Cabaret Review By Ron Fassler…
I’m happy to report that old friends and top-notch singers and performers Liz Callaway and Jason Graae are in fine form at 54 Below this holiday week in “Happily Ever Laughter.” At the first night of a three-show engagement, their opening number “Backstage Broadway Buddies Medley” fully delivered on the promise of the show’s title. This was an audience primed to take delight in a spoof lyric like “In my Backstage Broadway Buddy’s Eyes I’m young and beautiful.” Cramming the extra words into a Sondheim melody is par for the course from these two who don’t shy away from jokes silly or brilliant. And though multiple comedy songs took precedent, there was room as well for the lights to dim and a stool to sit on so each could break our hearts ballad-wise.
Liz and Jason go back to college days together at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, even if it was for a brief time (Liz headed for New York after only a year). Then, as fate would have it, the pair made their off-Broadway stage debuts in a production of Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell at the now defunct Equity Library Theatre on the Upper West Side. They’ve been through a lot together and their affection for one another is both evident and adorable. Having seen their separate solo cabaret shows it’s a pleasure to watch them play off one another with such joyful ease. You know when this sort of thing is being faked and it all rings true here with Liz and Jason.
Jason Graae is a natural clown, especially when he brings out his oboe. His inspired musicianship brings up memories of the Danish pianist and comedian Victor Borge (his father was also Danish and played the cello). Playing off the evening’s excellent musical director Alex Rybeck on piano, Jason’s rendition of “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” is a comedic gem. On the flip side, he excelled with solos of two beautiful love songs, William Finn’s “What More Can I Say?” from Falsettos, and John Bucchino’s “Married,” from A Catered Affair.
Liz Callaway, for all who’ve enjoyed her song stylings over the years, remains her usual glorious self. Full confession: we worked together as mere children when we were twenty-one and twenty-four and she sounds the same! It’s not a magic trick either as her mother was a renowned voice coach for many Broadway singers and helped inspire and teach her daughter (daughters actually, as Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz’s sister, is no slouch in the singing department either). She’s a veteran of such Broadway musicals as Merrily We Roll Along (the original), Miss Saigon and Baby, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. In fact, she cajoled Jason into singing a duet with her from Baby, “What Could Be Better Than That?,” highlighting wonderful lyrics by Richard Maltby’s set to David Shire’s first rate music.
The evening was mostly a series of charming duets, everything from Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again? (Promises, Promises), Stephen Sondheim’s “It Takes Two” (Into the Woods) and his “Old Friends” from Merrily. I especially enjoyed “Nice,” from Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s Lucky Stiff, which fit the pair like a glove. For an encore, their comedic version of Jule Styne (and Sondheim’s) “You’ll Never Get Away from Me” was hilarious. Who else but these two would come up with the response to Rose’s line in the song, “Oh, no you don’t. No, not a chance. No arguments, shut up and dance” and then launch into the Michael Bennett moves from “I Hope I Get It” in A Chorus Line?
There are two more shows of “Happily Ever Laughter” at 54 Below, Friday July 5th and Saturday July 6th at 7:00 pm. After fireworks, what could be better than masterworks from these two über talented and endearing performers? For further information, please visit www.54Below.org.
Photos by Maryann Lopinto.