Kathy Barr (50s US vocalist)

Kathy Barr (born Marilyn Sultana Aboulafia; June 4, 1929 – June 21, 2008) was an American vocalist who performed and recorded popular, jazz, musical theater, and operettas. Her stage name was drawn from the first and married surname of her maternal grandmother, Katie Barr. Barr was born on June 4, 1929, in the Bronx, New York, to Ovadia "Ovid" Aboulafia (1900–1978), who, himself, was born in Çeşme, Turkey, and Eabeta "Tessie" Barr (1908–1978), a native New Yorker. Barr flourished from the 1950s through the mid-1960s in musical theater, nightclubs, television, and radio. She was acclaimed for her coloratura soprano range, three and one-half octaves by at least one account (see Annotations below, "Vocal Range Context"), and her ability to sing pop, jazz, and classical. Upon marrying for the second time, in 1965, Barr retired from as a recording artist, although she continued to perform club dates (one-nighters) and regional musical theater productions until around 1968. These later roles included Billy Dawn (Judy Holliday's role) in Born Yesterday (November 25, 1967–January 7, 1968) at the Hamlet Street Theater (now named the Rauh Theater) in Pittsburgh; and a hymn singer seeking to save men's souls in Guys and Dolls, starring Tony Martin, at the Meadowbrook Theater Restaurant in Cedar Grove, New Jersey (May 29, 1968–June 30, 1968). Her first marriage was to Milton ("Milt" or "Milty") Leon Schwartz (1901–1992), on June 20, 1954, in The Bronx. Schwartz, who was 27 years older, had been a saxophonist with the Al Trace Orchestra; he was co-owner with Ralph Mitchell (né Ralph Michelev; 1916–2004) of the acclaimed Chicago jazz club the Preview Lounge, at 7 West Randolph Street, that ran from about 1945 until the summer of 1960. At the same address, Schwartz and Mitchell also owned the Modern Jazz Room (formerly the Encore Room and formerly Mambo City), upstairs. Her and Schwartz' marriage was annulled in New York Supreme Court on May 28, 1956, refereed by Ed Koch (who years later become Mayor of New York City). In 1958, news media reported that Aboulafia was officially changing her name to Kathy Barr. In 1965, in Manhattan, under her birth name, "Marilyn Aboulafia," she married Irwin M. Glickman (1930–2011). In 1966, she and Glickman had a daughter — Sylvia Beth Glickman. In 1968, reflecting on her disappointment about her first marriage, Barr confided that she was happy in her second marriage and declared, "This time, I wanted to work at it." Barr died in Hollywood, Florida, on June 21, 2008. Her daughter Sylvia married Jeffrey Zina Johnston in 2005. Sylvia and Jeff had two sons, both born in Hollywood, Florida: John Michael Thunder Johnston, born in 2005, and Lightning James Marshall Hawk Johnston, born in 2008.[citation needed] ‡ Audio courtesy of YouTube "Kathy Barr." Magic in Music. Radio transcription disc. Program 42. Series: END-570. Prog. Time 25:00. Armed Forces Radio & Television Service (AFRTS). → via Rand's Esoteric OTR, a blog of Randy Riddle (profile at Duke University) at randsesotericotr.podbean.com. Note: The program, hosted by Lt. Bob Osterberg, USMC (né Robert Pierce Osterberg; 1929–2016), interviewed Kathy Barr and featured tracks from her new album, Follow Me. The show title, Magic in Music, is titled Magic of Music on the AFRTS disk label. Marinka, as Marinka (leading soprano role) Winter Garden Theatre, New York Australia touring production Tivoli circuit, Melbourne: Opened May 28, 1948, at the Tivoli Theater, Melbourne At the age of 19, Barr was elevated to the role of Marinka after being the understudy for Kathryn Grayson Wizard of Oz, as Dorothy Gale (leading soprano role) Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, August 1 thru August 6, 1949 Vocal range context: Most people can hit three to four octaves. Mariah Carey has a range of five and one-half octaves, as exhibited in her 1994 hit, "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Prince, some speculate, may have sung notes across six octaves. The "Star Spangled Banner," considered difficult to sing, covers an octave and a half.(Washington Post, December 1, 2022) (Håkansson, Mikkelsen, Jakobsen, Elemans, November 29, 2022) Peter Whorf (né Peter Lee Whorf; 1931–1995) Richard Whorf was one of three sons of the actor Richard Whorf. Naturalization, "Katie Barr," October 29, 1924. Leader-Herald, December 17, 1953, p. 12. Journal and Courier, March 8, 1959, p. 20. Buffalo Evening News, November 25, 1957, p. 39. Morning Call, June 17, 1968, p. 13. Newsday, December 16, 1953, p. S50. Down Beat, January 1, 1940, p. 17. Chicago Daily Tribune, May 25, 1956, p. 2. Daily News, June 6, 1956, p. 4. Cedar Rapids Gazette April 22, 1958, p. 24. New York, Marriage Licenses, 1965. Cash Box, November 9, 1957, p. 32. AFRTS (audio), May 2, 1958 (at 11:03). Hi-Fi, September 1958, pp. 98–99. Claghorn, 1973, p. 142. "Welcome Mat," 1957, p. 1228. "A Slip of the Lip," 1957, p. 1444. Old Radio Times, September-October, 2009, p. 23. Desert Sun, October 25, 1959, p. 26. Times-News, October 25, 1959, p. 26. Argus, May 29, 1948, p. 3. Argus, April 5, 1948, p. 3. Argus (The) (April 5, 1948). "Tivoli Stage Shows to be Filmed Here". Argus. No. 31697. Melbourne. p. 3 (cols. 1–3; bottom) – via Trove. Argus (The) (May 29, 1948). "Operetta Opens at Tivoli". Argus. No. 31744. Melbourne. p. 5 (col. 1) – via Trove. Buffalo Evening News; Lawson, Nell (aka Mrs. Fred Kosslow; né Helen Lawson; 1908–1969) (November 25, 1957). "Disc Date" (column) → "Kathy Barr" (PDF). Vol. 155, no. 39. p. 37 (Section 3; col. 2) – via Fultonhistory.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) "Kathy Barr, stunning red-haired singer of American birth and Turkish ancestry, has a three and one-half octave voice and the things she does with it in her RCA-Victor debut long-play titled Follow Me are a revelation. She is a subtle interpreter of 'Tip-Toe Through the Tulips,' 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' (she borrows nothing from Mary Martin), 'Bye, Bye Blackbird,' and others with music arranged and conducted by Jerry Fielding." Cash Box (The) (November 9, 1957). "November Album Releases" → "RCA Victor" → "Follow Me"". Cashbox. Vol. 19, no. 8. Cash Box Pub. Co. p. 32 – via Internet Archive (Council on Library and Information Resources; Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; College of William and Mary Libraries). Cedar Rapids Gazette (The) (April 22, 1958). "Pretty Singer to Change Her Name". Vol. 76, no. 103. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com. Chicago Daily Tribune; Lyons, Herb (May 25, 1956). "Tower Ticker" (column) "Milt Schwartz". Vol. 115, no. 125. p. 2 (Part 2; digital image 18) – via Newspapers.com. "Still good friends." Chicago Tribune Magazine (Section 9); Leonard, Will (né William Daniel Leonard; 1912–1977) (December 15, 1974). "The Jazz and the Glory". pp. 43 (digital image 220), 44, 47, 49–50 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Claghorn, Charles Eugene (1911–2005) (1973). Biographical Dictionary of American Music. → "Engel, A. Lehman". West Nyack, New York: Parker Publishing Company, Inc. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-13-076331-0 – via Internet Archive (Brown University Library).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) LCCN 73-5534; ISBN 0-1307-6331-4; OCLC 609781 (all editions). Down Beat (January 1, 1940). "Orchestra Personnels" → "Al Trace". DownBeat. Vol. 7, no. 1. Maher Publications Division. p. 17 – via Internet Archive (Kahle/Austin Foundation). Håkansson, Jonas; Mikkelsen, Cathrine; Jakobsen, Lasse; Elemans, Coen P.H., PhD (November 29, 2022). "Bats Expand Their Vocal Range by Recruiting Different Laryngeal Structures for Echolocation and Social Communication". PLOS Biology. 20 (11) e3001881. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001881. PMC 9707786. PMID 36445872.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) LCCN 2003-212293 (publication); ISSN 1544-9173 (print), ISSN 1545-7885 (online);