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DIANNE
FRASER had wanted
to be a Broadway star since she was five years old. Although life would
eventually take her down a different path, she never lost her love of music
and her desire to perform. Now, in the middle of a successful career as a
literary manager for film and television writers, she is finally releasing
her debut album, YOU AND I, an homage to the words and music
of Leslie Bricusse.
A Los
Angeles native, Fraser is a storyteller who uses her warm, expressive voice
to capture the beating heart of a lyric. She joined forces on YOU AND
I with some impressive local talent. Pianist and arranger TODD
SCHROEDER has collaborated with many distinguished performers, such as
Leslie Odom Jr., Billy Porter, Tom Jones, and Postmodern Jukebox. He also
enjoyed a 25-year association with the late Angela Lansbury and was a music
and vocal director for several live shows, including Disney's Aladdin, A
Musical Spectacular and Wicked at Universal Studios Japan.
Bassist ADAM COHEN has worked with luminaries including Ray Charles,
The New York Voices, David Benoit, Ernie Watts, Phil Upchurch, and Mark
Isham. Also joining Fraser is her sister, drummer DENISE FRASER, who
plays regularly with the Restless Blues Band and has performed in Broadway
and Off-Broadway shows.
Fraser
has always loved the songs of Leslie Bricusse. A film and theater composer
who wrote many iconic tunes like “What Kind of Fool Am I?” and “Pure
Imagination,” he also received two Academy Awards®, a Grammy Award® and
four Tony Award® nominations. Fraser decided to record an album while
working with Schroeder on developing a live show featuring Bricusse’s
songs.
Fraser’s
life took many twists and turns before she finally returned to music, her
first true love. She took singing lessons when she was a little girl
because she loved musical theater. In college, she entered UCLA as a music
major, but eventually switched her major to French after spending a year in
Bordeaux.
After
graduating, Fraser moved to New York City with hopes of breaking into the
theater scene. She performed in summer stock and Off Broadway shows, but
found it difficult to land a big role, so she decided to create her own
opportunities. She and a couple of friends revived The Baker’s Wife,
a show by Stephen Schwartz, which never made it to Broadway. Working
directly with Schwartz, Fraser and friends produced the show at the Lobero
Theatre in Santa Barbara. She later reunited with Schwartz as a producer on
the revised version of the musical Working, which ran at Chicago’s
Broadway Playhouse.
Fraser
soon moved back to Los Angeles and began performing in musical theater. She
has appeared in regional theatre productions of The Boys From Syracuse,
which received a Bay Area Theatre Award nomination, The Music Man, Tintypes,
She Loves Me, Hello, Dolly!, Once Upon A Mattress, Oklahoma!,
The Pirates Of Penzance, The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore.
She created a long-running variety show, An Evening of Classic Broadway,
which was nominated for a Los Angeles Regional Broadway World Award for
Special Theatre Event. She also created and performed the critically
acclaimed show, Part Time Diva, on stages in Los Angeles, Palm
Springs, and San Francisco.
To help
pay the bills, Fraser became an assistant at a television production
company. A gregarious person at ease connecting with people, her husband
suggested that she would make a great agent. She soon began assisting a
friend at a talent agency, and a new career path opened for her.
Representing televisions writers, her work caught the attention of ICM, one
of the biggest talent agencies in the world. ICM invited her to join the
company as Vice President of Series Packaging and TV Literary.
After
several years of working for ICM, she accepted a position as a partner in
the management/production company Industry Entertainment Partners. Her new
position allowed her to spend time on her own creative endeavors, one of
which was creating her Part Time Diva show and a new show which
became the inspiration for her debut album, YOU AND I.
Fraser
sets the tone for the album with a medley of two songs from the movie Dr.
Dolittle, a heartfelt rendition of “At the Crossroads” and a jaunty
take on “After Today.” She covers “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka
& The Chocolate Factory and “Feeling Good” from the musical The
Roar of The Greasepaint -- The Smell of The Crowd. She sings a mashup
of “Crazy World” and “If I Ruled the World.” The music for “Crazy World”
was written by Henry Mancini for the film Victor/Victoria. Bricusse
wrote “If I Ruled the World” with Cyril Ornadel for a lesser-known musical
called Pickwick. The song was a hit for Tony Bennett, and was also
recorded by The Supremes, Tom Jones, and Stevie Wonder.
As a
Francophile, Fraser could not resist putting a French spin on “Le Jazz
Hot,” another song from the movie Victor/Victoria. “Happiness” is
from the movie musical Scrooge. She sings another mashup of two
tunes, the iconic “Look at that Face,” with music and lyrics by
Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, and “Something in Your
Smile,” words and music by Bricusse for the film Dr. Dolittle, featuring
a duet with singer DAMON KIRSCHE, a stage and screen actor known as
a leading interpreter of traditional popular songs.
The song
“Once in a Lifetime,” which has become a jazz/pop standard, is from the
musical Stop the World - I Want to Get Off, the first major success
for Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Fraser pairs it with “This Is the Moment”
from the musical Jekyll & Hyde, with music by Frank Wildhorn and
lyrics by Bricusse. She has loved the song “You and I” since the first time
she heard Petula Clark sing it in the movie Goodbye, Mr. Chips. The
song was the initial inspiration for the album. Fraser closes with “Two for the Road” by Mancini and
Bricusse, an intimate
song she dedicates to her husband.
The
songs of Leslie Bricusse, a celebrated composer and lyricist for film and theater,
have been performed by countless vocalists. Now, Dianne Fraser adds hSter
own sensitive interpretations and crystalline voice to his poignant and
engaging music.
# # #
YOU
AND I will be
released on December 1, 2023 on Blujazz and will be available on all
platforms.
Online:
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