Biography
David Burns earned acclaim as one of Broadway’s premier supporting players, delivering memorable contributions to landmark productions without ever taking center stage. He appeared in the original 1957 mounting of The Music Man and joined the 1964 cast of Hello, Dolly!, sharing the stage with headliners Carol Channing and Eileen Brennan. Frequently mistaken for jazz trumpeter Dave Burns and unrelated to the film actor sharing his name, the stage performer devoted himself entirely to character parts. In most shows, his role received a single featured number; for Hello, Dolly! that spotlight fell on “It Takes a Woman.”
Burns also sang with the Kenton Alumni Band, an ensemble that revives both personnel and repertoire from Stan Kenton’s orchestras. The age of his particular brand of Broadway utility player has receded into theater lore, prompting one observer to lament that a portrait of Burns had been removed from the wall at Sardi’s in New York. Even so, reissued collections of classic Broadway material continue to sustain his name in households far from the missing picture’s current whereabouts.
Burns also sang with the Kenton Alumni Band, an ensemble that revives both personnel and repertoire from Stan Kenton’s orchestras. The age of his particular brand of Broadway utility player has receded into theater lore, prompting one observer to lament that a portrait of Burns had been removed from the wall at Sardi’s in New York. Even so, reissued collections of classic Broadway material continue to sustain his name in households far from the missing picture’s current whereabouts.
Albums
Singles
