The Little Black Book, a musical album
While we are all excited about the return of Broadway, there is still some time to go before we can be in a theatre waiting for the lights to dim.
To fill that void, you can enjoy a new musical album about the life and times of Heidi Fleiss. Yes, the Hollywood Madam that made headlines in the 90’s. The musical, Little Black Book, was conceived by Will Nunziata and Billy Reece with book, music and lyrics by Billy Reece. Created as a one-woman rock concert with 11 songs, the show centers on how she was represented in the tabloids, and where she is today. By the way, currently Ms. Fleiss lives in the Nevada desert with her pets: over 40 parrots.
When asked about this unusual subject for a musical, Billy said:
“Will (Nunziata) and I joined forces to collaborate on a new musical—he to direct and I to write—in early 2019, and as we discussed topics of interest, we found we were both deeply inspired by the life of Heidi Fleiss. As we started to collaborate on a piece built to recontextualize the story of Heidi Fleiss through music, we knew that we owed it to her to look at the pieces given to us on public record and use them to try to understand the personal side of Heidi—the side that the media had never shined any light on during her time in the spotlight.”
You can enjoy the story and the ride through the concept album now available on Broadway Records and other digital platforms, featuring performances by Broadway mainstays:
Alice Ripley, Orfeh, Mandy Gonzalez, Jessica Vosk, Brittney Johnson, Diana DeGarmo, Vonzell Solomon, Kuhoo Verma, Samantha Pauly, Natalie Weiss and Lillias White.
For more info go to: Little Black Book album
Valerie Smaldone is a 5-time Billboard Magazine Award winner and is well known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 on-air position in the New York radio market on 106.7 Life-FM, an iHeart station. She has hosted, produced, and created several award-winning nationally syndicated programs featuring in-depth interviews with stars like Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Elton John and Mariah Carey among others. Her radio talk show "Bagels and Broadway" highlighted theatre and food personalities. She is an accomplished interviewer and voice artist heard on commercials, narrations, promos and audiobooks, as well as a sought after live announcer.
Most recently, Valerie produced and directed a film, The Thursday Night Club, featuring pop diva Gloria Gaynor in her movie acting debut. She is one of the creators and producers of a docu-series, Divine Renovation, starring Erik Estrada, on streaming networks soon.
