Although decidedly a tenor, American actor and singer Brent Barrett (b. Quinter, KS, 28 February 1957) is known for playing slick and colorful characters in the tradition of baritones Alfred Drake and Howard Keel. His striking performances as the leading man in Grand Hotel, Chicago, Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun, and The Phantom of the Opera have taken him all over the English-speaking world, from New Zealand to the West End, and from Las Vegas to Broadway.
The youngest of three children, Barrett was born and grew up in a tiny town, population 900, in the flattest part of Kansas. “My family thought I was from outer space,” he has said, “dancing around and singing all the time.” He took part in school and community theatricals, and played Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun for the first time in high school. He began college as an operatic voice major at Ft. Hays State University, but soon transferred to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, where he majored in musical theatre. While still a student Barrett began his professional career with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, appearing in productions of Half a Sixpence, Camelot, Good News, The Red Mill, Cabaret, and Funny Girl. Even before finishing his last year of college, he was on Broadway, playing the part of Diesel in the 1980 revival of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. For the last three months of the show’s run, he replaced Ken Marshall in the lead part of Tony. – excerpt of profile on Masterworks Broadway
| Credit Type | Production | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Actor | Portrait of Jennie | 1982-83 Season |