All tagged Liz Callaway

Are You in the Mood for a Great Holiday Album?

Are You in the Mood for a Great Holiday Album?

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

If you are looking for an upbeat, delightful, melodic holiday album that features new Christmas songs instead of the same-old/same-old, “Wish: The Anderson and Petty Holiday Album” might just be what belongs on your Christmas list this year. Bursting with exuberance and memorable new melodies, this collection of songs is delivered with panache by a posse of talented singers including Liz Callaway, Drew Seeley, Natasha J. Barnes, Kyle Taylor Parker, and Sean Allan Krill (among a handful of terrific others).

Anastasia Cast Recording: A Review

Anastasia Cast Recording: A Review

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Though it may have received a lukewarm reception from critics, the original cast recording of the Broadway musical Anastasia gives no indication that this show has any failings. In fact, the lush and lively cast album from Broadway Records is a delight from start to finish. The Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty score percolates with energy and sumptuous voices. The songs that have been kept from the 1997 film are as wonderful as they ever were, but even more importantly, the new ones written for this Broadway mounting sparkle and reveal new depths to the characters, the story, and the mood of the piece.

The Sky Is the Limit - Stephen Schwartz and Flight Imagery

The Sky Is the Limit - Stephen Schwartz and Flight Imagery

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Maybe it is because Pippin is getting ready to close on Broadway, or perhaps because it has been announced that a big-screen adaptation of the piece is in the works, or maybe it is because I generally enjoy the music and lyrics of Stephen Schwartz no matter the overall quality of the musical they derive from, but I have found myself exploring his compositions a lot lately and growing to appreciate all of the wonderful poetry and imagery therein. Schwartz blends achingly palpable emotion, heightened drama, humor, evocative elements of nature, and rich, atmospheric melodies in all of his scores that both transport the listener and illuminate their personal human experience.