Harbinger Records (a subsidiary of The Musical Theater Project) was founded in 1983 by Ken Bloom and Bill Rudman. We specialize in creating albums for the discerning collector focused on the Great American Songbook – in particular, songs of stage, screen and cabaret and our artists range from timeless classics like Peggy Lee, Mabel Mercer and Ethel Merman to first-rate contemporary vocalists including Barbara Fasano, Eric Comstock and Sylvia McNair. Historic and rare demos and recordings by songwriters Richard Rodgers, Hugh Martin, Sheldon Harnick, John Kander and Cy Coleman also grace our catalogue, along with many other releases that will surprise and delight you. We hope you will visit us often!
Co-founder KEN BLOOM is a leading authority on American popular song and musical theater. His books American Song, Hollywood Song and Tin Pan Alley are seminal works, documenting over 300,000 songs. His other books include Broadway: An Encyclopedic Guide to the History, People and Places of Times Square; Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time, written with Frank Vlastnik; Jerry Herman: The Lyrics – A Celebration; American Songbook: The Singers, The Songwriters and The Songs; Sitcoms: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time (also with Vlastnick); Remember That I Love You, written with Jerry and Elaine Orbach; and the recent Hollywood Musicals: The 101 Greatest Song and Dance Films of All Time. For television Ken was Executive Producer of Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook (PBS). His radio work includes Sirius Satellite Radio, NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition, the Canadian Broadcasting Company and 15 years as the co-host of Musical Theater Today on WKCR-FM. In theater, Ken spent 15 years at the legendary New Playwrights Theatre of Washington, D.C. His show A Brief History of White Music enjoyed a year-long run at the Village Gate, and the musical revue Metropolitan, written with Barry Kleinbort and Christophe Mirambeau, premiered in Paris and New York City. Ken is also a sought-after consultant, working for such organizations as Angel Records, Decca Broadway, Sony, Universal Music, the Museum of the City of New York, the Smithsonian Institution, the Goodspeed Opera House, Prentice Hall publishers and the National Endowment for the Arts (New Plays, Musical Theatre and Expansion Arts programs). For the Library of Congress’s Music Division, he has worked on the papers of Burton Lane, Jerry Herman, Howard Dietz, Florence Klotz, Peter Stone and other masters of the musical theater. He currently serves on the board of the Library of the Goodspeed Opera House. Contact at ken@kenbloom.com.
Co-founder BILL RUDMAN is an educator, broadcaster and record producer who is artistic director of The Musical Theater Project. TMTP’s mission is to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the American musical by creating programs that educate as well as entertain. Together Bill and Ken Bloom have produced a number of recordings for Harbinger; they launched the label in 1983 with the original-cast recording of Geraldine Fitzgerald in Streetsongs – an album that won raves in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Bill produces and hosts two national radio programs: On the Aisle for Sirius XM Satellite Radio and Footlight Parade: Sounds of the American Musical for 100 public stations across the country. He has also created and appeared in more than 40 multi-media concerts and cabarets exploring the song repertoire for stage and screen, devoting entire concerts to such leading songwriters as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Alan Jay Lerner, Harry Warren, James Van Heusen, Jule Styne, Jerry Herman and Cy Coleman (these and many other works are available for touring). With playwright Eric Coble he created the musical theater piece Let Freedom Ring! Recent speaking engagements on musical theater include the Stratford (Ont.) Shakespeare Festival and New York’s Paley Center for Media. For 20 years Bill consulted for nonprofit arts organization around the country. Contact at 216-860-1519 ext 706 or Bill@MusicalTheaterProject.org.
