By Andrew Gans
07 Dec 2007
Question: You mentioned Lone Star Love. What was that experience like?
Kennedy: [Laughs.] That was crazy. Sadly, I don't know what's going to happen with it. It really had so much potential. We were just unable to do the work on it that we'd planned to because of creative differences.
Question: What was the role you were playing?
Kennedy: I was playing Mrs. Ford, which was played Off-Broadway by Beth Leavel. It seemed serendipitous because she's another Raleigh, North Carolina, girl. I loved working with the Red Clay Ramblers. I've always been a fan of their music, being from North Carolina. Despite some of the things that went down, it really was a good time, and the cast was amazing. It was an amazing group of people, and it's a shame that it didn't roll right onto Broadway. But I guess everybody's sort of holding out hope that it will have a future.
Question: Is there talk that it might still make it to Broadway?
Kennedy: There's talk that it might. You can never know what's going to happen.
Question: What other projects are you involved in?
Kennedy: I've done readings and whatnot, but nothing is set in stone.
Kennedy: It is very disappointing. You go through your little process of dealing with it, but at the same time, I just have to think, "Well, I have no control over it." So you just have to know that something else is going to come along, and it usually does. In some ways it's been nice to have extra time to really focus on promoting the album.
Question: How is your husband [Alan Campbell] doing?
Kennedy: He's doing great. He's sitting right here reading a catalog. He just put our daughter to bed for her nap.
Question: How old is she now?
Kennedy: She's three-and-a-half. She's so funny, just hilarious — a real actor herself. She's obsessed with ballet and putting on shows for us every night.
Question: Does she like her mother's singing?
Kennedy: She does. I won't lie to you, she prefers The Dixie Chicks, but she'll put up with me every now and then. No, she loves it. She walks around saying, "Mommy, I'm a great singer. I'm a greater singer than you." [Laughs.] And she's well on her way. She's got a very good voice and lots of star quality. . . . I think she will surpass us if she wants to. We'll also be happy for her to be a doctor! [Laughs.]
[For more information visit www.laurenkennedy.com or www.psclassics.com.]
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| Liz Callaway sings. |
"From now on, I've decided I'll perform the concert for free, but they're going to pay me to fly," joked Liz Callaway as she spoke about her distaste for flying in a career that often sees her playing venues around the world. In fact, Callaway had just returned from a concert gig in Korea and said she would be playing "somewhere in Iowa" following her Metropolitan Room show, the appropriately titled Between Flights. Surprisingly, Callaway's recent Metropolitan Room engagement was the Broadway actress' first extended New York cabaret run since she played several Sundays at the Duplex in 1980! Twenty-seven years is much too long to wait, especially for someone who makes it all seem so effortless.
Callaway is so at ease in her performance and so vocally in control, one can just sit back and listen to that glorious voice pour out of her. It is a lush voice that can charm, soothe and impress.
The wonderfully paced evening, directed by Dan Foster, began with a medley of The Wiz's "Soon as I Get Home" and "Journey to the Past" (from the film "Anastasia"), which was followed by a cheeky, rousing "You Don't Own Me." A pairing of "Make Someone Happy" and "Something Wonderful" was particularly beautiful, and then Callaway let her voice soar on Stephen Schwartz's "Meadowlark," a song Callaway said she has been singing since her early days as a singing waitress. "I could only sing it on Tuesdays," Callaway explained, since the Tuesday pianist was the only one who could play the complicated arrangement. Thankfully, she's now in the company of musical director/pianist Alex Rybeck, who, Callaway said, "can play anything." Rybeck's arrangements are also noteworthy; with just a trio (featuring Mary Ann McSweeny on bass and Ron Tierno on drums), Rybeck manages to often create the feeling of a small orchestra.
One of the evening's most touching offerings was Callaway's rendition of Wicked's "I'm Not That Girl," which melted into John Bucchino and Lindy Robbins' "Just Another Face." The rarely heard "What Do We Do? We Fly!" — from Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim's Do I Hear a Waltz? — displayed Callaway's comedic skills and fit nicely with her Between Flights theme. Other highlights included a terrific rendition of Chuck Mangione's "The Land of Make Believe"; a haunting version of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" that Callaway built expertly; and a vocally exciting "There Won't Be Trumpets."
Callaway finished her evening with the sixties classic "Leavin' On a Jet Plane" and offered her signature tune, "The Story Goes On" from Maltby and Shire's Baby, as an encore. As she belted out, "and thus it is our story goes on and on and on. . .," I couldn't help remember the excitement that filled the Ethel Barrymore Theatre during Baby's penultimate performance in July 1984. What's quite extraordinary is Callaway's voice seems remarkably unchanged since she debuted that song over two decades ago.
Let's hope Callaway hurries back to the New York nightspot when she's next Between Flights. Or, better yet, let's get the actress with the thrilling voice back on Broadway.
[For Liz Callaway's concert schedule, visit www.lizcallaway.com.]
DIVA TIDBITS
After her success with the City Center Encores! production of Follies, Tony Award winner Victoria Clark will return to the famed Manhattan venue in the Encores! staging of Marc Blitzstein and Joseph Stein's Juno. Directed by Tony winner Garry Hynes with music direction by Eric Stern and musical staging by Warren Carlyle, Juno will play City Center March 27-30, 2008. The production will boast the original orchestrations penned by Blitzstein, Hershey Kay and Robert Russell Bennett. City Center is located in Manhattan at West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. Tickets are available by calling (212) 581-1212 or by visiting www.nycitycenter.org.
Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins, most recently on Broadway in the late August Wilson's Radio Golf, will star in the West Coast premiere of As Much As You Can. Directed by Krissy Vanderwarker, the Paul Oakley Stovall drama will play the Celebration Theatre Jan. 3-Jan. 27, 2008, with an official opening scheduled for Jan. 4. Wes Ramsey will co-star in a cast that also includes Yassmin Alers, J. Nicole Brooks, Andrew Kelsey, playwright Stovall and J. Karen Thomas. The Celebration Theatre is located at 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood, CA. For tickets call (323) 212-4119 or visit celebrationtheatre.tix.com. (Pinkins will not appear in the Jan. 17 or 18 performances.)
The 19th Annual Gypsy of the Year Competition, which has been rescheduled for Dec. 17 (at 4:30 PM) and 18 (at 2 PM) at the New Amsterdam Theatre, will pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the original Broadway production of West Side Story. Hosted by Drowsy Chaperone's Bob Saget and Xanadu's Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa, the annual fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will open with a medley of West Side Story tunes and will boast appearances by original West Side Story cast members Chita Rivera (Anita), Mickey Callan (Riff), Carol Lawrence (Maria), Ken LeRoy (Bernardo), Jamie Sanchez (Chino) and Reri Grist (Consuelo). Other cast members from the show's 1957 production will also be part of the opening: Genii Charnin, Harvey Evans, Marilyn D'Honau, Alan Johnson, Gene Gavin, Ronnie Lee, George Marcy, Liane Plane, Martin Charnin, Grover Dale, Bill Guske, Ed Kressley, Sandy Leeds, Tony Mordente, Carole D'Andrea, Frances Davis, Lowell Harris, Julie Oser-McLeod, Noel Schwartz and Gina Tricones. These gypsies will be joined by gypsies from currently running shows. The opening number, which will re-create Jerome Robbins' original West Side Story choreography, will be staged and directed by Joshua Bergasse with musical direction by Ben Cohn. Tickets, priced $20-$350, can be purchased by calling (212) 840-0770, by visiting the Broadway Cares website, or in person at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 West 42nd Street) the day of the event. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) is the nation's leading industry based, not-for-profit AIDS fundraising and grant making organization. For further information visit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS on the web at http://www.bcefa.org.
Composer Scott Alan — who produces the monthly Monday Nights, New Voices concert series — will celebrate the release of his debut solo recording with a concert Jan. 7, 2008, at Birdland. Among those celebrating the release of "Dreaming Wide Awake: The Music of Scott Alan" will be Shoshana Bean, Stephanie J. Block, Liz Callaway, Danny Calvert, Eden Espinosa, Jonathan Groff, Cheyenne Jackson, Carly Jibson and Adriane Lenox. Jesse Vargas, who arranged and orchestrated Alan's CD, will be the evening's musical director. Show time is 7:30 PM. Following the performance, many of the artists will be on hand to autograph copies of "Dreaming Wide Awake." Birdland is located in Manhattan at 315 West 44th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. There is a $25 cover charge ($40 VIP) and a $10 food/drink minimum. Call (212) 581-3080 for reservations or visit www.birdlandjazz.com.
And, finally, congratulations to all those nominated for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be presented Feb. 10, 2008, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show albums nominated for a Grammy include A Chorus Line, Company, Grey Gardens, Spring Awakening and West Side Story. Nominees in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category comprise Michael Bublé ("Call Me Irresponsible"), Bette Midler ("Cool Yule"), Queen Latifah ("Trav'lin' Light"), Barbra Streisand ("Live in Concert 2006") and James Taylor ("James Taylor at Christmas"). The soundtracks for the movie musicals "Hairspray" (New Line Records) and "Dreamgirls" (Music World Music/Sony Urban Music/Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax) were both nominated in the Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media category; others in that field include "Across the Universe," "Love" and "Once." And, "Love You I Do" — penned by Henry Krieger and Siedah Garrett — for the "Dreamgirls" film was nominated in the Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media category. Other titles nominated: "Falling Slowly," "Guaranteed," "The Song of the Heart" and "You Know My Name." For a complete list of nominations visit www.grammy.com.
Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.
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