Overview
Liz Callaway (born April 13, 1961) is an American actress, singer 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 to Shirley Callaway, a singer, pianist, and vocal coach, and John Callaway, a journalist. Her sister is actress, composer, and singer Ann Hampton Callaway, with whom she sang the theme song for the Fran Drescher comedy series The Nanny, which Ann Hampton Callaway also composed. Both sisters attended New Trier High School (New Trier East) in Winnetka, Illinois. Callaway has also appeared in a number of cabaret and stage productions with her sister. 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.
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.
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