BILLY BARTON &"LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO MABEL"! FROM MIKE NAUGHTON.

SOMEONE SAID BILLY WAS BUSY TRYING TO BECOME, "A LEGEND IN HIS OWN TIME",,,,WELL, HE MADE IT!!!!

This is a great Billy Barton story, & I am embarassed that I have been sitting on it for almost a month.

Hi Bill, Hi Pat,
I was going to send the attached to Bill, then Pat(Cashin--clown alley.net)) ran the Willie, West and McGinty post this morning. So, I am sending it to both of you.

It was 1989 and I was visiting backstage in White Plains' Tommy Hanneford date, Billy Barton and Bobby Davis are on the date. Billy and Bobby were doing their version of the washerwoman at the time and Billy was very proud of his selection of music for the gag, he wouldn't tell anyone where he got the music, he wanted NOBODY to steal it.

I'm in the mens dressing room and he is RAVING ON about how special this music is and how perfect it is for the gag and that nobody in circus will ever find it because they are "sheltered from the world".

He then looks at me and he goes PALE, then looks at Bobby and says, "OH MARY, this 's.o.b.' is theater-wise." He says to me, "Do you know where the music came from?" "Of course I do". "Oh shit",says Billy and then looks at me, "You mustn't tell anybody where that music came from." "Billy, don't worry, in the world of circus that is YOUR SIGNATURE MUSIC from here on out!" Now Billy is thrilled and reaches into a briefcase and says, "You'll appreciate this, I was cleaning out some stuff and I want you to have it!'

Attached, fine gentlemen, a handbill from the RKO PALACE THEATRE, yes the REAL Palace Theatre, with a line up of acts. Billy autographed it "YES, and I'm still here. Billy Barton 1989".

The music for the washerwomen was "Look what happened to Mabel" from the Jerry Herman show, "Mack and Mabel" and introduced on Broadway by Miss Bernadette Peters. If you have a media player I'll be very happy to send you the file.

Please note: the movie playing at the time was PREHISTORIC WOMEN, "Savage Passions in a World of Women" I asked Billy how many times he saw that movie....his remark, without missing a beat,
"Mary, I am prehistoric and I invented f*%#@&g savage passions!"

Mike Naughton

YANKEE DOODLE CIRCUS
PO Box 440
Slingerlands, New York 12159

Celebrating our 20th year

888 257 4800, office
518 928 5998


RKO PALACE THEATRE 1950