BRENT BARRETT

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS ON BROADWAY

By Sam Novak

Most entertainers put their heart and soul into a performance. But actor/singer Brent Barrett once put his life and limbs on the line for a role. While preparing for a German production of Phantom of the Opera, Barrett suffered a painful accident that resulted in a badly broken leg.

With only two weeks to go before opening night, the handsome Vegas resident underwent surgery and rehabilitation so that the Phantom could go on. Still sporting a metal plate in his lower leg three years later, he laughs it off as just another chapter in a stunning career…one that spans four glorious decades.

This July 11th at the Italian American Club, Brent Barrett will be presenting 40 Years on Broadway, a single-night career retrospective. The concert is an expansion of his one-man show, “Broadway & Beyond,” which performed to sold-out audiences at The Vegas Room last August. It’s also a part of ELITE CONCERT SERIES, a summer-long showcase of Broadway and Strip entertainers doing what they do best.

Barrett will be joined on stage by Musical Director (and famed pianist) Philip Fortenberry. Las Vegas Composer’s Showcase co-founder Keith Thompson is providing arrangements for the Brent Barrett Trio, with David Ostrumm on bass, Jakuba Griffin on drums, and Eric Tewalt on woodwinds. Expect stellar vocals by special guest Lisa Vroman.

Asked if it felt like four decades had passed, Brent let out a bit of a sigh, which altered mid-course into a wide smile. “Forty years…how is that possible? I never thought I’d do anything else. I also never thought I’d still be doing this forty years later!”

The question unleashed a torrent of memories, from his humble beginnings in Quinter, Kansas to scholarly years in Pittsburgh and an eventual leap to New York City. There he starred in such landmark shows as West Side Story, Annie Get Your Gun, Grand Hotel, and Chicago.

Eagle-eyed cinema fans may have caught Barrett last fall in the comedy caper STEALING CHAPLIN. Filmed in and around Las Vegas, STEALING CHAPLIN joins a filmography that includes 1989’s critically-acclaimed Longtime Companion and the 2005 version of Mel Brooks’s The Producers. Barrett also had a lengthy stint on All My Children, appeared in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and performed for the Tony Awards in 1990 and 1997.

Although he has enjoyed television and movie work, the stage will always be Brent Barrett’s first home. From his perspective, nothing can replace the thrill of performing for live audiences. Dozens of musicals have taken him across The United States and around the globe, allowed him to spend an extended time in London, and even gave him that big “break” in Germany.

But it was a once-in-a-lifetime lead role in Venetian’s Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular that brought the longtime New Yorker permanently to Sin City. Now a successful realtor, he’s helping others to settle into one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities. Yet, the honey-voiced tenor still finds time to entertain us with some of the world’s greatest music.

40 Years on Broadway includes works from such legendary composers as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Leonard Bernstein. Musical selections from Phantom, West Side Story, Wicked, Oklahoma, Camelot, South Pacific and Annie Get Your Gun will be featured. Tickets are $65 (plus taxes/fees) and include a pre-show dinner at 6:30 p.m. Curtain time is 8:00 p.m. The Italian American Club is located at 2333 East Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas. Phone 702.457.3866 for reservations.