I arrived at 54 Below this week armed and ready, with waterproof mascara and two packets of tissues. I expected that in “Ann Hampton Callaway Sings the ’70s,” I would be hearing one of the most warmly expressive cabaret artists around deliver songs from my earliest youth—songs I had perhaps first heard in the back seat of my parents’ car, that would make me wistful by the time I hit my teens. Surely, I would be reduced to mush by halfway through the set.
I should have known better. Yes, Callaway began the evening with what could have been a one-two punch of bittersweet nostalgia: “Sing,” the Joe Raposo charmer that made its debut on “Sesame Street” before becoming a Top Ten hit for the Carpenters in 1973, and “Killing Me Softly,” one of the decade’s most emotionally transparent classics and a showcase for one of its most hauntingly beautiful voices, that of Roberta Flack.
But Callaway, who had bounded onstage in black boots and a glittering, drapey top, was not there to indulge in plaintive reflection. There were pensive moments, to be sure, among them a quiet, gorgeous reading of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” in which she made lyrics known by everyone in the audience sound entirely fresh, plainly not taking a single sage word for granted.
The overall feel, though, was one of a giddy reunion, with the expert trio accompanying Callaway—featuring fellow cabaret stalwart Billy Stritch—contributing to the upbeat vibe. Stritch gamely led audience members, who were encouraged to sing along at various points, through the “La-la-la-la-la”s that famously embellish “Sing,” and later joined Callaway for a pair of duets: the Melissa Manchester/Carol Bayer Sager gem “Come In From the Rain” and “New York State of Mind.” The latter tune got a breezy, jazzy treatment, providing a refreshing contrast to Billy Joel’s more earnest original version.
There were a couple of missteps along the way. “Tracks of My Tears” was ostensibly inspired by Linda Ronstadt’s pining cover of Smokey Robinson’s hit, but Callaway put a feisty, almost playful spin on the song that contradicted the sad yearning at its core. Her “Bridge Over Troubled Water” aimed for a gospel flavor but wound up overwrought, delivering flash in lieu of the gradual build the song demands.
Callaway was on much firmer ground with Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” a natural fit for her jazz-based instincts that featured her most fluid, soulful singing of the night. Her affinity for Mitchell’s material was affirmed by a pointed “Big Yellow Taxi,” which as Callaway noted remains as relevant in its message of protest—and its plea to appreciate what we have, she might have added—as it was more than half a century ago.
The encore, which followed a buoyant take on Carole King’s “You’ve Got A Friend,” was another high point, with Callaway delivering Marvin Hamlisch’s “The Way We Were.” Rather than try to compete with Barbra Streisand’s definitive rendition, Callaway offered a performance that was almost conversational, and achingly tender. It was the one moment I nearly got a little verklempt—but I walked out, like pretty much everyone else, grinning from ear to ear.
Ann Hampton Callaway Sings the Seventies opened August 9, 2023 at Feinstein’s/54 Below and runs through August 12. Tickets and information: 54below.com
