Barbara Cook

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Barbara Cook
Cook at the 2009 premiere of the Metropolitan Opera
Born(1927-10-25)October 25, 1927
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
DiedAugust 8, 2017(2017-08-08) (aged 89)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1950–2017
Spouse
David LeGrant
(m. 1952; div. 1965)
Children1
Musical career
GenresMusical theatre,
DRG (1993–2017)
WebsiteOfficial website

Barbara Cook (October 25, 1927 – August 8, 2017) was an American actress and singer who first came to prominence in the 1950s as the lead in the original

Tony Award
for the last. She continued performing mostly in theatre until the mid-1970s, when she began a second career as a cabaret and concert singer. She also made numerous recordings.

During her years as Broadway’s leading

ingénue, Cook was lauded for her excellent lyric soprano voice. She was particularly admired for her vocal agility, wide range, warm sound, and emotive interpretations. As she aged her voice took on a darker quality, even in her head voice, that was less prominent in her youth.[1] At the time of her death, Cook was widely recognized as one of the "premier interpreters" of musical theatre songs and standards, in particular the songs of composer Stephen Sondheim. Her subtle and sensitive interpretations of American popular song continued to earn high praise even into her eighties.[2] She was named an honoree at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors
.

Early life

Cook was born in Atlanta, the daughter of Nell (née Harwell) and Charles Bunyan Cook. Her father was a traveling hat salesman and her mother was an operator for Southern Bell.[3] Her parents divorced when she was a child and, after her only sister died of whooping cough, Barbara lived alone with her mother. She later described their relationship as "so close, too close. I slept with my mother until I came to New York. Slept in the same bed with her. That's just, it's wrong. But to me, it was the norm....As far as she was concerned, we were one person."[2] Though Barbara began singing at an early age, at the Elks Club and to her father over the phone, she spent three years after graduating from high school working as a typist.[2]

Career

Early career

Cook in December 2008

In 1947 Cook was engaged as a featured performer for Atlanta's Southeastern Fair at the Lakewood Fairgrounds.[4] While visiting Manhattan in 1948 with her mother, she decided to stay and try to find work as an actress.[5] In 1949 she performed in a touring vaudeville act entitled "A Toast To Rodgers and Hammerstein" which was organized by pianist Erwin Strauss, the son of the composer Oscar Straus. Beginning in Boston, the act performed mainly at hotels and venues owned by Ernie Byfield in cities like New York and Chicago.[6] She began to sing at other clubs and resorts, eventually procuring an engagement at the Blue Angel club in Manhattan in 1950.[7]

Cook made her Broadway debut as Sandy in the short-lived 1951 musical

Oklahoma!,[8]
and stayed with the production when it went on its national tour the following year.

Also in 1952, Cook made her first television appearance on the show Armstrong Circle Theatre which presented her in an original play entitled Mr. Bemiss Takes a Trip.[9] In 1954, Cook appeared in the short-lived soap opera Golden Windows and starred as Jane Piper in a television version of Victor Herbert's operetta Babes in Toyland. That summer, she returned to City Center to portray Carrie Pipperidge in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, which Cook described as "the first time the critics really paid attention to me. It was like I was the new young thing. It was very important for me."[10]

In 1955, she received major critical praise for playing the supporting role of Hilda Miller in Plain and Fancy. Walter Kerr wrote of her performance: "Barbara Cook, right off a blue and white Dutch plate, is delicious all the time, but especially when she perches on a trunk, savors her first worthwhile kiss, and melts into the melody of 'This Is All Very New to Me'."[11] Cook's critical reputation and coloratura soprano range won her the role of Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 operetta Candide, in which she premiered the vocally demanding, show-stopping comic aria "Glitter and Be Gay".[1]

Although Candide was not a commercial success, Cook's portrayal of Cunegonde established her as one of Broadway's leading

Tony Award for creating the role of Marian the Librarian in Meredith Willson's 1957 hit The Music Man.[12] Cook continued to appear regularly on television in the late 1950s, starring in a 1956 Producers' Showcase production of Bloomer Girl, a 1957 live broadcast of The Yeomen of the Guard, and a 1958 musical adaptation of Hansel and Gretel.[13][14][15] She also made appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents,[16] The Ed Sullivan Show,[17] The Dinah Shore Chevy Show,[18] and The Play of the Week.[19]

Cook starred in an acclaimed 1960 City Center revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I and in the short-lived 1961 musical The Gay Life. In 1963, she created the role of Amalia Balash in the classic Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick musical She Loves Me.[20] Her performance prompted Norman Nadel of the World-Telegram & Sun to write, "Her clear soprano is not only one of the finest vocal instruments in the contemporary musical theatre, but it conveys all the vitality, brightness and strength of her feminine young personality, which is plenty."[20] A number from She Loves Me, "Vanilla Ice Cream", became one of Cook's signature songs.[21]

In the mid-1960s, Cook began working less frequently. She appeared in the 1964 flop Something More!, which ran for only 15 performances on Broadway, and tried her hand at non-musical roles, replacing Sandy Dennis in the play Any Wednesday in 1965[8] and originating the role of Patsy Newquist in Jules Feiffer's 1967 play Little Murders.[22][23] She starred in national tours of The Unsinkable Molly Brown in 1964 and Funny Girl in 1967.[3] Her last original "book" musical role on Broadway came in 1971 when she played Dolly Talbo in The Grass Harp.[8][24] In 1972, Cook returned to the dramatic stage in the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center's production of Maxim Gorky's Enemies.[25]

1970s to 2004

As she began struggling with depression, obesity, and alcoholism in the Seventies (she would quit drinking in 1977), Cook had trouble getting stage work.

St. Regis Hotel--but nationally and internationally. Cook and Harper returned to Carnegie Hall in September 1980, to perform a series of songs arranged by Harper. The New York Times' reviewer, John S. Wilson, wrote: "Since her first Carnegie Hall appearance, she has grown from a delightful singer to become a delightful entertainer who also happens to be a remarkable singer."[27] The performance was captured on the CD It's Better With a Band.[28]

In 1986, Cook was nominated for an

From the mid-1970s on, Cook returned only sporadically to acting, mostly in occasional studio cast and live concert versions of stage musicals. In September 1985 she appeared with the

In November 1997, Cook celebrated her 70th birthday by giving a concert at

Albert Hall in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, joined by performers including Elaine Stritch and Maria Friedman. The Times reviewer noted: "The world is usually divided into actresses who try to sing and singers who try to act. Cook is one of the few performers who manage to combine the best of both traditions, as she reminded us in 'It Might as Well be Spring' – and, at the close, in her encore of Bock and Harnick's 'Ice Cream'."[42]

In 2000, she was one of the only American performers chosen to perform at the

Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival in the Sydney Opera House.[43] Also in 2000, she was joined by Lillias White, Malcolm Gets, and Debbie Gravitte on the studio cast recording of Jimmy McHugh's Lucky in the Rain.[44]

In February 2001, Cook returned to

Kennedy Center as part of the Sondheim Celebration.[46]

In 2004 she performed two limited engagement concert series at the Vivian Beaumont and Mitzi Newhouse theaters at Lincoln Center, "Barbara Cook's Broadway!", with Harper as her musical director/arranger.[47][48] She received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award ("for her contribution to the musical theater")[49] and a nomination for the Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Solo Performance.[50] A recording of the concert was made.[51]

Later years

After Wally Harper's death in October 2004, Cook made adjustments to new accompanists in solo shows like Tribute (a reference to Harper) and No One Is Alone that continued to receive acclaim;

Kennedy Center in Washington DC.[53]

Cook was the featured artist at the Arts! by George gala on September 29, 2007 at the Fairfax campus of

Coliseum Theatre in London's West End.[55]

As she entered her ninth decade, Cook performed in two sold-out concerts with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center in 2007. The New York Times Stephen Holden wrote that Cook is "a performer spreading the gospel of simplicity, self-reliance and truth" who is "never glib" and summoning adjectives such as "astonishing" and "transcendent", concluding that she sings with "a tenderness and honesty that could break your heart and mend it all at once."[56]

In June 2008, Cook appeared in Strictly Gershwin at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, with the full company of English National Ballet.[57] An advertised appearance with the Ulster Orchestra as the Closing Concert of the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on October 31, 2008 was cancelled due to scheduling difficulties.[58] Her other 2008 appearances included concerts in Chicago and San Francisco.[59]

In 2009, she performed with the Princeton Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and gave concerts in Boca Raton, Florida, and at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton.[60] She performed in a cabaret show at Feinsteins at the Regency (New York City) which opened in April 2009.[61]

Cook returned to

Vanessa L. Williams, Norm Lewis and Tom Wopat.[62] Cook was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the category of Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical.[63] On April 12, 2011, Cook appeared with James Taylor, Bette Midler and Sting, at Carnegie Hall for a gala called "Celebrating 120 Years of Carnegie Hall".[64]

Cook was named an honoree at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors, held on December 4, 2011 (the ceremony was broadcast on CBS on December 27, 2011). Performers paying tribute to Cook on that occasion included Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Kelli O'Hara, Rebecca Luker, Sutton Foster, Laura Osnes, Anna Christy, and Audra McDonald.[65]

In 2016, Cook published her autobiography Then & Now: A Memoir with collaborator Tom Santopietro.[66] She announced her retirement in May 2017.[67]

Personal life

Cook married acting teacher David LeGrant (December 8, 1923 – July 28, 2011) on March 9, 1952, after meeting at a resort on the Borscht Belt. They performed together in a national stage tour of Oklahoma in 1953. The couple had one child, Adam, born in 1959. They divorced in 1965.

Death

Cook died from respiratory failure at her home in Manhattan on August 8, 2017, at age 89.[34] The marquee lights of the Broadway theaters were dimmed for one minute in tribute to Cook on August 9.[68] Cook's friend and fellow musical theater actress, Elaine Paige paid tribute to Cook during her BBC Radio 2 show Elaine Paige on Sunday on August 13.[69]

Discography

Cook in April 2011

Solo [70]

Cast and studio cast recordings

Compilations

  • The Broadway Years: Till There Was You (1995)
  • Legends of Broadway—Barbara Cook (2006)
  • The Essential Barbara Cook Collection (2009)

Stage work

Source:[74]

Television

Bibliography

  • Cook, Barbara (2016). Then & Now: A Memoir. Harper Collins. .
  • Winer, Deborah Grace (1995). The Night and the Music: Rosemary Clooney, Barbara Cook, and Julie Wilson Inside the World of Cabaret. Simon & Schuster. .

References

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  2. ^ a b c d e Witchel, Alex (April 17, 2005). "Alone, Again". The New York Times. Archived from the original (reprint) on October 29, 2007. Retrieved May 18, 2007.
  3. ^ a b "Barbara Cook Biography" filmreference.com, accessed September 6, 2011
  4. ^ "General Outdoor: ATLANTA BEHIND 1946 PEAK". Billboard. Vol. 59, no. 39. October 4, 1947. p. 49.
  5. ^ a b Wallace, Mike (June 13, 2004). "Barbara Cook: Toast of Broadway". CBS News. Retrieved May 18, 2007.
  6. ^ "Vaudeville: Erwin Straus Toast To R&H in Boston Room". Variety. Vol. 176, no. 8. November 2, 1949. p. 51.
  7. ^ Abel (October 25, 1950). "Vaudeville: Night Club Reviews - Blue Angel, N. Y.". Variety. 180 (7): 50.
  8. ^ a b c d Wilmeth, Don B. "Barbara Cook" The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, p. 182
  9. ^ "The Armstrong Circle Theatre. 'Mr. Bemiss Takes a Trip' (Season 3, Episode 24)" tv.com, accessed September 9, 2011
  10. ^ Weinstock, Matt. "Barbara Cook Talks about Working with Rodgers & Hammerstein," New York City Center blog, accessed August 21, 2017.
  11. , p. 131
  12. ^ Atkinson, Brooks."Theater Review. 'The Music Man'" The New York Times, December 20, 1957
  13. ^ Gould, Jack. "TV:New 'Bloomer Girl'", The New York Times, May 29, 1956, p. 55
  14. ^ Perwin, Sam. "Sullivan: The Yeomen of the Guard". Metropolitan Opera Guild. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  15. ^ Grevatt, Ren (May 5, 1958). "'Hansel and Gretel' Happy Offering". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
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  21. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (August 8, 2017). "Watch 7 of Barbara Cook's Most Memorable Performances". Playbill. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  22. ^ "'Little Murders', Broadway 1967" Internet Broadway Database, accessed September 8, 2011
  23. ^ Kerr, Walter."Theater: Feiffer's 'Little Murders'; Comedy by Cartoonist Opens at Broadhurst" The New York Times (requires registration), April 26, 1967p.38
  24. ^ Barnes, Clive."Theater: Capote's 'The Grass Harp' Makes Its Debut as Musical; Kenward Elmslie Does Book and Lyrics Characters Motivated by a Gypsy Cure" The New York Times (requires registration), November 3, 1971, p. 41
  25. ^ Barnes, Clive."The Theater: Rising to the Occasion of 'Enemies'; Lincoln Center Troupe Excels in Gorky Work Revolution Is Backdrop at Vivian Beaumont" The New York Times (requires registration), November 10, 1972, p. 47
  26. ^ Jones, Kenneth."Wally Harper, Arranger, Musical Director and Pianist Who Was Barbara Cook's Longtime Collaborator, Has Died" Archived October 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Playbill.com, October 8, 2004
  27. ^ Wilson, John S. "Pop: Barbara Cook Sings", The New York Times, September 16, 1980, p. C9
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  29. ^ "Olivier Winners 1986" OlivierAwards.com, accessed September 7, 2011
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  34. ^ a b McFidden, Robert D. (August 8, 2017). "Barbara Cook, Broadway Star Who Became a Cabaret Mainstay, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  35. ^ Jones, Kenneth (October 8, 2004). "Wally Harper, Arranger, Musical Director and Pianist Who Was Barbara Cook's Longtime Collaborator, Has Died". Playbill. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  36. ^ Rich, Frank."Theater Review:Stage: Concert Version Of 'Follies' Is A Reunion" The New York Times, September 9, 1985.
  37. ^ Ruhlmann, William."'The Secret Garden'" allmusic.com, accessed September 8, 2011.
  38. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  39. , pp. 366–67.
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  41. ^ "Actress enjoys helping 9 into theater Hall of Fame". Deseret News. February 6, 1994. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  42. ^ Davis, Clive. "Star turn of her own party", The Times, November 25, 1997
  43. ^ "Among the international guest stars are the phenomenal tenor Andrea Bocelli, the ballet superstar Sylvia Guillem, the Tanztheatre Wuppertal Pina Brausch, legendary cabaret star Barbara Cook, the great conductor Riccardo Muti with the Orchestra Filarmonica Della Scala, jazz artists the George Shearing Trio and the great German singer Ute Lemper.""Grand arts events strike Games gold", The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, Australia), August 20, 2000, p. 122
  44. ^ "'Lucky In The Rain': The Jimmy McHugh Musical" songwritershalloffame.org, accessed September 7, 2011.
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  54. ^ Rothaus, Steve. "Broadway legend Barbara Cook to sing with Fort Lauderdale Gay Men's Chorus", October 18, 2007
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  75. ^ Carrie had its first four-week run beginning on February 13, 1988 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Cook resigned when she was nearly decapitated by an elaborate set piece on opening night, but she agreed to stay on until a replacement could be cast, which turned out to be the remainder of the show's Stratford run. She was replaced by Betty Buckley for the show's ill-fated Broadway engagement.
  76. ^ "BARBARA COOK "Many a New Day"". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  77. ^ "YEOMEN OF THE GUARD 1957-04-10 Alfred Drake, Barbara Cook 'I have a song to sing'". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
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  83. ^ "CARRIE STRATFORD FULL SHOW 1988". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  84. ^ "Barbara Cook - Ship in a Bottle - 1994 MAC Awards". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  85. ^ "BARBARA COOK MASTERCLASS ON IRVING BERLIN". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  86. ^ "A Master Class with Barbara Cook". The New York Public Library. Retrieved August 20, 2021.

External links

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