Liz Callaway returns for holiday fun with the VSO in its annual Holiday Concert

This weekend (December 13 and 14) at Skyview Concert Hall, Liz Callaway will add glitz to the VSO’s Holiday Concert, singing seasonal selections and tunes from her Broadway and film career. It’s a return appearance for the Grammy-nominated vocalist, who helped the orchestra back in December of 2021 to usher out the COVID blues and reinvigorate Skyview Concert Hall, which had been closed for a year because of the pandemic.

Callaway has been featured in Broadway shows like “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Cats,” “Miss Saigon,” “The Three Musketeers,” “The Look of Love,” and “Baby” for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Her animated film credits include “Anastasia,” “Aladdin,” “King of Thieves,” “The Return of Jafar,” “The Swan Princess,” “Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” She can be heard as Speaker of God on season two of Amazon’s “Hazbin Hotel” series.

Since her performance with the VSO, Callaway has maintained a busy schedule.

“I’ve been touring all over the place, doing lots of concerts,” she said during a phone call. “My last album, a tribute to Stephen Sondheim album was nominated in 2023 for a Grammy award – for Best Traditional Pop Vocal category. I was in the same category as Bruce Springsteen. Neither of us won. But it was a huge, big deal, and now I have the Grammy nomination framed on the wall at home.”

Not one to rest on her laurels, Callaway is working on a new album.

“I am working on an album of Stephen Schwartz songs,” she said. “He co-wrote the music for ‘Wicked.’ But that recording won’t be released until February or March. But in the meantime, I will sing ‘Defying Gravity’ from ‘Wicked’ with the VSO. That’s on the first half of concert, which will feature a medley of Broadway tunes. The second half will be more holiday oriented.”

In addition to the “Wicked” number concertgoers will hear Callaway sing Oscar Hammerstein’s “Cockeyed Optimist” from “South Pacific,” Sondheim’s “Broadway Baby” from “Follies,” a medley of tunes from “Merrily We Roll Along,” and “Send in the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music.” She will close her first part of the program with Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s “Memory” from “Cats.”

For the second half, Calaway will do an arrangement of “Joy to the World,” plus Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year's Eve.” She will also sing “Once Upon a December” and “Journey to the Past” from “Anastasia,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

“I love the songs,” she said, “And I like to talk to the audience and tell stories. So, I’ve put a lot of thought into the selections. like to talk to the audience and tell stories. I have a lot of fans who know me from the animated movie ‘Anastasia.’ So I will be singing my two big songs from that film in the show. I can’t wait to sing with the VSO and maestro Brotons. It’s a fantastic orchestra and people are ready to celebrate the holidays with live music.

Callaway’s fans can also catch her on her Substack newsletter, “Between Flights,” which she fills with songs, recipes, and her schedule. She and her sister Ann Hampton Callaway will perform at 54 Below – a night club in New York City – from January 14 - 17, and some of the shows are livestreamed.

Of course, the VSO concert will also feature several purely orchestral pieces. They are Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” Johann Strauss Jr’s “Hunting Polka,” Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Snow Maiden Suite,” and Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” and Johan Strauss Sr’s “Radetzky March.”

Callaway’s discography contains 46 recordings, and she will be signing CDs at the concert. Already, according to the VSO website, Sunday’s show is sold out and there are only a few tickets left for Sunday’s event. Fortunately, there is a livestream option that can accommodate more listeners.