FRED PALMISANO COLLECTION

(Mss 326)

Inventory

Earl K. Long Library

University of New Orleans

July 2006

Contents

Summary

Biographical Note

Container List

Index Terms

Procedures for Requesting Special Collections Materials

Summary

Size: ca. 3 linear feet

Geographic

locations: New Orleans, La.

Inclusive dates: ca. 1970-1990

Summary: Musical compositions and plays by Fred Palmisano of New Orleans

Source: Transferred to the library from the UNO Department of Drama and Communications, April 2005

Access: Consult library personnel

.

Copyright: Physical rights are retained by the Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans.

Citation: Fred Palmisano Collection, Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans

Biographical Note

Fred (“Freddie”) J. Palmisano, a musician and composer, was born on October 3, 1945, in Gretna, Louisiana. He started playing piano at age six. While still in elementary school he played for school functions, and as a West Jefferson High School student became the first musical director of the NORD (New Orleans Recreation Department) Theater in Gallier Hall. After graduation Palmisano attended the University of Southeastern Louisiana as a piano major for two years before serving in the Navy, during which time he organized a little theater in Morocco and helped produce a production of Showboat in Scotland. After his discharge he studied drama for two years at the University of New Orleans, where a scholarship is named in his honor.

Palmisano wrote and composed his first successful show for children, Rapunzel, at the Gallery Circle Theater in 1969. Writing with Sharon O'Brien, and later with Ricky Graham, he then composed a series of musical entertainments directed by Luis Barroso and presented in Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré's Children's Corner. These were mini-musicals that appealed to adults as well as children. One of the shows, Rumpelstiltskin, was taped by WYES-TV as a local television special in 1978.

The children's shows gave way to adult musical revues such as Tunes, A Night on the Town and Nighttime Naughties, and a nightclub act with Becky Allen and Ricky Graham. Palmisano played in theaters, nightclubs, restaurants, and piano bars in New Orleans, including the Beverly Dinner Playhouse and Mr. B's Bistro, for more than twenty years.

Palmisano ended his career with two Le Petit Theatre productions for which he was arranger, composer, and keyboard accompanist: Silver Scream, a 30-song revue, and Cinderella Batistella, a New Orleans version of the fairy tale. His last public appearance was the December 17, 1989 performance of Cinderella Battistella at Le Petit Theatre.

Fred Palmisano died of AIDS in New Orleans at the age of 44 on February 26, 1990.

Source: “The Estate Project,” http://www.artistswithaids.org/artforms/music/catalogue/palmisano.html. Accessed July 18, 2006. Adapted from liner notes to Do You Know What It Means.

WORKS:

CHILDREN'S THEATRE

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
Adapted by Luis Q. Barroso and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1970-71, 1973-74, 1995-96)

Beauty and the Beast
Libretto & Lyrics by Ricky Graham
Music & Additional Lyrics by Fred J. Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1972-73, 1976-77)
Revival designed and directed by Edward R. Cox (1996)
Co-produced by Treehouse Players

The Brothers Grimm
Adapted by Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1982-83)

The Brothers Grimm Follies
Adapted by Luis Q. Barroso and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1971-72)

The Brothers Grimm Barnyard Revue
By Fred Palmisano, Ricky Graham, Lyla Hay Owen, and Luis Q. Barroso
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1977-78, 1998-99)

Chicken Little
Written by Ricky Graham
Music by Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1987-88)

Cinderella Battistella (1989)
A New Orleans version of the fairy tale
Written by David Cuthbert and Bob Bruce
Music by Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1989)

The Emperor's New Clothes
Written by Sharon O'Brien
Music by Fred Palmisano
Directed by Luis Q. Barroso
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1970-71, 1973-74, 1990-91)

Hansel and Gretel
Adapted by John Simons and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1972-73, 1991-92)

Lafitte!
Written by Sharon O'Brien
Music by Fred Palmisano
Directed by Luis Q. Barroso
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1975)
Revived at Le Petit Theatre (1992)

The Little Mermaid
Adapted by Lyla Hay Owen and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1970-71, 1992-93)

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Adapted by Sharon O'Brien and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1972-73, 1976-77, 1993-94)
Educational Arts Program (1999-2000)

Mother Goose
Adapted by Sharon O'Brien and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1974-75, 1984-85, 1989-90)

Peter Darling
By Ricky Graham and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1977-78)

The Pied Piper
Adapted by Sydney Wolf and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1978-79, 1992-93)

Pinocchio Commedia
Adapted by John Simons from the classic tale by Carlo Collodi A La Commedia Dell'Arte
Music & Additional Lyrics by Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre (1996-97)
Revival directed and designed by Edward R. Cox, Le Petit Theatre (2000)
Co-produced by Treehouse Players

Puss in Boots
Adapted by Sharon O'Brien and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1976-77, 1988-89, 1998-99)

Rapunzel
Music by Fred Palmisano
Book & Lyrics by Sharon O'Brien
Produced at the Gallery Circle Theater, New Orleans (1969)
Productions at Children's Corner, Le Petit Theater, New Orleans (1973-74, 1976, 1978, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1998-99)
Revival co-produced and directed by Edward R. Cox, Teddy's Corner at Le Petit Theatre (1999)
Co-produced by Treehouse Players

Robin Hood, Too!
By Sharon O'Brien and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1979-80)

Rumpelstiltskin
Written by Sharon O'Brien
Music by Fred Palmisano
Directed by Luis Q. Barroso
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1973-74, 1977-78, 1987-88, 1999-2000)
Taped as television special, WYES-TV (1978)

Sleeping Beauty
Lyrics by John Simons
Music by Fred Palmisano
Directed by Luis Q. Barroso
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1972-73, 1993-94, 1994-95)

The Wizard of Oz
Adapted by Ricky Graham and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1986-87)

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
Adapted by Fred Palmisano
Produced at Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans (1970-71)

MUSICAL REVUES

Nighttime Naughties (original title)
Written by Ricky Graham and Fred Palmisano
Originally produced at Beverly Dinner Theatre as A Night On The Town
Revived as A Night In Old New Orleans at True Brew Theater, New Orleans (2001)

Peter, Darling!
Written by Ricky Graham
Music by Fred Palmisano
Produced and directed by Luis Q. Barroso at Children's Corner

Play It Again
Written by Ricky Graham and Fred Palmisano
Produced at Beverly Dinner Theatre (1980s)

Silver Scream
Written by David Cuthbert and Bob Bruce
Music by Fred Palmisano
Produced at Rivertown Repertory Theater (1989)
Revived at Fairmont Hotel Blue Room

Tunes
Various lyricists
Music by Fred Palmisano
Produced by Luis Q. Barroso and Fred Palmisano at Children's Corner (1974)

Tunes II produced at Le Petit Theater Main Stage

PUPPET SHOWS

Doctor Doolittle
Written by Ricky Graham and Fred Palmisano
Produced and directed by Luis Q. Barroso
Produced in Atlanta (venue and year unknown)

The Reluctant Dragon
Written by Ricky Graham and Fred Palmisano
Produced and directed by Luis Q. Barroso
Produced in Atlanta (venue and year unknown)

CABARET SONGS
Numerous cabaret songs, including:
Too Hot To Trot
Laundry Man
Light Up The Sky

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
Unknown

WRITINGS:
Unknown

DISCOGRAPHY: (AS PERFORMER):

Do You Know What It Means, Freddie Palmisano, piano, CD privately produced by NO/AIDS Task Force (date unknown). Available from NO/AIDS Task Force (see Resources).
     Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
     Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries
     Foggy Day
     Paper Moon
     Don't Blame Me/Once In A While/Our Romance Bewitched
     New York, New York
     S'Wonderful/The Man I Love/Lady Be Good
     Too Late Now
     Music Box Dancer
     Nice Work If You Can Get It
     How Long Has This Been Going On
     This Can't Be Love
     Spring Is Here/It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Spring/Younger Than Springtime
     Am I Blue?
     Night And Day/Dancing In The Dark/You Do Something To Me
     You Stepped Out Of A Dream/Out Of Nowhere
     Hello Young Lovers
     It's De-lovely
     Someone To Watch Over Me/Somebody Loves Me
     You Can't Take That Away From Me

VIDEOGRAPHY:

Rumpelstiltskin by Sharon O'Brien and Fred Palmisano, directed by Luis Q. Barroso, produced at Children's Corner in Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, taped as television special, WYES-TV (New Orleans) (1978).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré of New Orleans, Louisiana: 1968-2001 by Rebecca Fichter Hale. Doctoral dissertation, New York University (2002). See Chapter 2: "Teddy's Playhouse for Children: Children's Theater at Le Petit."

"The Music Man" by Richard Dodds, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), September 26, 1992 (about second annual "Light Up The Sky" benefit performance of Palmisano's music).

"'Cinderella' Benefits UNO's Freddy Fund" by David Cuthbert, Times-Picayune, May 1, 2003 (biographical article).

Review of 1999 revival of Rapunzel, Dalt Wonk, Gambit Magazine, May 4, 1999.

Article by Mae Acks on Treehouse Players in Vive La Vie Magazine, May 2002 (some Palmisano background).

Container List

The collection has not been processed.

Index Terms

Musical theater—Louisiana—New Orleans

Musicals

Palmisano, Fred

Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré (New Orleans, La.)