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 Broadway musicals Plain and Fancy (1955), Candide (1956) and The Music Man (1957) among others, winning a 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.Howard Goldstein: "Barbara Cook", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed December 4, 2008), (subscription access) 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. 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."Barbara Cook Biography" filmreference.com, accessed September 6, 2011 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." 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.
Career Early career
In 1947 Cook was engaged as a featured performer for Atlanta's Southeastern Fair at the Lakewood Fairgrounds. While visiting Manhattan in 1948 with her mother, she decided to stay and try to find work as an actress. 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. She began to sing at other clubs and resorts, eventually procuring an engagement at the Blue Angel club in Manhattan in 1950.
Cook made her Broadway debut as Sandy in the short-lived 1951 musical Flahooley. She landed another role quickly, portraying Ado Annie in the 1951 City Center revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!,Wilmeth, Don B. "Barbara Cook" The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, p. 182 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."The Armstrong Circle Theatre. 'Mr. Bemiss Takes a Trip' (Season 3, Episode 24)" tv.com, accessed September 9, 2011 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."Weinstock, Matt. "Barbara Cook Talks about Working with Rodgers & Hammerstein," New York City Center blog, accessed August 21, 2017.
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'."Suskin, Steven. "Barbara Cook" Broadway Yearbook 2001–2002 (2003), Oxford University Press US, , p. 131 Cook's critical reputation and coloratura soprano range won her the role of Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 operetta Candide, in which she sang the vocally demanding, show-stopping comic aria "Glitter and Be Gay".
Although Candide was not a commercial success, Cook's portrayal of Cunegonde established her as one of Broadway's leading ingenues. In 1957 she appeared in a second City Center revival of Carousel, this time in the role of Julie Jordan, and won a Tony Award for creating the role of Marian the Librarian in Meredith Willson's 1957 hit The Music Man.Atkinson, Brooks."Theater Review. 'The Music Man'" The New York Times, December 20, 1957 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.Gould, Jack. "TV:New 'Bloomer Girl'", The New York Times, May 29, 1956, p. 55 She also made appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, and The Play of the Week.
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."'She Loves Me' Additional Facts" mtishows.com, accessed September 7, 2011 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." A number from She Loves Me, "Ice Cream", became one of Cook's signature songs.
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 and originating the role of Patsy Newquist in Jules Feiffer's 1967 play Little Murders."'Little Murders', Broadway 1967" Internet Broadway Database, accessed September 8, 2011Kerr, Walter."Theater: Feiffer's 'Little Murders'; Comedy by Cartoonist Opens at Broadhurst" The New York Times (requires registration), April 26, 1967p.38 She starred in national tours of The Unsinkable Molly Brown in 1964 and Funny Girl in 1967. Her last original "book" musical role on Broadway came in 1971 when she played Dolly Talbo in The Grass Harp.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 In 1972, Cook returned to the dramatic stage in the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center's production of Maxim Gorky's Enemies.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
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. In the mid-1970s Cook's fortunes changed for the better when she met and befriended composer and pianist Wally Harper. Harper convinced her to put together a concert and on January 26, 1975, accompanied by Harper, she made her debut in a solo concert at Carnegie Hall that resulted in a legendary concert and live album. Continuing a collaboration with Harper that lasted until his death in 2004,Jones, Kenneth."Wally Harper, Arranger, Musical Director and Pianist Who Was Barbara Cook's Longtime Collaborator, Has Died" Playbill.com, October 8, 2004 over the next three decades, Barbara Cook became a successful concert performer and Cook and Harper performed together at not only many of the best cabaret spots and music halls in New York City — like Michael's Pub and the 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."Wilson, John S. "Pop: Barbara Cook Sings", The New York Times, September 16, 1980, p. C9 The latter performance was captured on the CD It's Better With a Band.Ruhlmann, William."'It's Better With a Band' (Barbara Cook)", AllMusic, accessed September 8, 2011
In 1986, Cook was nominated for an Olivier Award "The Observer Award for Outstanding Achievement" for her one-woman show, accompanied by Harper, at London's Donmar Warehouse and the Albery Theatre."Olivier Winners 1986" OlivierAwards.com, accessed September 7, 2011 She won the Drama Desk Award "Outstanding One Person Show" in 1987 for her Broadway show A Concert for the Theatre, again with Harper. In October 1991, they appeared as featured artists at the Carnegie Hall Gala Music and Remembrance: A Celebration of Great Musical Partnerships which raised money for the advancement of the performing arts and for AIDS research.Oestreich, James R.Classical Music in Review. "Music and Remembrance Carnegie Hall" The New York Times (registration required), October 12, 1991. In 1994, they performed a critically acclaimed concert series at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London,Parker, Chris. "Cook's tour of joy", The Times, July 25, 1994. which was recorded by DRG as Live From London. "Cook still comes across with consummate taste and with a voice that shows little sign of wear after 40 years.""Pop:Album Reviews: 'Barbara Cook.Live From London.Producer: Hugh Fordin.DRG 91430'". Billboard, October 8, 1994, p. 76 Alastair Macaulay wrote in the Financial Times about the concert, "Barbara Cook is the greatest singer in the world ... Ms. Cook is the only popular singer active today who should be taken seriously by lovers of classical music. Has any singer since Callas matched Cook's sense of musical architecture? I doubt it." The performing duo traveled all over the world giving concerts together including a number of times at the White House – for Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.