Career
As a TV composer, he has served as Associate Composer of Scholastic's hit series The Magic School Bus (starring Lily Tomlin), still airing worldwide; Musical Supervisor of the international hit show Olivia, orchestrator and conductor of the Emmy-Award-winning "Wonder Pets;" and Associate Composer of the ACE-Award-winning series "Eureeka's Castle on Nickelodeon. He also contributed music to Michael Moore's series ''The Awful Truth'.
In 2009 Fred Barton appeared as himself, and musical-directed "Cathouse: The Musical," produced and broadcast by HBO.
Following the success of "Forbidden Broadway," Barton opened his second contribution to the cabaret field in 1985: "Miss Gulch Returns!," a one-man musical theatre piece that has been produced in theatres and cabarets across the United States and features the song "Pour Me a Man," which remains a popular cabaret song since its debut.
His third off-Broadway show, for which he served as musical director and arranger, "Whoop-Dee-Doo!," ran 271 performances in New York, won two Drama Desk Awards, including Best Musical Revue, was recorded by RCA Records, and was subsequently produced in London (with Barton's song "I'm Of Two Minds" added.) A new edition of "Whoop-Dee-Doo" was subsequently produced under the title "When Pigs Fly."
Fred Barton has arranged, orchestrated and appeared on numerous CDs with performers including Karen Akers, Judy Kaye, Karen Murphy, and Neva Small. In 1998 he arranged and conducted the CD "A Wrinkle In Swingtime," with singer Elena Bennett and his 27-piece orchestra. He is currently appearing once a month at New York's Metropolitan Room with his 9-piece Broadway Band, in a show called "Fred Barton Presents – And Thinks You're Gonna Love It!" Each performance features classic Broadway songs, and his guest singers have included Pamela Myers, Judy Kaye, Karen Murphy, Damon Kirsche, Elena Bennett, Karen Wilder, Jesse Luttrell, Kevin Earley, Diane Findlay, and Chuck Cooper.
Barton wrote book, music and lyrics for the off-Broadway musical "The Two Svengalis," starring Toni DiBuono, and recently has co-written and arranged the Broadway-bound musical "One For My Baby," featuring the music of Harold Arlen.
Since 2004 Fred Barton has been Senior Orchestrator for the Indianapolis Pops Orchestra, and his orchestrations for their productions are played almost weekly by symphonies throughout the USA and Canada. The Boston Pops Orchestra premiered two of Fred's compositions, "Cornball Concerto" and "Nocturne In Mancini," in 2005. Pop singer Michael Cavanaugh tours the country with Fred's symphonic arrangements of Billy Joel and Elton John songs. Barton made his Carnegie Hall debut in May, 2011 with orchestrations for the New York Pops's annual Gala starring Angela Lansbury and Tyne Daly, and his orchestrations of Irving Berlin songs were presented in concert by the New York Pops in October, 2011.
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