Bruce Kimmel's Book ALBUM PRODUCED BY... Released This Week

Actor/writer/director/producer Bruce Kimmel's anticipated book Album Produced By… hits stores and online this week.

In 1993, actor/writer/director Bruce Kimmel made another drastic life change and began a new journey, this time as a record producer. Within a year he became a hugely successful producer of musical theatre recordings, at a time when musical theatre recordings were not exactly high on anyone's popularity list. It was soon clear that Kimmel had a point of view, along with a dream that when people saw the credit "Album Produced by Bruce Kimmel" that it might actually mean something.

The story of that journey is peopled with an incredibly colorful cast of characters, including Stephen Sondheim, Lauren Bacall, Elaine Stritch, Dorothy Loudon, John Kander, Schmidt and Jones, Jerry Herman, Carol Channing, Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, and just about every great singer working back in what would be the last Golden Days of the record business. Kimmel produced cast albums (both Broadway and off-Broadway), gave new writers the chance to have their music recorded, new singers the chance to be heard, and made occasional best-selling forays into film music and jazz. From 1993 to 1999, when he and Varese Sarabande parted ways, he'd produced over 120 albums.

The next five years of his life would be a rollercoaster ride that most people would never want to take. He rides the ups, downs, curves, and thrills with humor, positivity, and perseverance. He creates a new and unique label, watches it crash and burn, and then rebuilds his life yet again, always fighting the good fight. As with There's Mel, There's Woody, and There's You, the first volume of his memoirs, Album Produced by… is filled with laughter, tears, joy, suspense, back-stabbing, broken promises, and above all, music-the grand and glorious music that Kimmel and company were able to bring forth.

Watch during the creation and recording of some of the most beloved musical theatre albums ever made. Meet not only the singers, but Kimmel's engineer, musical directors, arrangers, orchestrators, and musicians-an unlikely array of collaborators all led by Kimmel's vision, understanding, and sometimes insane passion. Written with warmth and humor, Album Produced by… is a look back at a remarkable career in the recording industry.

Bruce Kimmel wrote, directed and starred in the cult movie hit, The First Nudie Musical (available on a Special Edition DVD). He also co-created (with David Wechter) the story for the hit film, The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez. As an actor, Mr. Kimmel guest-starred on most of the long-running television shows of the 1970s, including The Partridge Family (recurring), Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, MASH, Alice, and many others, including leading roles in several pilots for all three of the major networks.

Since 1993, Mr. Kimmel has been one of the leading producers of theatre music on CD, having produced over 180 albums. He was nominated for a Grammy for producing the revival cast album of Hello, Dolly! and his album with jazz pianist Fred Hersch, I Never Told You, was also nominated for a Grammy. He has produced solo albums for Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, Jason Graae, Liz Callaway, Christiane Noll, Rebecca Luker, Brent Barrett, Sally Mayes, Judy Kaye, Judy Kuhn, and many others. His label, Kritzerland, issues a new CD every two weeks. For the past year, he has been producing and hosting a series of live entertainments based on the albums he's produced, called Kritzerland at the Gardenia, which feature incredible singers and fun guest stars. The shows occur on the first Wednesday of every month at The Gardenia nightclub in Hollywood.

His musical, The Brain From Planet X (written with David Wechter) has been seen in Los Angeles, New York, and the United Kingdom, and is now being performed regionally all over the country, including its first performance in French in Montreal. He is currently at work on bringing The First Nudie Musical to the stage. He's also recently directed concert acts for Kevin Spirtas, Linda Purl, a new two-person show for Mr. Spirtas and Sean McDermott, and a two-person show for Miss Purl and Gregory Harrison.

He is also the creator, writer, and director of the popular web series, Outside the Box, which is about to start shooting its second season.

Mr. Kimmel is the author of twelve books – his acclaimed Benjamin Kritzer trilogy (Benjamin Kritzer, Kritzerland, and Kritzer Time), the mysteries Writer's Block and Rewind, his four Adriana Hofstetter mysteries, Murder At Hollywood High, Murder At The Grove, Murder At The Hollywood Historical Society, and Murder At The Masquers, his collection of short fiction, How To Write A Dirty Book and Other Stories, and "There's Mel, There's Woody, and There's You": My Life In The Slow Lane, a memoir, which has garnered wonderful reviews. His latest, a volume two memoir, is entitled Album Produced By... More of my Rollercoaster Life.

To post a comment, you must register and login.