Chip Deffaa’s ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE Starring MARY CANTONI JOHNSON The New York Cast Album Musical Numbers... (Vocals by Mary Cantoni Johnson; music director/pianist: Mark Goodman; violinist: Jonathan Russell) ... 1. “That Mysterious Rag” (words by Irving Berlin, music by Ted Snyder) 2. “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” (words by Joseph McCarthy, music by Harry Carroll) 3. “Bill Bailey” (words and music by Hughie Cannon). 4. “Will You Love Me in December as You Do in May?” (words by James J. Walker, music by Ernest R. Ball) 5. “When You Know You’re Not Forgotten by the Girl You Can’t Forget” (words by Ed Gardenier, music by J. Fred Helf) 6. “Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee” (words by Stanley Murphy, music by Henry I. Marshall) 7. “Lovie Joe” (words by Will Marion Cook, music by Joe Jordan) 8. “Rose of Washington Square” (words by Ballard Macdonald, music by James F. Hanley) 9. “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”–Reprise (words by Joseph McCarthy, music by Harry Carroll) 10. “You Made Me Love You” (words by Joseph McCarthy, music by James V. Monaco) 11. “Oh! How I Hate that Fellow Nathan” (words by Lew Brown, music by Albert Von Tilzer). 12. “That Mysterious Rag”–Reprise (words by Irving Berlin, music by Ted Snyder) 13. “Second Hand Rose” (words by Grant Clarke, music by James F. Hanley) 14. “Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home?” (words and music by Charles Warfield and Clarence Williams) 15. “Ja-Da” (words and music by Bob Carleton). 16. “My Man” (English lyrics by Channing Pollack, music by Maurice Yvain) 17. “My Man”–Reprise (English lyrics by Channing Pollack, music by Maurice Yvain) 18 “After You’ve Gone” (words by Henry Creamer, music by Turner Layton). 19. “Rose of Washington Square”–Reprise (words by Ballard Macdonald, music by James F. Hanley)] “One Night with Fanny Brice” libretto and all musical arrangements copyright 2009, 2010 by Chip Deffaa. This recording (p) and © 2017 by Chip Deffaa. * * * A bit of background on “One Night with Fanny Brice”... Fanny Brice worked her way up from singing on street corners for pennies, to amateur shows, to burlesque... to becoming America’s highest-paid singing comedienne. She was starring in the Ziegfeld Follies when she fell for a dashing confidence man, Nicky Arnstein. And when she introduced her immortal “My Man”–as great a torch song as has ever been written--the whole country knew she was singing about him. ASCAP award-winner Chip Deffaa’s dynamic one-woman show, “One Night with Fanny Brice,” has received rave reviews everywhere. Brice’s story had previously inspired the musical “Funny Girl.” But as The New York Times noted in its glowing review of “One Night with Fanny Brice,” “‘Funny Girl’ was a whitewash. ‘One Night...’ delves deeper into her story.” Jennifer Farrar of the Associated Press called “One Night with Fanny Brice” “a charming new musical.... Written, directed and arranged by Chip Deffaa, the solo show chronologically covers Brice's immigrant childhood and long career in show business, and her tumultuous love life with faithless con artist Nick Arnstein. Deffaa has distilled Brice's busy life and career into a well-paced two-hour show." The Washington Examiner proclaimed: “Deffaa's script neatly describes [Brice's era], including many details about Fanny's life, making her rags-to-riches story very credible.....One of the nicest elements of 'One Night With Fanny Brice' is the way Deffaa brings Fanny's historical contemporaries to life: Flo Ziegfeld, Eddie Cantor, Gypsy Rose Lee, Billy Rose, W.C. Fields, Al Jolson, and all the lowlifes associated with Nicky Arnstein, Fanny's one true love." The Sun Gazette Newspapers raved: “‘One Night with Fanny Brice’ delivers what it promises.... This may be as close as devotees will ever get to Fanny Brice.” And Joe Franklin (Bloomberg Radio) called the show "Fresh and impressive! A true Golden-Age-of-Show-Business love story. The audience was exhilarated! A personal triumph for author Chip Deffaa..." “One Night with Fanny Brice” was originally produced Off-Broadway in New York at St. Luke’s Theater on 46th Street. It eventually transferred to the 13th Street Theater, where it ran, in repertory with other shows, for several more years. In the show, Brice reflects on her life, singing numbers she sang as a child, in her first amateur show in Brooklyn, touring in burlesque, headlining in the Ziegfeld Follies, and more. “One Night with Fanny Brice” is published and licensed by Leicester Bay Theatricals, www.leicesterbaytheatricals.com. * * * A note from playwright Chip Deffaa... “Mary Cantoni Johnson has starred in my show ‘One Night with Fanny Brice’ in NYC. And of all the different actresses I've seen do the show--in New York City, in New Jersey, in Connecticut, in the Catskills, in Virginia, etc.--none have performed with greater warmth, power, or authority than Mary. In her career, she's played many of the great musical-theater roles in one venue or another, starring in productions of ‘Gypsy,’ ‘Evita,’ ‘Kiss Me Kate,’ ‘My Fair Lady,’ ‘Jekyll and Hyde,’ ‘Man of La Mancha,’ and more. But no role fits her better than Fanny Brice. I’ve seen her play the role many times. I hope I get to see her play the role many more times, in many different places, for many years to come. I always get such a great kick out of her work. Besides playing Fanny Brice with such verve, Johnson has also been busy recording rare Irving Berlin songs for me, which will be heard on upcoming albums. “I might note, I’m jotting these thoughts while in Seoul, Korea. I’m over here directing a production of another one of my shows, ‘George M. Cohan Tonight!’ I hope I get a chance to bring Mary Cantoni Johnson over to do ‘Fanny Brice’ the next time I go to Korea. I know she’d go over big in Korea--or anywhere. Mary really packs a wallop! * * * “People often ask me: ‘How did you come to write “One Night with Fanny Brice”?’ Well, ever since boyhood, I’ve been fascinated by the stars and sounds of earlier eras—George M. Cohan, Al Jolson, Fanny Brice, Eddie Foy, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Mae West, Burns and Allen, Bessie Smith, Cab Calloway…. From old recordings that I found as a child in our basement, to vintage film clips, to books that my supportive older brother, Art, got for me, I learned a lot; and wanted to learn more. And by a lucky chance, there were people in my life who’d known, seen, worked with these legends. “I loved listening to the reminiscences of an old-time vaudevillian, Todd Fisher, who not only remembered the songs introduced in the Ziegfeld “Follies by Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor, and others… he taught them to me, so I could perform them. I loved seeing ‘Funny Girl’ on Broadway, but Fisher explained that there was a lot more to Brice’s story than that entertaining musical suggested, and that Brice and Nicky Arnstein—who was then still alive, he told me—were more complicated than the show suggested. ‘You should ask Gypsy Rose Lee about Fanny some time,’ he’d say. And then pull out from his wallet an ancient snapshot of him with a very young Gypsy Rose Lee, her sister June, and their mother, Rose. ‘And I wish they’d found some way to at least mention Billy Rose, who was married to Fanny after Nicky; Billy was a character in his own right.’ “The late Robert Alexander—who was the biggest single influence upon me, and the best mentor in my youth—was able to fill in some gaps; he’d helped Billy Rose stage his famed ‘Aquacade’ show, back in the 1930’s. And he certainly remembered well Rose, Eleanor Holm, et. al. “Having personal connections to their era made them feel closer. And every time I got to meet someone else with a long history in show business—a Cab Calloway, say, or a George Burns, or a Carol Channing--the past seemed less and less remote…. Fanny Brice sure had something. Friends will drop by for a visit at my home today and I’ll play ‘em a 78 rpm record she made long before I was born, and she speaks to us, and reaches us. And for a moment, she’s there; she’s right in the room with us…. Some plays are very hard to write; but this play, ‘One Night with Fanny Brice,’ seemed to write itself. “I owe a special note of thanks to Sharon A. Wilcox and her colleagues Agnes Duggan Dann and Ed Bassett at Connecticut’s Phoenix Stage, who first came up with the idea of casting Mary Cantoni Johnson as Brice, and to producers Sandra Nordgren and Edith O’Hara, who subsequently made it possible to bring Johnson into New York. I’m grateful to all of them.” – CHIP DEFFAA * * * CHIP DEFFAA (writer/arranger) is the author of 16 published plays and eight published books, and the producer of 19 albums. For 18 years he covered entertainment, including music and theater, for The New York Post. He is a graduate of Princeton University and a trustee of the Princeton "Tiger" magazine. He wrote and directed such Off-Broadway successes as "George M. Cohan Tonight!" and "One Night with Fanny Brice." His shows have been performed everywhere from London to Edinburgh, to Seoul. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, and ASCAP. He’s won the ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award, the IRNE Award, and a New Jersey Press Association Award. Please visit: www.chipdeffaa.com. * * * Playwright/director/producer Chip Deffaa is represented by The Fifi Oscard Agency (attention: Peter Sawyer, President), 1440 Broadway, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10018, Email: psawyer@fifioscard.com, tel. (212) 764-1100. For more information on Deffaa and his work, you may alsocontact Chip Deffaa Productions LLC, 50 Quartz Lane, Paterson, NJ 07501-3345, telephone: 973-684-3340; Email: Footloose518@aol.com; www.chipdeffaa.com. “One Night with Fanny Brice” is published and licensed by Leicester Bay Theatricals, www.leicesterbaytheatricals.com. * * * If you’d like to know more about Fanny Brice... Recommended reading: Herbert Goldman’s “Fanny Brice,” Oxford University Press; Barbara Grossman’s “Funny Woman,” Indiana University Press; Norman Katkov’s “The Fabulous Fanny,” Alfred A. Knopf; Stanley Green’s “The Great Clowns of Broadway,” Oxford University Press; and Jack Gottlieb’s “Funny, It Doesn’t Sound Jewish: How Yiddish Songs and Synagogue Melodies Influenced Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood.” Library of Congress and SUNY Press. * * * Credits and acknowledgments... A special tip of the hat to Carol Channing, and to the late George Burns, Todd Fisher, Joe Franklin, and Robert Alexander for the personal links they’ve provided to Fanny Brice’s world. Big thanks to Peter Sawyer, President of the Fifi Oscard Agency, Inc., and to Michael Perry, President of Leicester Bay Theatricals. Thanks for the help provided, in various ways, by Alex and Alec Deland, Matthew Broderick, Keith Anderson, Donald Brown, Stephen Bogardus, Richard Danley, Kim You-Chul, Younghwa Cha, C. M. Heinzelman, Jed Peterson, Yunis Alibrahimi, Adam Barki, Deborah Deffaa, Max Deffaa, Louis Deffaa Sr., C. Hernandez, Josh Schaller, Ava Schaller, Jeremiah Cruz, Julia Deffaa, Logan Saby, Lawson Saby, Victor Calatayud, Adrian Carbajal, Brick Greenbean, the late John Wallowitch, the late Jack Gottlieb, and artist-to-watch Prince Julius Taibor. Editing by H. Al Hussan. Public relations assistance by Ibby, Abraheem, and Cinnamon Abdelhaq. This album is distributed in the U.S. exclusively by CDBaby. Mary Cantoni Johnson first performed “One Night with Fanny Brice” at Connecticut’s Phoenix Stage, run by Sharon Wilcox, Agnes Duggan Dann, and Ed Bassett; Sharon Wilcox served as director. This production eventually transferred to the 13th Street Theater, New York City. This album, produced by Chip Deffaa Productions LLC, was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Slau Halatyn at BeSharp Studios, 30-80 33rd St., Astoria, NY 11102. * * * This album is dedicated by the producer with great appreciation, affection, and respect to the ever-inspiring Jeffrey Michael Sewell of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. * * * If you’ve enjoyed this album, you might also enjoy these 19 other Chip Deffaa albums (available from Amazon.com, CDBaby.com, iTunes, etc.): “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin Rediscovered,” “The Chip Deffaa Songbook,” “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin Revisited,” “Chip Deffaa’s Irving Berlin Songbook: Rare and Unrecorded Songs,” “The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue,” “George M. Cohan Tonight!,” “Irving Berlin’s America,” “One Night with Fanny Brice,” Irving Berlin: In Person,” “The Seven Little Foys” “Theater Boys,” “Presenting Fanny Brice,” “George M. Cohan: In his Own Words,” “Mad About the Boy: The Festival Cast,” “The George M. Cohan Revue,” “Mad About the Boy: 13th Street Theater Production,” “Irving Berlin & Co.,” “The Johnny Mercer Jamboree,” “George M. Cohan: Rare Original Recordings.” * * * “OTHER ALBUMS OF CHIP DEFFAA’S THAT YOU MIGHT ENJOY....” “MAD ABOUT THE BOY: Original Cast, 13th Street Theater,” “IRVING BERLIN REVISITED,” “IRVING BERLIN SONGBOOK,” “IRVING BERLIN: IN PERSON,” “IRVING BERLIN & CO.,” “THE IRVING BERLIN RAGTIME REVUE,” “IRVING BERLIN’S AMERICA,” “GEORGE M, COHAN TONIGHT!” “ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE,” “THE GEORGE M. COHAN REVUE,” “THEATER BOYS” “THE JOHNNY MERCER JAMBOREE," “THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS,” GEORGE M. COHAN: IN HIS OWN WORDS,” “PRESENTING FANNY BRICE,” “GEORGE M. COHAN: RARE ORIGINAL RECORDINGS.” . ********************************* ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE Written and Arranged by Chip Deffaa Starring Mary Cantoni Johnson... Executive Producer: Chip Deffaa, www.chipdeffa.com Historical consultant: Jessee D. Riehl; Proofreader: Matthew S. Cardona Assistants to the Producer: Malik Jmhour, Sukhee Jun, Alex Dileo, Peter Charney, Max Galassi Recording engineer: Slau Halatyn; Graphic Design: Frank Avellino; Interns: Max Beer; Michael Herwitz *********************************************************************** Chip Deffaa’s ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE CDP VC 0103 ************************************************************************ Special thanks to Sharon A. Wilcox, Agnes Duggan Dann, Ed Bassett, Sandra Nordgren, Edith O’Hara Costumes by Renee Purdy; Music preparation by Don Brown, Richard Danley Technical advisor: R. I Dalalsheh; International advisors: Byeong hyo Son, I. Khader, Gabriel Beer “One Night with Fanny Brice” is published by Leicester Bay Theatricals, www.leicesterbaytheatricals.com Chip Deffaa Productions Garret Mountain Records CDP VC 0103 “Chip Deffaa’s One Night with Fanny Brice” (P) and © 2017 by Chip Deffaa