BAREFOOT BOY WITH CHEEK Recording with Max Von Essen, Jenn Colella & More Now Available for Free Download

UnsungMusicalsCo. (UMC), in a collaboration with the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, has released a recording of three songs from the little-known 1947 musical comedy Barefoot Boy With Cheek featuring performances by Jenn Colella (Chaplin, Closer Than Ever), Max von Essen (Evita, Death Takes a Holiday) and Robert Lenzi (South Pacific, Hello Again).

UMC's recordings are now available for free digital download on the New York Public Library's website as part of its Musical of the Month blog series, which recently featured UMC's reconstruction of the Barefoot Boy libretto. The musical has never received a cast album.

To download the songs, visit http://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/07/09/three-songs-barefoot-boy-cheek.

Based on the best-selling novel by Tony Award nominee Max Shulman (How Now, Dow Jones), the musical features a book by Mr. Shulman, music by Sidney Lippman ("Too Young," "A...You're Adorable") and lyrics by Sylvia Dee ("Too Young," "The End of the World"). The original George Abbott production opened April 3, 1947 at the Martin Beck Theatre. In its first full week, Barefoot Boyposted the highest one-week box office gross in the twenty-three year history of the venue, but subsequently closed after only 108 performances.

UMC's Barefoot Boy recording includes the songs "Little Yetta's Gonna Getta Man" performed by Jenn Colella, "Who Do You Think You Are?" performed by Robert Lenzi and Max von Essen, and "After Graduation Day" performed by Mr. von Essen. Musical direction and arrangements are by Fran Minarik (At Home Abroad, Make Mine Manhattan).

A nutty 1947 musical romp, Barefoot Boy With Cheek follows a bright-eyed young freshman at the fictitious University of Minnesota as he navigates a rowdy campus complete with swindling frat boys, dreamy jocks and communist coeds.

UMC began exploring Barefoot Boy in January 2011 through a developmental reading that featured Colella, Lenzi and von Essen as well as RAndy Donaldson, Jenny Fellner, Nick Gaswirth, Drew Gehling, Anne Horak, Sarah Litzsinger, Nora Mae Lyng, Rye Mullis and Greg Reuter.

UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. (Ben West, Artistic Director) is a not-for-profit Production Company dedicated to the preservation of musical theatre through the restoration and presentation of obscure but artistically sound works. Focusing primarily on overlooked projects from the Golden Age of musical theatre, which UMC more broadly defines as the 40 years between Mr. Florenz Ziegfeld and Mr. Stephen Sondheim's respective Follies(1931-1971), UMC treats each property as a new musical, thereby providing a unique collaboration between the artists of today and those of the past. Recent UMC projects include acclaimed productions of The Fig Leaves Are Falling and Make Mine Manhattan, a starry concert presentation of At Home Abroad, world premiere concerts of Gatsby and Nothing is Forever and New York International Fringe Festival productions ofPlatinum and How Now, Dow Jones.

UMC is also devoted to researching, assembling and restoring the material from unpublished and out-of-print musical shows. To further the mission of preserving these historic works for future generations, UMC's material is receiving its own collection in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. For more information visit www.UnsungMusicals.org.