Good Shepherd. Callaway is a Platinum Award-selling writer whose songs are featured on seven of Barbra Streisand’s recent CDs. She’s recorded over 50 CDs as a soloist and guest.
Callaway’s honours include the Theater World Award, 16 MAC Awards, several Bistro Awards, the Mabel Mercer Award, the Johnny Mercer Award for Songwriting, the Blanton Peale Award for Positive Thinking and her induction into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame. Her new record Finding Beauty, Originals Volume 1, was recently released via Shanachie Entertainment.
Here Ann Hampton Callaway continues Musical Theatre Review’s interview series: Five Questions With…
Sirens of Swing, the cabaret you are bringing over to The Pheasantry, will be adored by jazz lovers as it puts your incredible vocals and the scatting, left and centre. Tell us about the programme.
In Act I, I am shining my musical spotlight on pioneers of vocal jazz – women who, despite adversity and the obstacles of being in a “man’s world”, were able to develop extraordinary musical gifts and reach millions of people with their songs and stories. In Act II, the focus is on more contemporary artists, from the 1950s until now, whose unique approaches to their music have furthered the language of jazz and the voice of women.
It has not gone unnoticed that all those great songs you have lined up, from Ella and Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday to Nina Simone and Annie Ross, were sung or written by women, many by women of colour. Which is the classic song you most enjoy performing and why?
It’s hard to choose one song, as I love every song I chose for this celebration. But I am a ballad girl and it would have to be between Harry Warren and Mack Gordon’s ‘At Last’, which has such deep emotional resonance in my personal life, and Cole Porter’s ‘Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye’, because I think it is one of the most exquisite songs ever written.
You seem to be performing with your kid sister Liz a lot more these days. It’s nine years since you and she teamed up for a magical Sibling Revelry revue at the London Hippodrome and we could do with another visit. I know Liz is coming over again next March at the Crazy Coqs but is there the slightest possibility of you and her coming over ‘At the Same Time’ to entertain us in 2025?
Liz and I would love to perform in London together – we share a passion for this great city and the many beloved friends we’ve made there through the years. The only thing that challenges us about a sibling engagement is figuring out how to make financial sense out of it, due to the rising costs of travel, etc. But we will continue to search for the right booking that will allow us to perform our hit show Broadway the Calla-way! in a long run or a bigger theatre.
For those of us, including Sarah, my eldest and your biggest fan, who aren’t into jazz, there might be a little disappointment about you, one of the finest songwriters on the planet, playing so little AHC material as it will be a while until we see you in London again. What decides which of your many shows to bring with you on your travels?
I so appreciate that your daughter is such a fan of my songwriting. She can enjoy it on many of my CDs, especially Finding Beauty, Originals Volume 1 which was the theme of last year’s London show. In Act II, I will be performing a swing-siren improv – where the audience will choose a famous jazz singer and share words and phrases for me to create a song in their style and frame of mind. I love the madcap dive into the unknown in these moments, and frankly, I have ‘written’ some of my best songs this way, so Sarah has something to look forward to!
I have performed so many of my best theme shows in London. Why this show for my Pheasantry run? Last year, when I was making my first appearance in Paris, I premiered Sirens of Swing, and both the audience and I had a wonderful time together. I thought my diehard London fans would enjoy this sort of show that I have been known for because it celebrates something I have always been passionate about – the Great American Songbook – as I follow a narrative and emotional arc through the lives of extraordinary women who have moved us all through their music.
America is very close now to electing the next president. What happens next month will change the USA forever. You’re a passionate supporter of Kamala Harris, and along with your kid sister Liz, you’ve made an updated version of ‘I Believe in America’ which has gone viral. I don’t think Trump will be taking it with him to Desert Island Discs. I know you badly want Kamala to win but who do you honestly think will be the next president and why?
I say this cautiously, but I believe Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have the edge on winning the hearts of Americans across both aisles. Their vision of America is much more inclusive and optimistic, and I think enough of us are exhausted and traumatised by Trump’s incessant lying, violent threats, meanness and lack of any real substance and care for the lives of the American people.
Kamala’s extraordinary campaign has captivated people in ways I’ve never seen before. I think more of us realise that Trump shouldn’t even be allowed to run for this office with him being a convicted felon and having stirred up the hideous 6 January coup. Millions of us are working extremely hard to make sure we don’t lose our democracy and elect a brilliant, qualified, and inspiring person to lead us into a new chapter of “the great experiment”. But let me say, if I’m wrong, we might be looking at real estate in London!
Questions: Jeremy Chapman
Tickets here: pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/ann-hampton-callaway-sirens-of-swing
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