Miss Gulch Returns!
Miss Gulch Returns! pays tribute to the special-material song tradition. A metaphor for the romantically disenfranchised, Gulch has hit a nerve among the silent single audience across all gender categories. "Pour Me A Man" is now a cabaret standard around the world, but "Everyone Worth Taking" is the heart of the show.
The CD includes two bonus tracks (my original opening number, cut from the original LP for time considerations, and a preview of "Party Girl" from The Two Svengalis, sung by Toni DiBuono). Enclosed is a 12-page booklet with numerous photos and program notes.
To hear excerpts, or for more details, visit the Miss Gulch Returns! site.
Roy Sander: "The Two Svengalis is smart, funny, wonderfully entertaining, and splendidly performed by Fred Barton and Toni DiBuono, the show's creators. As with Barton's earlier Miss Gulch Returns, the mirth never compromises the evening's emotional underpinnings."
Variety: "The tuner spotlights rapier-sharp words and a score that ranges from torchy ballads to lilting swing – with a healthy dose of Broadway brass. Barton has sketched two fascinating characters... Toni DiBuono provides the perfect balance of showbiz pizzazz and human frailty."
Visit The Two Svengalis page for sample songs.
A Wrinkle In Swingtime
A dream come true for a kid-piano-player who keeps wishing he were an orchestra. Got one! FAB's arrangements for singer Elena Bennett range from the 14-piece core Big Band to the 27-piece full string orchestra, and are the undeniable crown jewels of all these recordings to date.
Elena Bennett is a latter-day anomaly – a direct, straight-ahead vocalist who sits directly atop FAB's orchestrations like the captain of a battleship. The thirteen songs range from the undeservedly-unknown to the undeservedly lesser-known, with a dramatic through-line unmistakable to any who have experienced a wrinkle on their way to a foolish heart.
For sample songs from the CD, visit this site's A Wrinkle In Swingtime page.
For sample songs from the CD, visit this site's A Wrinkle In Swingtime page.
Forbidden Broadway
Still in print since 1984 – then again, the show has been running for over 23 years since its debut in December 1981. Musical direction and arrangements by FAB, with same at the piano. This recording features the incomparable Nora Mae Lyng and Gerard Alessandrini, the original Forbidden Broadway team, with Choe Webb (years before her movie stardom) and Bill Carmichael (years before the LA Ragtime and the NY Mamma Mia). The songlist was severely hampered by the withholding of music rights to some of the funniest of the original parodies that made the show an instant sensation; but some of the later CD volumes repaired these omissions, once the songwriters in question bowed to the inevitable. FAB's original LP liner notes were not included on the CD release, but you can find them on this site's Forbidden Broadway page.
Neva Small: My Place In The World
FAB created lush orchestrations for Neva Small's career-retrospective CD My Place In The World. The CD features rare songs from the many Broadway shows in which Neva appeared during her unique career, including some never before recorded (including The Prince Of Grand Street, F. Jasmine Addams, and Show Me Where The Good Times Are).
The album has received accolades from the critics, the public, and from some of the distinguished songwriters themselves.
For sample songs, visit this site's My Place In The World page.
For sample songs, visit this site's My Place In The World page.
A Bag Of Popcorn And A Dream
Broadway and Hollywood legends Robert Wright and Chet Forrest had the longest songwriting collaboration in entertainment history. A Bag Of Popcorn And A Dream, produced by Walter Willison with orchestrations by FAB, is a collection of rare Wright & Forrest songs never before recorded, culled from their many years providing songs for dozens of stars in the Golden Age of nightclub and Hollywood entertainment.
The CD cast includes Judy Kaye, Karen Akers, Geoffrey Holder, Lucie Arnaz, Kathi Moss, Marcia Lewis, Walter Willison, Jeff Calhoun, Karen Murphy, and many others.
For sample songs from the CD, visit this site's Bag Of Popcorn And A Dream page.
For sample songs from the CD, visit this site's Bag Of Popcorn And A Dream page.
Whoop-Dee-Doo!
It just galls me that of my three best-known Off-Broadway shows, only two were recorded by major labels and won multipled Drama Desk Awards (the third only became an international sensation—see Miss Gulch Returns! above). There ain't no justice.
As in the case of Forbidden Broadway, Whoop-Dee-Doo! was an unexpected smash resulting from a bunch of unlikely kids working in a remote corner of cabaret and off-Broadway. This Gay Shoestring Follies was the brainchild of Peter Morris, Dick Gallagher, resourceful costumier Howard Crabtree, and Mark Waldrop, all masterminded by director Phillip George, and given the old Forbidden Broadway musical sheen by yours truly. The show was recorded by RCA Records after FAB left the show, with the highly capable Matt Ward filling in at the eighty-eights. You can hear the material at its best, before it was recycled into the more-successful (but less-inspired) When Pigs Fly.
Karen Murphy: Torch Goddess
Karen Murphy's CD Torch Goddess is based on her acclaimed one-woman show, in which this outstanding vocalist pays tribute to the alternately lush and eccentric songs of 1950's pop, Broadway and Hollywood.
Barton's arrangements accordingly pay tribute to various Fifties styles, from nightclub bee-bop ("Gotta Have Me Go With You"), epic film style ("Stranger In Paradise"), hard swing ("Thanks A Lot But No Thanks") and Frances-Faye-style Latin ("Kiss Of Fire").
See the Torch Goddess page for sample songs and more details.
Barton's arrangements accordingly pay tribute to various Fifties styles, from nightclub bee-bop ("Gotta Have Me Go With You"), epic film style ("Stranger In Paradise"), hard swing ("Thanks A Lot But No Thanks") and Frances-Faye-style Latin ("Kiss Of Fire").
See the Torch Goddess page for sample songs and more details.
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This is the first and much anticipated album of up and coming singer, actor and US Marine, Stuart Ambrose. Having appeared on television, in theatres, and on concert stages around the country and the world, this album is the culmination of a long artistic journey.
Although it features the songs of first-rate Los Angeles and New York songwriters and the stylings of some of New York's finest musicians, it is Stuart's positive message that truly carries through; soaring vocals take this positive adult contemporary album to new highs.
Although it features the songs of first-rate Los Angeles and New York songwriters and the stylings of some of New York's finest musicians, it is Stuart's positive message that truly carries through; soaring vocals take this positive adult contemporary album to new highs.
Anastasia
Anastasia played on Broadway under the title Anya, and is Wright & Forrest's Rachmaninoff-based telling of the Anastasia mystery.
This album features a re-mixed and newly mastered version of the original studio recording featuring Len Cariou and Judy Kaye; bonus tracks consist of outtakes from Wright & Forrest's Grand Hotel (and its earlier incarnation, At The Grand), Kean, and the up-coming Betting On Bertie (bonus tracks musically arranged and directed by Mark Hummel and/or Fred Barton).
Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2
After its initial success, more and more songwriters and publishers caved in to the phenomenon known as Forbidden Broadway to enable not only its longevity on stage but its proliferation on disc. Philip Fortenberry was one of the champ graduates of my Forbidden Broadway piano boot camp, and succeeded me both in the show and on the second CD. Volume 2 includes the ultimate performances by the following Forbidden Broadway Barton trainees: Toni DiBuono, Michael McGrath, Karen Murphy (Boston), Roxie Lucas (NYC), and Bill Selby (DC). Routines built and arranged by FAB (uncredited) include "Who Do They Know," "Tomorrow," "Chita-Rita," and "I Ham What I Ham."
Visit this site's Forbidden Broadway page for more information.
Visit this site's Forbidden Broadway page for more information.
Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 3
Succeeding Philip Fortenberry at the piano on Volume 3 is my greatest successor: Brad Ellis, who became my long-running surrogate in Boston and in subsequent New York editions, before Bruce Kimmel woke up and smelled the coffee, Ellis-roast. FAB built and arranged (uncredited): "Ya Got Trouble," "Everything's Coming Up Merman," and "Old-Fashioned Ballad" (from the original 1981 Forbidden, finally legalized by the crotchety Irving Berlin estate).
Visit this site's Forbidden Broadway page for more information.
Visit this site's Forbidden Broadway page for more information.
