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Singer's Broadway
Dream Comes True
January 19, 2000
Filed at 1:33 p.m. EST
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- When
21-year-old Ann Hampton Callaway arrived in New York, her dream was to perform on
Broadway. Instead, she became a singer in cabarets and a writer of popular songs.
Anyone familiar with the TV sitcom "The Nanny'' has heard one of Callaway's songs.
Fran Drescher, the star of the show, asked Callaway to write the theme song after she
heard her singing original songs in cabaret.
"I didn't think I had a chance in the world,'' Callaway said. "I had written TV
themes before that didn't get picked up. I wrote two. When they chose one, I was thrilled.
I recorded "The Nanny Named Fran' and invited my sister to be backup singer. It's one
of the last jazzy TV themes.''
Barbra Streisand recorded Callaway's world peace anthem "At the Same Time'' for her
"Higher Ground'' album. Streisand also asked Callaway to write lyrics for "I've
Dreamed of You'' on her "A Love Like Ours'' album.
And there's more: "Sibling Revelry'' is a show that Callaway has performed in London
and in venues across the country with her sister Liz Callaway. "I wrote some of it. A
lot of it is Broadway standards. It's a great deal of fun.
"Liz has a bright Broadway sound. She has been in Broadway shows, done Disney and
animated features. When we blend, we breathe together. If I make a mistake in a lyric, she
knows it before I do and sings the wrong lyric with me.''
And what about her dream of performing on Broadway?
"Twenty years later, my dream is coming true,'' the 41-year-old jazz vocalist said.
She is one of the stars of "Swing!'' -- an exhilarating new dance revue that opened
in December at the St. James Theater.
"Swing!'' is an evening of swing dances, interspersed with standards from the 1930s,
'40s and beyond, as well as new songs. Callaway admits she's not a great dancer.
While growing up in Chicago, she took ballet, jazz and modern dance lessons. "I
didn't have a great facility,'' she said. "I didn't pick up steps easily.
"In 'Swing!' they made my character be somebody shy about dancing. I sing 'All of Me'
and go into 'I Won't Dance' and Everett Bradley forces me to dance and I enjoy it. It's
very effective because it's real.''
Although she's accustomed to performing in cabarets, which are small, intimate places,
singing in a Broadway theater doesn't intimidate Callaway.
"Intimacy is also an emotional thing. It's how you think of the relationship between
you and who you're singing to,'' she said. "When I sing 'Stompin' at the Savoy,' I'm
telling a story. You might as well be in my living room.''
Callaway wrote some additional lyrics for that song about a Harlem dance hall known as the
home of happy feet. "I get to take the audience on a little tour of that great place.
I dedicate that moment to Ella Fitzgerald. She was my inspiration, growing up. I imagine
she's in the mezzanine. I'm singing for her and she's saying, 'You go, girl.' ''
A big framed picture of two dancers at a 1940s stage door canteen hangs in Callaway's
dressing room. "I thought it was the perfect 'Swing!' photo,'' she said.
The photo makes her think of "I'll Be Seeing You,'' one of the songs in the show.
"It's one of the most gorgeous songs ever written. I feel I'm in World War II and
maybe I'll never see the love of my life again. I put myself in those shoes. It's a very
intense moment.''
Callaway took dance lessons and lost 40 pounds for the show, giving up alcohol, meat and
caffeine. She was already meditating and studying yoga.
"Sitting in the meditation hall the first day, I felt like I had finally come home.
Everything in my life opened up. Singing came from a more personal, open place. Writing
flowed more.
"You have to work on your inner self as an artist. If you don't, you have nothing to
say.''
