Concert Series Brings Top-notch Talent to the Orinda Theatre

    Live at the Orinda! celebrates the month of March and the beginning of spring with two concerts. One features an award-winning star and the other an up-and-coming Canadian sensation.
    Liz Callaway brings her expressive mezzo-soprano tones to the complicated harmonies and haunting melodies of Stephen Sondheim on March 3.
    A Tony and Grammy nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress, singer and recording artist, Callaway has amassed a prodigious array of credits during her career. She counts such shows as “Baby,” “Cats,” “Miss Saigon,” “The Three Musketeers” and “The Look of Love” among her many theatrical credits.
    In addition, she has provided the singing voices of leading characters in such animated shows as “The Swan Princess,” “The Return of Jafar” and “Aladdin and the King of Thieves.”
    Her career as a concert and recording artist includes the award-winning album “Sibling Revelry” (created with sister Ann Hampton Callaway), as well as performances with the legendary Johnny Mathis, Paul Williams, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick and Stevie 
Wonder.
    In her Orinda show, Callaway celebrates the achievements of Sondheim with selections from her 2024 Grammy Award-nominated album “To Steve with Love.”
    “Sondheim was such an important part of my career and my life,” said Callaway. “I will forever be grateful to him for taking a chance on me when I was 19.”
    That chance involved Sondheim casting the teenager in his musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” her first show on Broadway.
    “I’m going to tell a story about ‘Merrily’ in my show, but I don’t want to give it away before then,” Callaway said.
    In addition to Sondheim melodies and stories about the revered composer, Callaway will sing songs from her many shows and animated movies such as “Baby” and “Anastasia.”
    Joining Callaway at the Orinda Theatre will be her long-time New York musical director Alex Rybeck and favorite San Francisco musicians Daniel Fabricant on bass and David Rokeach on drums.
    “I’m so looking forward to returning to Orinda. I had such a wonderful time singing with my sister, Ann Hampton Callaway, here some years ago,” she said.
    Young Canadian singing sensation David Marino performs on March 24 with a guest appearance by Ava Nicole Frances, who appeared at Live at the Orinda! last May.
    Marino began performing at the tender age of six. He grew up listening to Frank Sinatra, a favorite of his father, and even requested a fedora for Christmas one year. The young singer soon discovered other great standard singers such as Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Rosemary Clooney and Ella Fitzgerald.
    “The standards are so simply written. There are no big belt notes to hide behind,” said Marino. “It’s all about the lyrics and the story and you just need to tell it.”
    Under the mentorship of famous French artist and songwriter Pierre Lapointe, Marino went on to the finals of Canada’s hit TV show “The Voice” and has been busy with concerts in his native Montreal and New York ever since.
    For his Orinda show, the busy 25-year-old just wants to introduce himself to Bay Area residents.
    “This is my first time on the West Coast, and I want to share who I am rather than have a particular theme,” Marino said. “I love to sing in multiple languages, and since my grandparents are Italian immigrants, I’ll definitely be singing something in Italian and, of course, French.”
    Marino will also sing a duet with Frances.
    “She’s lovely. Such a sweetheart and so talented. I don’t meet a lot of young people who are also into this kind of music. Eva and I just instantly connected,” said Marino.
    Live at the Orinda! is a concert series featuring world-class performers from around the globe in specially curated musical evenings at the iconic Orinda Theatre. Performances begin at 5 p.m. at the Orinda Theatre, 4 Orinda Theatre Square. For tickets, call 925.254.9060 or go to orindamovies.com.