Between them, singers Liz Callaway and Jason Graae boast eleven Broadway shows, more than 65 recordings and dozens of film and television appearances.
They also boast a friendship that has survived more than 20 years of showbiz. (The pair met as cast-mates in a 1980 off-Broadway production of Godspell. Callaway was paid $18 per week. St. Louis native Scott Bakula starred as Jesus.)
In January, Washington University’s Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series will present these “musical pals” in Backstage Broadway Buddies, an intimate Cabaret-style evening of standards and stories, solos and duets, gossip and sentiment.
The special, one-night-only concert begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15. Tickets are $28; $24 seniors and Washington University faculty and staff; and $18 for students and children. Tickets are available at the Edison Theatre Box Office and through all MetroTix outlets. Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-6543.
Liz Callaway
Callaway, who previously appeared at Edison Theatre in 2002 with Godspell composer Stephen Schwartz, is a Chicago native and daughter of journalist John Callaway. She made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along and also has appeared in The Three Musketeers; Miss Saigon, for which she originated the role of Ellen; Baby, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination; and Cats, where she spent five years playing the role of Grizabella.
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WHO: Singers Liz Callaway and Jason Graae WHAT: Backstage Broadway Buddies WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15 WHERE: Edison Theatre, Washington University, Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. TICKETS: $28. Available through the Edison Theatre Box Office, (314) 935-6543, and all MetroTix outlets SPONSOR: Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series |
In addition to Godspell, Callaway has appeared off-Broadway in The Matinee Kids, 1-2-3-4-5, No Way To Treat A Lady, Brownstone, Marry Me A Little and The Spitfire Grill, for which she received both a Drama Desk Award nomination and a Drama League Award nomination. Sibling Revelry, a cabaret show she created with sister, Ann Hampton Callaway, was recorded live for DRG Records and won both a Back Stage Bistro Award and a MAC Award from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs
Callaway can be heard on more than 30 recordings, including three solo albums: The Beat Goes On (featuring music of the 60’s); The Story Goes On: Liz Callaway On and Off-Broadway and Anywhere I Wander: The Music of Frank Loessor. She performed the title character’s singing voice in the animated feature Anastasia and her song “Journey to the Past” was nominated for a 1998 Academy Award. Other film work includes the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves as well as vocals for The Swan Princess, Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, Beauty and the Beast and The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. She received an Emmy Award for hosting Ready To Go, a daily children’s program on CBS in Boston.
Jason Graae
Graae, dubbed “the undoubted master of humorous song” by New York Magazine, has starred on Broadway in A Grand Night For Singing, Falsettos, Stardust, Snoopy! and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? Off- Broadway shows include Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, for which he received a Drama Desk Nomination, Forever Plaid, Olympus on My Mind, All in the Timing and many more. In Los Angeles, he spent a year as Houdini in the U.S. premiere of Ragtime; won an Ovation Award for Forbidden Broadway Y2KLA!; and recently was nominated for a second Ovation for the role of Moonface in the revival of Anything Goes!
Graae made his opera debut as Njegus in The Merry Widow with Los Angeles Opera and his Metropolitan Opera House debut as vocal soloist in Twyla Tharp’s Everlast. He has recorded more than 35 original cast albums and studio CDs, including two solo discs, You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile: Jason Graae Sings Charles Strouse and Jason Graae: LIVE At The Cinegrill.
On television, Graae has been featured as Dennis on HBO’s Six Feet Under and also appeared on Rude Awakening, Friends, Frasier and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, among many others. He has been featured twice with the Boston Pops on PBS and for five years was the voice of Lucky Charms Cereal’s Lucky the Leprechaun. Recent film roles include the Disney animated feature Home on the Range and the forthcoming On Edge with Jason Alexander.