Tony nominee Liz Callaway, who made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along, will celebrate the work of the late Sondheim when she returns to Feinstein’s/54 Below in March.
To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim will be presented at the Manhattan venue March 23–26, 2022, at 7 PM.
Liz Callaway Bill Westmoreland
Callaway recently told Playbill, “I fell in love with Sondheim music when I was 10 years old, when my parents took me to see my first Broadway show, Company. I brought home the cast album and memorized every song. Little did I know that his music would become part of my DNA. I’ll always be grateful to Steve for taking a chance on me, for his guidance, and for giving me ‘so much stuff to sing!’”
Callaway received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Baby, and was also seen on Broadway in Cats,Miss Saigon, The Three Musketeers, and The Look of Love. Other New York appearances include Follies in Concert at Lincoln Center, A Stephen Sondheim Evening, Encores!Fiorello, and Hair in Concert. She sang the Academy Award-nominated “Journey to the Past” in the animated feature Anastasia. Other film work includes Jasmine in the two Aladdin sequels; The Swan Princess; and The Rewrite with Hugh Grant.
Tickets and additional information are available by clicking here.
Photos! Stephen Sondheim Reunites With Original Merrily We Roll Along Cast
The Toronto production of Come From Away, which had reopened December 15 following a 21-month pandemic hiatus, ended its run December 22 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. The musical played a total of 855 performances. The musical, considered the most successful Canadian musical, cited the Omicron variant and its toll on theatres—as well as a lack of governmental support in the country.
Producer David Mirvish said in a statement, “Despite our best efforts, within a week of reopening an outbreak in the backstage company forced us to cancel four performances, with the hope that we would resume on December 28. But during this short break, it became bluntly apparent that it would be impossible to continue when this incredibly contagious variant has sent case numbers soaring.
“In other parts of the world, the government has stepped up to support the commercial theatre sector by offering a financial safety net for the sector to reopen and play during the pandemic, thus protecting the tens of thousands of good jobs the sector creates.…But in Canada there is no such government support. And without such a safety net it is impossible for the production to take yet another extended hiatus. The costs of reopening a second time are prohibitively high and risky.”
Ticket holders of the canceled performances will be contacted and will be offered a transfer of the value of their tickets to account credits, gift cards, or a refund.
The international hit musical Come From Away tells the true story of 7,000 stranded air passengers during the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. The ensemble cast take on a variety of roles, from travelers to locals to airline personnel.
The show features music, lyrics, and a book by Irene Sankoff and David Hein with direction by Tony winner Christopher Ashley, choreography by Olivier winner Kelly Devine, music supervision and arrangements by Ian Eisendrath, scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Howell Binkley, sound design by Gareth Owen, and orchestrations by August Eriksmoen.
The Broadway production resumed performances in September at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. The musical made its New York debut after playing tryouts at La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C., and Toronto’s Royal Alexandra.
1920 Brock Pemberton’s Miss Lulu Bett opens at the Belmont Theatre. It runs 198 performances and wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
1924 London drama critic and playwright William Archer dies. He contributed to Figaro, the World, Tribune, and the Nation. His translations of Henrik Ibsen were produced in the 1890s. In 1921 his melodrama, The Green Goddess, ran for 54 weeks at the Booth Theatre.
1926Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart‘s Peggy-Ann opens at the Vanderbilt Theatre. Despite its 333-performance run, it is one of the most rarely revived of the team’s musicals.
1945Home of the Brave gains critical and financial recognition. Playwright Arthur Laurents wins $1,000 from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his timely war story.
1961Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green team up for their second musical in a year, Subways Are for Sleeping, which attempts to offer a humorous portrait of homeless people. When it is slammed by the critics, producer David Merrick responds with one of his most memorable PR stunts, hiring people with the same names as the critics, and running their (positive) comments in a quote ad. It doesn’t help. However, it also introduces actor Phyllis Newman, who wins a Tony Award for her performance.
2002 The film adaptation of John Kander and Fred Ebb‘s Chicago opens in major markets. Rob Marshall directed the film version of the 1975 musical, which goes on to win the 2003 Academy Award for Best Picture—the first musical to do so since Oliver! in 1968.
2016 Carrie Fisher, the storied film actor best known as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, dies at age 60, after suffering a heart attack during a flight from London to Los Angeles. Fisher made her Broadway debut in the musical Irene, opposite her mother, Debbie Reynolds; and later appeared in Censored Scenes from King Kong, Agnes of God, and her autobiographical solo show, Wishful Drinking.
2018 Sono Osato, the Japanese-American ballet dancer who created the role of Ivy Smith in the 1944 Broadway premiere of On the Town, dies at age 99. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the age of 14, making history as the internationally renowned troupe’s youngest dancer, first American, and first dancer of Japanese descent. She later joined the American Ballet Theatre, and also appeared on Broadway in One Touch of Venus.
Celebrating the Stage Work of Two-Time Tony Winner Joe Mantello
Celebrating the Stage Work of Two-Time Tony Winner Joe Mantello
Joe Mantello, who will be directing The Humans and Blackbird on Broadway in early 2016, celebrates his birthday Dec. 27. Playbill.com looks back at his stage career, as an actor and prolific director. Happy birthday, Joe!
WICKED starAlexandra Billingspaid tribute last night at the show’s curtain call to the production’s swings and understudies and shared the video on TikTok.
‘Humbled and Inspired’ star of stage and screen Hugh Jackman now back on the boards in The Music Man has released a holiday message to the Broadway community, straight from the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway where the show recently began previews.
