Billy Barnes' L. A.

BWW Reviews: Late Great Composer Billy Barnes Gets His Due via Live Kritzerland Tribute at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal

Many people do not realize, with the exception of us theatre junkies, that Billy Barnes, who regretfully passed from us in September of last year, was without a doubt the keenest composer of the theatre revue. He also created special material for TV's Laugh-In and The Carol Burnett Show, among others. His ingenious theatre revues date back to the 50s with The Billy Barnes Revue of 1959 all the way up to 1983's Movie Star, which had a long run at the Westwood Playhouse, now known as the Geffen. Bruce Kimmel remembers, as he knew the man well and recorded Billy Barnes L.A. Thanks to Kimmel a whole generation of musical theatre fans got a chance to hear up close and personal some of Barnes' greatest, saucy, yet little known achievements at a special Kritzerland show Billy! on Saturday March 2 at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. (more...)

Kritzerland Presents Ltd. Edition 'Billy Barnes' L.A.' CD this fall

After the success of The Billy Barnes Revue and The Billy Barnes People, BILLY BARNES' L.A. opened at the Coronet on October 10, 1962. The LA-centric show was not going to be traveling to Broadway, but Billy was LA and LA loved Billy's shows (and Bob Rodgers was an integral part of them as both sketch writer and director). (more...)