To Steve with Love

Last Saturday night we attended a special concert at Chicago’s Studebaker Theater. Broadway veteran Liz Callaway was in her home town for one night only, with a musical tribute to Stephen Sondheim. After seeing Old Friends on Broadway last month, it seemed fitting to get another good dose of our favorite composer’s music.

Callaway had a lovely voice and natural charisma. She also had an impressive resume. Her Sondheim credits included Merrily We Roll Along (original cast in 1981), Dot in Sunday in the Park with George, and several tribute concerts on Broadway.

Highlights:

• Callaway recreated her Merrily performance with a wink (she had just two lines). She also shared memories of Merrily cast parties in cramped apartments and sing-alongs with Sondheim at the piano. Wow!

• She sang a funny duo of songs for her son, Nicholas Callaway Foster. When he was a baby, “Not While I’m Around” (from Sweeney Todd) was his favorite lullaby. Later, as an adult, her song for him was the ironic “Now You Know” (from Merrily). Her son then joined her on stage for a rousing duet performance of “Move On” (from Sunday in the Park).

• My favorite song was “What More Do I Need?” - from an early and somewhat obscure Sondheim work called Saturday Night. It was a tongue-in-cheek love song for New Yorkers, with some of Sondheim’s most clever and amusing rhymes, and Callaway delivered it perfectly. You can listen to her original 1994 concert performance here.

• Sondheim’s songs are deceptively difficult to sing well. Callaway drove this point home with a delightfully funny parody called “Another Hundred Lyrics.” You can listen to it here.

It was a wonderful evening of marvelous music, sung by a master.