Barbara Brussell

BARBARA BRUSSELL 

A 1997 recipient of a BackStage Bistro Award, and six time MAC Award nominee. Barbara was listed in the Top Ten female vocalists of 1999 and 2000 on the New York cabaret scene, by critics Barbara and Scott Siegel, in both Theater Mania and In Theater Magazine, and earned, “The Best Cabaret Singer of the Year Award, 2003,” by The Beverly Hills Outlook in Los Angeles, CA. She has received raves from major cabaret rooms and stages in New York City and around the  country, including the Oak Room, at the legendary Algonquin Hotel, Firebird Cafe, Town Hall,  Eighty Eight’s, Sheet Music Society, Danny’s Skylight Room. The Duplex, Helen’s,  Laurie Beechman Room, The Neue Galerie; The Gardenia, The Cinegrill and Freud Hall in Los Angeles, The Plush Room and Herbst Theater in San Francisco, The Corcoran Gallery, in Washington, D.C., Colony Hotel, in Palm Beach, Fl.. Since 2004, she has soloed with the Schenectady Symphony and the Catskills Symphony Orchestras.

A recording of her critically acclaimed show, PATTERNS, is available on CD and ranked “One of the year’s TOP TEN BEST,” by In Theater Magazine, 1998.  Her newest CD “LERNER IN LOVE” made, TOP TEN CDs of 2005, by Rob Lester on TALKIN’BROADWAY.COM. Both CDS are available in stores, her website, and LMLMusic.com.  She is part of the 92nd St. Y’s cast recording, “Love Life and Laughter: Kurt Weill in America.” with Andrea Marcovicci.  Due 2007.

Critics have stated, “BARBARA BRUSSELL epitomizes the art of cabaret singing...a consummate singer/actress.  She doesn’t just sing (a song), she inhabits it.” says BackStage’s Roy Sander. The New York Times’ Stephen Holden, writes of her Lerner show,“It ought to establish BB as a singer and story teller ready to join the dozen or so performers on cabaret’s top rung.”  “... An utterly distinctive voice...her dramatic instincts give every word a purposeful intention...the California Dreamer and the New York sophisticate join hands.” Legendary cabaret singer Julie Wilson proclaims,“She is a brilliant performer.  I'm inspired by her.”  Andrea Marcovicci exclaims, “Don't miss Barbara Brussell!" And Rex Reed, of The New York Observer, exclaimed,"In a cabaret world...Barbara Brussell is a dream come true." 

Other critically acclaimed shows include: “Love Makes the World Go Round: The Songs of Bob Merrill,” “Michael ‘Mickey’ Leonard Songbook: Variations on a Theme,”  (“Best Show of the Season Award, 2001-2002,” from The New York Sheet Music Society). “From Big Sur to Broadway: Let it Be a Dance,” with poet laureate/songwriter, Ric Masten, “The Piano Bench of My Mind: Songs I’ve Been Sitting On for Far Too Long,  “Almost Like Being in Love: The Life, Loves and Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner,”Mercer, Mercer Me, the Love and Songs of Johnny Mercer.” “The Quality of Mercer and Other Huckleberry Friends.” And for the Neue Galerie, in 2006, “A Tale of Three Cities: Paris, Berlin and New York.

Barbara is a fourth generation Californian, born in Los Angeles and educated in the U.S. and Europe.  She started dance classes at the age of three after seeing her first musical, “The King and I.” She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music, from the Academy of Music, CA, and studied at ACT (American Conservatory Theater) in San Francisco, HB Studios in NYC. She has starred in regional and national tours of Pirates of Penzance, A Little Night Music, The Fantasticks, and Fiddler of the Roof. Please visit barbarabrussell.com.