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“For sheer vocal beauty, no contemporary singer matches Ms. Callaway.” — The New York Times
As an interpreter of the Great American Songbook, Callaway is without peer. With her richly expressive voice, exuberant wit, and heartfelt delivery, she doesn't so much sing a song as she lets you in on a feeling. Just recently, she released her most personal album - her first to feature all-original songs - with Finding Beauty, Originals Volume 1, on which she combed through her own vast catalog of material and delivered bravura performances both solo and with a glittering array of guests such as Melissa Manchester, Tierney Sutton, Kurt Elling, Niki Haris, Jarrett Johnson, and Callaway's frequent musical partner (and real-life sister), the Tony-nominated and Emmy-winning Liz Callaway. Produced and arranged by Trey Henry and Paul Viapiano for the Chemistry, Finding Beauty is brimming with standout moments, among them a haunting and intimate take on "At the Same Time," already beloved for Barbra Streisand's recording from her No. 1 platinum smash Higher Ground.
Were songwriting Callaway's only talent, she would bear the distinction of being one of the best in the business, as evidenced by her recent induction to the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame. But she's also a mesmerizing all-around performer - singer, pianist, actress - whose mastery of jazz, pop, and cabaret has thrilled audiences across the globe, whether she appears on concert stages, theaters, or on film and TV. Broadway World voted her Entertainer of the Year, and Best Jazz Vocalist two years in a row, and she received a Tony Award nomination as Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for her knockout performance in Swing!
2024 Grammy® Award Nominee - Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Liz Callaway is a Tony and Grammy nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress, singer and recording artist. She made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Baby, and for five years, won acclaim as Grizabella in Cats. She has also starred in the original casts of Miss Saigon, The Three Musketeers, and The Look of Love. Off-Broadway she received a Drama Desk nomination for her performance in The Spitfire Grill (Playwrights Horizons), and appeared in Brownstone, No Way to Treat a Lady, Marry Me a Little, and Godspell. Other New York appearances include the legendary Follies in Concert at Lincoln Center, A Stephen Sondheim Evening, Fiorello! (Encores!), and Hair in Concert. Regional and international credits include the one-person play “Every Brilliant Thing”, Dot in Sunday in the Park with George, Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, the European premiere of Sondheim on Sondheim at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Her extensive concert and symphony career has included appearances in London, Paris, Iceland, Spain, Australia, China, and nearly every major city in the U.S. She performs regularly with her sister Ann Hampton Callaway and composer Stephen Schwartz and has had the great pleasure of singing with Jimmy Webb, Paul Williams, and the legendary Johnny Mathis.
Liz sang the Academy Award-nominated song “Journey to the Past” in the animated feature Anastasia and is also the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin and the King of Thieves and The Return of Jafar. Other film work includes The Swan Princess, Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, Beauty and the Beast, The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, and The Rewrite with Hugh Grant. She received an Emmy Award for hosting Ready to Go, a daily, live children's program on CBS in Boston. Other TV credits include In Performance at the White House, Inside the Actor's Studio: Stephen Sondheim, In Performance at the White House, and Senior Trip (CBS Movie of the Week).
Liz has released eight solo albums: Passage of Time, The Beat Goes On, The Story Goes On: Liz Callaway On and Off-Broadway, Anywhere I Wander: Liz Callaway Sings Frank Loesser, Merry and Bright, The Essential Liz Callaway, Comfort and Joy – An Acoustic Christmas. Her latest album, To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim, was nominated for a 2023 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
"Nowadays, probably no other performer could infuse (that song) with the manic mischief that Jason Graae, a frisky clown with a real tenor, pumped into it..." — The New York Times
Jason Graae has been featured on Broadway in A Grand Night For Singing, Falsettos, Stardust, Snoopy!, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?. Off- Broadway shows include the original casts of Forever Plaid, Olympus on My Mind, All in the Timing, Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (Drama Desk Nomination- Best Actor in a Musical) and many more. Jason recently traveled across the U.S. for a year and a 1/2 as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the National Tour of Wicked. His many awards and accolades include four Bistro Awards, two New York Nightlife Awards and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Movie appearances include the title role in Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms (2008 Toronto and London Film Festivals), Disney's Home on the Range, On Edge, Gepetto, The Dukes of Hazzard in Hollywood, and Awakening of Spring . He has been heard on many cartoons and for 5 and 1/2 years was the voice of "Lucky, the Leprechaun" for Lucky Charms Cereal, a balanced part of your complete breakfast.
He made his Los Angeles Opera debut as Njegus in The Merry Widow, repeating the role with Dallas , New Orleans, Houston Grand Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre (Oscar Wilde Award nomination). Also with L.A. Opera he was featured as Offenbach in The Grand Duchess , directed by Garry Marshall. He has played Frosch in Die Fledermaus with the Washington National and San Francisco Operas, the Manhattan School of Music, and most recently with Houston Grand Opera.
Jason has recorded over 65 CDs, including original cast albums, concerts, compilations, and his 3 solo CDs, You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile - Jason Graae Sings Charles Strouse, and Jason Graae LIVE at The Cinegrill (Fynsworth Alley), and Perfect Hermany-the songs of Jerry Herman.
Alex Rybeck is a music director, composer, arranger and pianist, best known for his work in concerts and cabarets, on recordings, and in the theater. Broadway credits include Merrily We Roll Along (directed by Hal Prince, Grand Hotel (directed by Tommy Tune), and others. He has also worked with Susan Stroman (Flora, the Red Menace) and Patricia Birch (Really Rosie). Regionally, his work on What The World Needs Now, starring Sutton Foster, won him personal praise from Burt Bacharach.
After growing up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, and attending Oberlin College, he moved to New York City, where he was mentored by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Schwartz while attending NYU’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program.
Among the many artists he has worked with are such legends as George Abbott, Metropolitan Opera diva Roberta Peters, “Voice of Hollywood” Marni Nixon, Eartha Kitt, The McGuire Sisters, Julie Wilson, and Kitty Carlisle Hart. He has also enjoyed meaningful collaborations with Faith Prince, Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway, Jane Olivor, Melissa Errico, Karen Mason, Sharon McNight, Jeff Harnar, Donna McKechnie, Jason Graae, Lee Roy Reams, Tovah Feldshuh, Rita Gardner, Roslyn Kind, Amanda McBroom, and many, many others. His original song “What a Funny Boy He Is” was recorded by the late Nancy LaMott.
He has received numerous awards and honors (MAC, Bistro, Nightlife, Billboard, and Broadwayworld.com) as music director and songwriter.
As a highly sought-after coach, he has taught master classes in NYC, L.A., and DC, as well as at Yale, Harvard, Northwestern, Queensland Conservatorium (Brisbane) and the New Zealand Singing School.