Liz Callaway

Liz Callaway (born April 13, 1961) is an American singer, actress and recording artist, who is best known for having provided the singing voices of many female characters in animated films, such as Anya/Anastasia in Anastasia, Odette in The Swan Princess, Jasmine in the Aladdin sequels The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, adult Kiara in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, and a dancing napkin ring in Beauty and the Beast. She was also the original Ellen in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon.

Early life, family and education
Callaway was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her mother, Shirley Callaway, is a singer, pianist and coach, and her father was journalist John Callaway. Her sister is actress, composer and singer Ann Hampton Callaway. They were raised in the Chicago area. Both sisters attended New Trier High School (New Trier East) in Winnetka, Illinois. Shirley, Liz and Ann have performed together onstage occasionally.

Career
Liz Callaway made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim's short-lived Merrily We Roll Along (1981). This began a long-term professional relationship with Sondheim: Callaway has performed in a number of live concerts in his honor, appeared with Sondheim on Inside the Actors Studio and also played the role of Young Sally in the Lincoln Center concert production of Follies with Mandy Patinkin, Barbara Cook, George Hearn, Lee Remick, Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch and the New York Philharmonic.Follies was recorded live and also filmed as a documentary. This recording is considered the definitive recording of the Sondheim/James Goldman/Harold Prince collaboration. Additional stage credits include Lizzie in Baby (for which she earned a Tony Award nomination), The Three Musketeers, The Spitfire Grill (for which she earned a Drama Desk Award nomination), Sunday in the Park with George, Evita, Cats, and Miss Saigon. Liz also performed in The Look of Love, a 2003 musical revue of the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Callaway also had her own children's television show on WNEV-TV in Boston, Ready to Go, which ran from 1987 to 1991. She left this series in order to begin rehearsals for Miss Saigon on Broadway.

In July 2012, Callaway starred as Norma Desmond in the Pittsburgh CLO's new production of Sunset Boulevard Callaway has also provided the singing voices for a number of animated characters, including Kiara in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Princess Jasmine in The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Princess Odette in The Swan Princess, and her most notable performance is Anya/Anastasia in Anastasia.

She has performed various cabaret acts at Joe's Pub, Rainbow & Stars, the Russian Tea Room, and the Lincoln Center in New York City, and at the Donmar Warehouse in London, among other venues.

Callaway's solo recordings include Anywhere I Wander (1993), The Story Goes On (1995), and The Beat Goes On (2001). She released her fourth recording, Passage of Time, for the record label PS Classics, on October 20, 2009 which featured an appearance with her sister Ann Hampton Callaway. She has an album consisting of her most recognized work, called The Essential Liz Callaway released in 2015.

Callaway and her sister, singer and composer Ann Hampton Callaway, sang the theme song for the Fran Drescher comedy series The Nanny, composed by Hampton Callaway. The Callaway sisters have appeared together in a number of cabaret and stage productions. Recordings of two of them, Sibling Revelry, recorded live at Rainbow and Stars in 1995 and Boom! recorded live at Birdland in 2011, have been released. Liz Callaway is married to former actor and acclaimed director Dan Foster. Foster is one of the three founding producers of the Hudson Stage Company, a non-profit, professional theatre company in residence at Pace University in Westchester County, New York.

Callaway was honored at the 25th Annual Bistro Awards in New York City.

Personal life
She is married to Dan Foster. They have a son, Nicholas, who attended Kenyon College.

Discography

 * Anywhere I Wander (Varèse Sarabande, 1993)
 * Sibling Revelry (DRG, 1996) with Ann Hampton Callaway
 * The Story Goes On (Varèse Sarabande, 1995)
 * The Beat Goes On (Varèse Sarabande, 2001)
 * Passage of Time (PS Classics, 2009)
 * Boom! Live at Birdland (PS Classics, 2011) with Ann Hampton Callaway
 * Merry and Bright (2013)

Filmography

 * Senior Trip (1981) - Judy Matheson
 * Lyle, Lyle Crocodile: The Musical - The House on East 88th Street (1987) - Mrs. Primm (singing voice)
 * Beauty and the Beast (1991) - Dancing napkin ring
 * Return of Jafar (1994) - Princess Jasmine (singing voice)
 * The Swan Princess (1994) - Princess Odette (singing voice)
 * Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) - Princess Jasmine (singing voice)
 * Anastasia (1997) - Anastasia (singing voice)
 * The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (1998) - Singer (voice)
 * The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride (1998) - Adult Kiara (singing voice)
 * The Swan Princess: Sing Along (1998) - Princess Odette (singing voice)
 * The Iron Giant (1999) - Additional voices (uncredited)
 * Bartok the Magnificent (1999) - Additional voices
 * Recess: School's Out (2001) - Kids (uncredited)
 * Osmosis Jones (2001) - Female Cell
 * Didi Lightful (2012) - Mrs. Lifhtful (voice)
 * The Rewrite (2014) - Mrs. Lerner
 * The Mentors (2017) - Mentor