This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Southbury's Jack Saleeby Records Irving Berlin Rarities

The WAMS graduate, currently studying theater at Hofstra University, shines on this delightful cast album.

The premiere recording of Chip Deffaa's new musical show Irving Berlin's America will be released on Jan. 20, 2014. This is the first show that tells the story of the life of the iconic songwriter and includes some very rare pieces, including one number never before recorded. The fantasy in two acts stars Michael Townsend Wright singing the role of  Irving Berlin and introduces the talented Jack Saleeby, a Waterbury Arts Magnet School alumnus and Southbury resident, as Berlin's young visitor named Jack.

Mr. Deffaa recently sent me an advance copy of the CD as well as an exclusive press release about young Mr. Saleeby, who I have had the pleasure of seeing in Footloose at the Thomaston Opera House. I very much enjoyed listening to the musical numbers performed by these two strong singers. Some of the highlights for me are "Sadie Salome (Go Home,)""I Love a Piano" (from Berlin's White Christmas) and "Simple Melody"/"Musical Demon."

Mr. Wright, a longtime devotee of Berlin's music, brings a real charm to the pieces written by the master he portrays, as well as some classics by George M. Cohan. As for Mr. Saleeby, his clear tenor voice is displayed throughout the tracks, whether he solos or sings in harmony with Mr. Wright. This extremely fine dancer can even be heard tap dancing his own choreography on several pieces. After listening to all the music, I would love to someday be able to attend a performance of this charming play.

Find out what's happening in Oxfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mr. Deffaa has a real talent for combining biographical information with wonderful musical selections, as he did so well in One Night with Fanny Brice. Irving Berlin's America is one of five plays that he has written about Berlin. Sincere congratulations to this  playwright/director on yet another hit and many thanks for this well-written feature. It is my pleasure to publish it here in its entirety.

At 19, Southbury’s Jack Saleeby has already accomplished two things most aspiring musical-comedy performers could only dream of.  He’s just  introduced on record a song by the legendary Irving Berlin.  And he’s originated a role in the first musical play telling Berlin’s life story.

Berlin was the most popular songwriter in history.  He had more hit songs, and made more money, than any of his competitors.  Fiercely protective of his privacy, he made sure that no one dramatized his life when he was alive.  But now playwright/director Chip Deffaa has written a play covering Berlin’s life, “Irving Berlin’s America.” 

Find out what's happening in Oxfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Deffaa selected Saleeby to co-star in the first public presentations, and to make the premiere recording.  It is being released January 20th on Original Cast Records (which has released 500 cast albums over the years); it will be available on Amazon.com, CDBaby,com, iTunes.com, in addition to  retail stores.  The score includes  famous Berlin songs that most everyone  knows, such as “I Love a Piano” and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.”  But it also includes some  rarities and rediscoveries like “Blow Your Horn” that have not been heard in a century, and have never before been recorded; Saleeby’s made the very  first recording of that song. And on the CD Saleeby gets to sing another Berlin rarity in its original, unpublished arrangement–which Berlin loved but feared was too difficult to so sing. To Saleeby, this is all an amazing opportunity.

Deffaa notes:  “This is  an important project, and I could have picked any number of Broadway pro’s I’ve worked with, but Jack Saleeby is as good as any of them. I actually wrote the show with him in mind, tailored it to his strengths as a singer, actor, and dancer. When we did the first presentation of the show in New York, Jack  did not know until afterwards that we had some real heavy-hitters coming to see the show–including   a member of the Berlin family.  a former head of the American Theater Wing, and some top producers, who offered us productions in New Jersey and in upstate New York. I didn’t want him to feel nervous over who might be in the house.  But he did a wonderful job.  And I’m glad we’ve now made this cast album, that shows what he’s capable of.  He put a tremendous amount of work into this. And I think even the late Mr. Berlin–who was so notoriously picky–would love  the results.”

Saleeby co-stars with film, television, and stage veteran Michael Townsend Wright, who portrays Berlin.  The two actors  first met on a project of Deffaa’s seven years ago.  “Their rapport on-stage and off-stage makes a huge difference, too.  There’s a chemistry there, because they’ve known each other so long, and their duets shine,” Deffaa says.  “Wright has been performing for 40 years.  But Jack–who’s one  of the best performers I’ve ever worked with–can hold his own in any company.  For example, some years back, he sang on the demo recordings for my musical ‘The Seven Little Foys’-- along with Santino Fontana, who’s now starring on Broadway as Prince Charming in ‘Cinderella’; Paul Iacono, star of the MTV series ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger,’ and of the movie ‘Fame’; Seth Sikes, who was in the stage production of ‘Fame’ in New York, and  Assistant Directed  the hit Broadway play ‘The Nance’; and David Herzog, who starred in the West End production of my show ‘George M. Cohan Tonight!’ And on this new CD, he’s working with some world-class musicians.”

On the cast album of “Irving Berlin’s America,” among the musicians backing Saleeby are Grammy-winner Vince Giordano, who leads the band on HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and Grammy-winner Andy Stein, who’s worked with Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, and Bob Dylan.

“Our producer, Ted Kurdyla, who’s worked with top stars including Bill Cosby, Bette Midler, Nathan Lane, agrees with me that Saleeby’s done first-rate work on this Irving Berlin project.  And no one could be better.  When Jack wasn’t available for one production we did in New Jersey, I got a seasoned pro with solid Hollywood and Broadway credits, who’d won Hollywood’s ‘Young Artist Award’ as the top young actor in America, to fill in for him.  And he was great–but not better than Jack.

“Jack’s also got terrific natural theater instincts.  If I’m directing him, he’ll often move exactly where I’d like him to, on his own, right before I say anything.  When he came to see my Off-Broadway show, ‘One Night with Fanny Brice,’ his comments afterwards–on the staging, lighting, costumes–were right on the money.  If we just talk over a meal, it’s like talking with a seasoned pro.  It’s rare to find someone so young who’s so theater-savvy.” 

Saleeby is currently studying theater at Hofstra University.  He most recent co-starred at Hofstra (along with Deanna Giulietti of Cheshire, Connecticut)  in the musical “The Drowsy Chaperone.”  But it wasn’t Saleeby’s first exposure to the work of Lisa Lambert, co-creator of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” Lambert actually played Saleeby’s mother in the first reading in New York of another of Deffaa’s shows, “The Family That Sings Together.”  Both are credited in the published script. Deffaa notes:  “I enjoy introducing Jack, little by little, to members of the professional theater community; he belongs there.”

Deffaa has spent seven years working on his Irving Berlin project.  “Irving Berlin’s America” is the first of a five-play cycle about Berlin that Deffaa is developing.  He is grateful, also, to Connecticut actors Ben Orlando of Waterbury, Bailey  Cummings of Wolcott,  Emily Bordonaro of Avon, and Michael Kasper of Hebron, for their invaluable  help in the development process.

 “Connecticut has extraordinary local theater opportunities for kids interested in performing.  The training kids get, doing shows at places like the  Thomaston Opera House, the Phoenix Stage,  and the Waterbury Arts Magnet School [where Mr. Saleeby earned a Halo Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Classic Musical as Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain,] working under the guidance of people like Foster Evans Reese, Sharon Wilcox, and Marianna Vagnnini,  is invaluable. These kids have learned how to respect the composers’ intentions, which is great–and rarer than it should be. Jack sings these vintage songs as they were meant to be; wisely, he doesn’t try to make them sound like contemporary pop songs. But I knew he could handle well–as both a singer and dancer–vintage material, from his past work in shows of mine, like ‘The Seven Little Foys,’ and in shows like ‘42nd Street and ‘Singin in the Rain’ that  he’s done at places like  the Palace Theater in Waterbury and at the Thomaston Opera House.” Jack is part of a small group of reliable, talented Connecticut actors Deffaa has been happy to work with again and again.  Deffaa stresses that reliability and character are at least as important to him a talent.

“I demand a lot from performers I work with; they don’t have to like me but they have to respect me, and that means NEVER being late for a rehearsal, performance, or recording session.  Jack invested more hours than anyone might imagine in this Irving Berlin project.  He has  never been late.  He’d take a train into New York City an hour early, walk around to clear his head and get ready.  That way, even if trains sometimes ran late–and that inevitably happens–he was still on time for our work together.  That kind of commitment, respect, dedication--which is rare--will carry him far in this business.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

Patch Mayors are trusted local users who help moderate the Patch platform by promoting good local stories and flagging unwanted content. To learn more, click here.