Research Catalog

Title

[Interview with Mary Ellin Barrett : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Publication

New York, 1999.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Barrett, Mary Ellin
• Kantor, Michael, 1961-
• Squires, Buddy
• Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
• Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Description

2 videocassettes (VHS) (64 min.) : sd., col. SP; 1/2 in.

Summary

Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. Author Mary Ellin Barrett discusses her father, composer and lyricist Irving Berlin. Barrett speaks about Berlin's upbringing on the Lower East Side of Manhattan as the poor son of a synagogue cantor, and how his environment shaped his future as a songwriter; leaving home at age 12 following the death of his father to work at various jobs including street singer; his job as a singing waiter, where he began writing parody lyrics, and then his first song Marie from sunny Italy; his writing of the song Durando; changing his name from Israel Isidore Baline; learning to play the piano, "saloon style" in the key of F sharp, and his use of a special piano which automatically translated his playing to other keys as needed.

Alternative Title

• Broadway, the American musical
• Broadway: the American musical : Furia/Barrett
• Broadway: the American musical : Barrett

Subjects

• Musical theater > Production and direction
• Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989 > Watch your step
• Musicals
• Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989 > This is the Army
• Unedited footage
• Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989 > As thousands cheer
• Musical theater > New York (State) > New York
• Documentaries and factual works
• Broadway (New York, N.Y.)
• Composers > United States
• Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989 > Yip, yip, Yaphank
• Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989 > Annie get your gun
• Barrett, Mary Ellin > Interviews
• Theater > New York (State) > New York

Genre/Form

• Documentaries and factual works.
• Musicals.
• Unedited footage.

Note

• This interview is one of a group of interviews with 90 individuals used in making the documentary Broadway, the American musical. The completed production is available on NCOX 2058.
• Credits for completed production from pbs.org: A film by Michael Kantor ; produced by Jeff Dupre, Michael Kantor and Sally Rosenthal ; written by Marc Fields, Michael Kantor, Laurence Maslon, and JoAnne Young ; directed by Michael Kantor.
• Time code on frame.
• Contains various takes, at occasional brief intervals, audio continues without sound.

Credits (note)

• Cameraman: Buddy Squires.

Performer (note)

• Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Mary Ellin Barrett.

Event (note)

• Videotaped probably in New York, N.Y. on March 12, 1999.

Biography (note)

• Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Call Number

NCOX 2113

OCLC

162544305

Title

[Interview with Mary Ellin Barrett : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Imprint

New York, 1999.

Credits

Cameraman: Buddy Squires.

Performer

Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Mary Ellin Barrett.

Event

Videotaped probably in New York, N.Y. on March 12, 1999.

Biography

Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Local Note

Gift of Broadway Film Project, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET, 2005.

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Added Author

Barrett, Mary Ellin, interviewee.

Kantor, Michael, 1961- interviewer.

Kantor, Michael, 1961- director.

Squires, Buddy, cameraman.

Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.

Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Research Call Number

NCOX 2113