Barbara Cook Has Retired From Performing

[+ WilliamM]

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Barbara-Cook-Reveals-Shes-Retired-20170507

 

We were just discussing the great merits of "The Music Man."

 

I never saw Barbara Cook in a Broadway show. However, I did have the pleasure of seeing her often in concerts.

 

She is one the very few singers who allowed me to listen closely to every word in a song, especially Sondheim.

[handiacefailure]

Never fortunate enormous fb to see her perform live but heard her music many times in the Sirius broadway channel. Great voice

[+ WilliamM]

 

Losing My Mind

 

Follies in Concert, 1985, Lincoln Center, NYC

[bostonman]

I have to give her so much credit - many singers might have retired many years earlier. Ms. Cook, who clearly had (has?) an incredible joy for singing, might have perhaps kept going were it not for physical issues. Amazing to realize that only 7 years ago she was doing a full-length musical revue (Sondheim On Sondheim) on Broadway.

 

Her drive reminds me of the late Elaine Stritch, another great star who didn't retire until she really had to. Both ladies also went through severe emotional ups and downs; both battled alcoholism.

 

While Stritch was an actress who could sing (even though hers was never a "pretty" voice, though not that it needed to be), I've always felt that Cook was truly equal parts singer and actress. And oh, she brought both so much musicality and so much awareness of text to all her singing.

 

A sad day - but at least she is still very much with us. And, hers is such an amazing career to celebrate.

[+ WilliamM]

While Stritch was an actress who could sing (even though hers was never a "pretty" voice, though not that it needed to be)

 

Elaine was a gifted actress who could bring an audience to tears at celebrations of great Broadway performers whom she knew well. I shall never forget her brief on-stage comments about Ethel Merman during a tribute benefit concert.

 

Stritch did it again on the occasion of what would have been Noel Coward's 100th birthday in 1999. Elaine was the last person to perform that December night at Carnegie Hall. Again her comments were brief, but explained exactly why Mr. Coward was such a major talent.

[bostonman]

Elaine was a gifted actress who could bring an audience to tears at celebrations of great Broadway performers whom she knew well.

 

Stritch brought ME to tears several times when I saw her do her At Liberty show in Boston. Ironically, the most emotional moment for me was her closing number - a rendition of "Something Good" from the film version of The Sound Of Music. Ironic because I absolutely despise that awful song, lol. But the song resonated so well with the stories Stritch had told of her life struggles, that for just that moment it was no longer the treacly saccharine song about the idiotic comparison of youth vs. childhood that I've always hated, and it instead became a summation of Stritch's life story. Powerful. (Even though I still hate that damn song, lol.)

[foxy]

Around 1977 I lived down the street from a club called Reno Sweeney on 13th Street off 6th Avenue in NYC. One night a friend came by my apartment and said "let's go over to the club. Barbara Cook is singing". And I said "whose Barbara Cook?" I think we may have paid a small cover charge of $10 which included drinks. Just Barbara and her accompanist on the piano. I was hooked. Saw her several more times till the club closed and later at Carnegie Hall several times. I even have an album she autographed for me at a book store. It was just the two of us chatting. Hard to believe looking back on it. She had a complicated life but her voice was always crystal clear and heartbreakingly beautiful. I think I have all her recordings. One that surprises me is her Disney album. To be honest I'm not a Disney fan at all but her rendition of "Someday My Prince Will Come" always brings tears to my eyes.

[foxy]

On YouTube

 

Seth Rudetsky - Deconstructs "Glitter And Be Gay" from Candide

 

masterworksbwayVEVO

 

Sorry I can't get the link to work but listening to Barbara Cook singing Cunegunde is worth the search.

[+ WilliamM]

 

Let me try, @foxy

[handiacefailure]

I have to give her so much credit - many singers might have retired many years earlier. Ms. Cook, who clearly had (has?) an incredible joy for singing, might have perhaps kept going were it not for physical issues. Amazing to realize that only 7 years ago she was doing a full-length musical revue (Sondheim On Sondheim) on Broadway.

 

Her drive reminds me of the late Elaine Stritch, another great star who didn't retire until she really had to. Both ladies also went through severe emotional ups and downs; both battled alcoholism.

 

While Stritch was an actress who could sing (even though hers was never a "pretty" voice, though not that it needed to be), I've always felt that Cook was truly equal parts singer and actress. And oh, she brought both so much musicality and so much awareness of text to all her singing.

 

A sad day - but at least she is still very much with us. And, hers is such an amazing career to celebrate.

 

I loved Elaine Stritch. I was lucky enough to see her perform in the last show she did on Broadway "A little night music" with Bernadette peters. She was amazing. I saw it when it first opened with Angela Lansberry and Catherine Zeta Jones and they should have cast Elaine and Bernadette as the originals. It was so much better with those two.

 

I love how Elaine just said the F word. I saw her today show interview that she did not that long before she passed and laughed my ass off when she said the F word and the censors didn't catch it in time to bleep her:)

 

A good friend of mine was on a flight and had her as a seat mate and they were in an exit row and she chatted with him the entire flight and he said that was one time he was happy he got a middle seat and missed an upgrade. He was chatting with her during boarding and a flight attendant came over and gave that usual speech about being in an exit row and asking if they were willing and able to assist. She was in her 70s then but still got around great and was in the aisle so she wouldn't have been the one opening the door anyway but another FA came over and asked them the same question. Then the first FA came over and said the same question again and she knew they were worried about her age and she was getting pretty pissed off because she is a big ham and was loving a guy in his late 20s knew who she was and was such a big fan and the FAs kept interupting them and she looks at the FA and says "Jesus Christ! I know I'm an old lady but I'm not a fucking invalid" My friend said the FA face went white and he told the FA he couldn't believe he was sitting next to a great legend like Elaine Stritch and the FA was clueless as to who she was. After the FA walked away my friend said he was surprised she didn't know who she was and Elaine responded "I'm not, that bimbo wouldn't know talent if it bit her in the ass"

[bostonman]

Seth Rudetsky - Deconstructs "Glitter And Be Gay" from Candide

 

Rudetsky is a very talented man, and insanely knowledgeable about all things Broadway. But I confess I can't connect with his schtick, from his "ah-mah-zing" to his utterly weird lipsynched "deconstructions." I really feel he's become a parody of himself.

 

I know, I know..I should hand in my gay card, lol.

[foxy]

Yeah, he's a little over the top. Thanks to WilliamM for posting the link that eluded me. I'm sort of challenged computer wise.

[+ WilliamM]

Rudetsky is a very talented man, and insanely knowledgeable about all things Broadway. But I confess I can't connect with his schtick, from his "ah-mah-zing" to his utterly weird lipsynched "deconstructions." I really feel he's become a parody of himself.

 

Yeah, he's a little over the top

 

I watched a few more of Seth Rudetsky's "deconstruction," especially the Judy Garland-Barbra Streisand duet from 1963. It's no wonder that Judy had "vocal damage" at age 41. She had been singing continually since childhood. When I saw Judy in 1961 at Boston Garden when I was in college, she was singing superbly, but it was obvious vocal problems would develop.

 

Judy seemed incapable of not giving her all for every song.

 

But, Seth provides no context -- zero information. So I question his ability as a teacher.

[foxy]

When I was looking to find Barbara Cook singing Glitter and be Gay I found he has a lot of these deconstructions. I may watch a few more myself but I can see where he might get on your nerves if he acts the same in all of them. I did see him in his play Disaster which was pretty funny

[edjames]

Tomorrow night (Sunday, may 12, Mother's Day0 was supposed to be the concert date for a new show titled Deconstructing Patti starring the incomprable Patti Lupone with Seth Rudesky at the Nederlander Theater, a benefit for Broadway Cares. Alas, Pati's recent show schedule in War Paint (fabulous!!!) and her recent bout with a illness that caused her to miss a few performances in War Paint has pushed the benefit back to Thursday night, September 24 at 9PM. Patti has apologized for the inconvenience and problems but insists that the show be perfect and she and Seth have a enough time to rehearse and get it right. I already have my ticket and eagerly await the benefit.

I remember when Cook returned to NYC after a self-imposed exile in the midwest. I saw her perform at a 46th St cabaret,(was itr called Barbara's?) a forerunner of Don't Tell Mama, in a sold out brief run. It marked her return and was a huge critical success. Many years later I was introduced to her and was disappointed that she was rather cold and distant. Despite a group of adoring fans surrounding her, she remained somewhat distant. Still, over the years i have seen her on a number of occasions and enjoyed her very much. She is one of the finest interpreters, along with Bernadette Peters, of Sondheim's songs.

[+ WilliamM]

Many years later I was introduced to her and was disappointed that she was rather cold and distant. Despite a group of adoring fans surrounding her, she remained somewhat distant

 

After I read your comments, I read Barbara Cook's book "Then & Now" again. During My first read, I though she wrote too much about the details of Wally Harper's steep decline during his finally illness. I still am surprised reading it again. There are minor problem like forgetting Richard Halliday's name when she had to introduce him to her mother. Rather than let it last a lifetime, she might have written a letter of apology.

 

However, she is just as hard on herself about drinking too much.

 

I was not totally surprised that Cook was rather cold and distant.

[Gar1eth]

I've heard of Ms. Cook. But I'm not really familiar with her voice. Did I read in the NYT article talking about her retirement that she doesn't read music? If so, I realize she has talent, but how do you have a career like hers without ever learning to read music.

 

By the way except for A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum-I'm not a big Sondheim fan. However I refuse to turn in my gay card over this.

 

Gman

[+ WilliamM]

If so, I realize she has talent, but how do you have a career like hers without ever learning to read music.

 

It is not unusual for people who sing Gershwin, Sondheim or Rodgers and Hammerstein without ever learning to read music.

[foxy]

People like Barbara Cook are not like the rest of us. When people have a rare gift I think it often comes at a price in other areas. Emotional turmoil and addictions. I think there's just so much crashing around in their brains. I admire talent but like fame I don't think it's something I'd personally wish for. As for her being cold and distant I can only say that was not my experience. She did autograph an album for me at a bookstore signing years ago. I recently took it out. It's titled It's Better With A Band. It was recorded at a live concert at Carnegie Hall in 1980. Wally Harper was one of the producers. I spent several minutes talking to her. Strangely there was no one else in line. She was very warm and charming. We discussed her appearances at Reno Sweeney. I'm not sure I fully appreciated this encounter at the time but I'm very grateful to have had it. Now I'll go play the record.

[bostonman]

It is not unusual for people who sing Gershwin, Sondheim or Rodgers and Hammerstein without ever learning to read music.

 

Believe it or not, there are composers who don't read music. Some can play piano but aren't good at notating what they play, others can plunk out notes but need transcribers/arrangers to help fill things out (Irving Berlin, for example), some can "hum" a basic tune into a recording device and rely on arrangers to do the rest. We think of classical composers as ones who are highly skilled in all aspects of music, but in more "pop" forms (which can include musical theatre and classic songwriters as well as rock/pop styles) many writers have used less formal skills and relied on collaborators to still produce great songs/scores.

 

As a musical director, I've worked with some singers who have impeccable sightsinging abilities, or those who can read music and play piano or another instrument well enough to be able to work on their music by themselves, and I've also worked with singers who really don't have those skills but who have developed very good ears so they can pick things up very fast, even if they can't always make sense of all the lines and dots they see on the page, lol. If indeed Cook does not read music (which I don't know for sure), she obviously developed (or already had) an impeccable ear to compensate.

 

It is also said that the great tenor Luciano Pavarotti could not read music.

[edjames]

Reading all the posts lauding other great singers, well, maybe not ALL the great singers brought to mind a production I saw on Saturday at the Public theater here in NYC. Called "Gently Down The Stream," it starred the great Harvey Firestein as a New Orleans born cabaret pianist who once accompanied MABEL MERCER! Now there's a blast from the past who was legendary in NY cabarets. There are some clips of Mabel's recordings interspersed in the show. Alas, the show ended it's run on Sunday but I hope some producer will step up and move or revive this production. I loved it.

 

Review: ‘Gently Down the Stream,’ a Romance and a Gay History Tour

GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM

By ELISABETH VINCENTELLIAPRIL 5, 2017

 

 

Gabriel Ebert, left, and Harvey Fierstein in the play "Gently Down the Stream" at the Public Theater.CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

 

If the past is a foreign country, as L. P. Hartley once wrote, Rufus desperately wants to visit it — preferably with an experienced resident as a guide. He may be just 28, but this English lawyer is the kind of gay man who’s more interested in the stylings of the cabaret singer Mabel Mercer than in hi-NRG house music. So he’s excited to meet Beau, a pianist who accompanied Mercer in the 1960s, via an online dating site.

 

The twist in the Public Theater’s production of Martin Sherman’s new play, “Gently Down the Stream,” is that Beau is portrayed by Harvey Fierstein. For a show about the transmission of gay culture, casting the creator and star of the landmark “Torch Song Trilogy,” the man who wrote the book for“La Cage Aux Folles,” means that your lead actor’s baggage (in the best sense of the term) becomes an integral part of the story.

 

Mr. Fierstein’s distinctive croak alone is a gay Proustian madeleine. You half-wonder why Rufus (Gabriel Ebert, a Tony winner for “Matilda the Musical” and an alum of “Casa Valentina,” Mr. Fierstein’s play about a resort for cross-dressers) doesn’t grill Beau about what it was like playing a drag queen on Broadway in the prehistoric 1980s.

 

“Bent,” the Tony-nominated 1979 drama about the persecution of gay men by the Nazis, and is directed by Sean Mathias, also the director of that drama’s movie adaptation. This may all sound like peripheral information, but it’s impossible to ignore as it places the audience in a hall of mirrors that refracts and amplifies the new play’s modest charms.

 

The show’s allure derives almost entirely from Mr. Fierstein’s fairly restrained, impeccably timed performance. It’s a joy, for instance, to watch him suggest Beau’s self-conscious bashfulness after his first night with Rufus. Beau does not quite believe that this handsome man, full of youthful energy (though Rufus is bipolar and might be going through an upswing), could be genuinely interested in him.

• The show’s allure derives almost entirely from Mr. Fierstein’s fairly restrained, impeccably timed performance. It’s a joy, for instance, to watch him suggest Beau’s self-conscious bashfulness after his first night with Rufus. Beau does not quite believe that this handsome man, full of youthful energy (though Rufus is bipolar and might be going through an upswing), could be genuinely interested in him.
   
  But we’re in 2001 London. And while Googling is still new, Rufus has managed to learn enough about Beau to know exactly whom he’s dealing with — their encounter is no coincidence. Now Rufus wants to hear about what fun it must have been when men could write love songs about other men, but women had to sing them. Beau, an expat American, won’t have any of that fetishization. “Someone like Mabel confirmed our misery, and mythologized it, but misery it was,” he says. “And, as a result, everyone was drunk.”
   
  The one-night stand turns into a relationship, and eventually Rufus asks Beau, now his partner, to reminisce in front of a camera so they can preserve shards of history. Beau gives in, perhaps swayed by his memory of an old lover who once warned, “If we didn’t tell others of our kind, it would all be lost.”
   
  In a series of monologues, which Mr. Fierstein delivers in Derek McLane’s impressive rendering of a London apartment, we hear about Beau’s hasty departure from his hometown, New Orleans, but also about precious capsules of freedom, as when World War IIsoldiers enjoyed trysts with one another at a Y.M.C.A. and expressed their joy by belting “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Note the ambiguous ending of that nursery rhyme, though: Sure, you can row your boat merrily, yet in the end, “life is but a dream.”
   
  Maybe it’s those happy interludes that were elusive dreams, because Beau also chronicles judgmental families, surreptitious assignations and affairs doomed by prejudice. “I knew it would end badly,” he says of one love, “because that was just simply the way it was with our lot.” Some of these personal remembrances are also intricately linked to epochal disasters in gay history, notably the AIDS crisis and the fire at the UpStairs Lounge in the French Quarter in New Orleans in 1973 (a horrific case of arson that is the subject of the Off Broadway musical “The View UpStairs”).
   
  Photo
  
  From left: Mr. Fierstein, Christopher Sears and Mr. Ebert in “Gently Down the Stream.”CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times
  The years go by, and one day Rufus announces that he’s fallen in love with the performance artist Harry (Christopher Sears). Beau remains his friend, acting as best man when the couple tie the knot and becoming an avuncular figure later on. By that time Mr. Ebert, whose archness felt a bit forced early in the show, has settled into a prickly confidence that’s well matched with Mr. Sears’s finely tuned petulance.
   
  Throughout, Mr. Sherman paints a portrait of endurance in the face of discrimination, and of how gay men — well, gay people in general, but women do not feature in this show besides Mercer and a brief reference to the philanthropist Judy Peabody — formed new families when their blood ones abandoned them.
   
  Now there are marriage and children, but Beau, while awed by this brave new world, is a daily reminder of the price that had to be paid. Left unsaid, but looming over the show, is that despite Rufus and Harry’s confidence, rights come, but they also go.
   
  

[+ WilliamM]

Believe it or not, there are <i>composers</i> who don't read music

.

 

Why would I not believe it?

 

I already knew about Irving Berlin.

[bostonman]

.

 

Why would I not believe it?

 

I already knew about Irving Berlin.

 

My apologies. I was responding to the sub-topic in general, as often happens on these threads. I should have responded directly to Gar1eth's post instead of yours. Bypass my post.

[+ sync]

Believe it or not, there are composers who don't read music. Some can play piano but aren't good at notating what they play, others can plunk out notes but need transcribers/arrangers to help fill things out (Irving Berlin, for example), some can "hum" a basic tune into a recording device and rely on arrangers to do the rest. We think of classical composers as ones who are highly skilled in all aspects of music, but in more "pop" forms (which can include musical theatre and classic songwriters as well as rock/pop styles) many writers have used less formal skills and relied on collaborators to still produce great songs/scores.

 

As a musical director, I've worked with some singers who have impeccable sightsinging abilities, or those who can read music and play piano or another instrument well enough to be able to work on their music by themselves, and I've also worked with singers who really don't have those skills but who have developed very good ears so they can pick things up very fast, even if they can't always make sense of all the lines and dots they see on the page, lol. If indeed Cook does not read music (which I don't know for sure), she obviously developed (or already had) an impeccable ear to compensate.

 

It is also said that the great tenor Luciano Pavarotti could not read music.

 

This information is beyond amazing for me. I was aware that several successful singers do not/did not read music, and that some people can play an instrument by ear, but I had no idea that not being able to read music extended into so many other areas of musical achievement.

[+ WilliamM]

My apologies. I was responding to the sub-topic in general, as often happens on these threads. I should have responded directly to Gar1eth's post instead of yours. Bypass my post.

 

No problem. After all, I do not believe I ever mentioned growing up in the late 1950s/early 1960s when the Carousel Summer Theater in Framingham, MA was still operating. My favorite events: Gertrude Berg in "A Majority of One," Ella Fitzgerald concerts and Ginger Rogers in "Annie Get Your Gun."

 

As you know, Berlin wrote the music and lyrics for "Annie Get Your Gun."