With glorious vocals, personal stories, and a set list of songs that traces the nearly 60 years of an acclaimed career as a composer and lyricist for the stage and screen, Emmy-winning and Tony- and Grammy-nominated actress, singer, and recording artist Liz Callaway celebrates a longtime professional relationship and close friendship in her new show The Wizard and I: Liz Callaway Sings Stephen Schwartz, playing four evenings this week at 54 Below, with a livestream also offered for one night only, on the closing date of Saturday, May 17, starting at 7 pm, for those who can’t be there in person.
The cabaret concert revisits an original two-act version she was invited to perform a year-and-a-half ago in Cork, Ireland, with some of the same numbers and some additional material, including a never-before-heard-in-America song created by Schwartz for her. Masterfully accompanied by musical director Alex Rybeck on piano, Ritt Henn on bass, and Ron Tierno on drums, Callaway opened with “The Spark of Creation” from Children of Eden, which, though based on the Biblical Book of Genesis, evoked her appreciation of Schwartz’s artistic imagination and creativity, and highlighted her exquisite soprano voice, punctuated by long notes and vibrato, an emotion-filled delivery, as embodied in her expressive face and gestures, and comfortable presence on stage and with the audience in the intimate venue. So did all of the songs and background anecdotes about her life, career, and connection with Schwartz, whom she lauded as “another of my favorite Stephens” (referencing her tribute show To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim, which played at 54 Below in 2022), noting that, at the age of nineteen, she was cast in both Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along and Schwartz’s Godspell within a period of 24 hours.
Callaway then took us through another emotive fourteen songs and medleys from Schwartz’s distinguished canon of tunes from the movies (contributing the bittersweet lyrics of “Cold Enough to Snow” from Life with Mikey) and animated films (“Out There” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which, she noted, was written for a male character but that didn’t stop her from singing it! – and, I might add, perfectly capturing his pain and longing) and musical theater (Pippin, The Magic Show, Godspell, Wicked, and The Baker’s Wife, along with Children of Eden), displaying not only her vocal prowess but her renowned acting skills, fully embracing the characters, their thoughts and feelings, and the storytelling of the mini-narratives in each with empathy and a dreamy distant gaze.
Those included two of her own favorites, “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin and “Meadowlark” from The Baker’s Wife, and one of her most requested songs, “Lion Tamer” from The Magic Show, navigating through the ups and downs of life and love; the US premiere of “Fearless,” an original Callaway requested of Schwartz, to be included on an album of songs written by her friends, and based on a deep conversation they had about life and her journey from being young and shy to mature and brave; and two iconic numbers from Wicked that also characterize their uplifting association and how she was changed by knowing him – the concert’s titular “The Wizard and I” and her glowing encore of “For Good,” with photos of him, and them, on the stage-side projection screens. There was also a bouncy rocking version of “Bless the Lord” from Godspell, with back-up vocals by Rybeck and astonishing high notes by Callaway that had her laughingly asking in the nightclub, “Did any of the glasses break?”
The meaningful selection of music was interspersed with reminiscences about her youth in Chicago, where she first saw the 1977 National Tour of Pippin and was inspired by it; her move to NYC and initial meetings with Schwartz, who called her about performing “Just around the Riverbend” for the animated Disney film Pocahontas, the impressive demo tape of which she played for us (wondering aloud, “Did that really happen?”); and other memories of their increasing closeness, including their mutual love of tennis and the games they played together, even on a trip to Barbados, joking about the one and only time she beat him and remarking that “Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I know him.”
Not only does she know him, she also captured his extraordinary contributions with her spot-on renditions of his songs and brought down the house with her “Stephen Schwartz Medley,” featuring segments of his best-known masterworks, including Godspell’s “Day by Day,” Pippin’s “Magic To Do,” and “Popular” and “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, following the advice given to her husband Dan Foster (who directed the profoundly affecting and highly entertaining concert) by seven-time Tony winner Michael Bennett, to “make them wait” for the obligatory mix of hits. She did, holding off until almost the end of the show – and I can assure you it was well worth the wait!
You have three more chances to catch The Wizard and I: Liz Callaway Sings Stephen Schwartz this week at 54 Below, or to stream the final performance at home on Saturday. Wherever you are, my best advice is be sure not to miss it.
Running Time: Approximately 85 minutes, without intermission.
The Wizard and I: Liz Callaway Sings Stephen Schwartz plays through Saturday, May 17, 2025, 7 pm, at 54 Below, 254 W 54th Street, cellar, NYC. For tickets (priced at $18-145, including fees, plus a food/beverage minimum of $25 per person), go online. The performance on May 17 will also be livestreamed (and will not be available afterwards on demand); for tickets (priced at $29, including fees), click here.