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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCOOK, Barbara(b 25 October 1927, Atlanta GA; d 8 August 2017) Actress and singer, with a joyful voice of light operatic range. She had a deprived childhood, but can't remember a time when she didn't sing. She made her professional debut at New York's Blue Angel '50; Broadway debut in Yip Harburg/Sammy Fain show Flahooley '51 but it ran only 40 performances. She toured with Oklahoma! and Carousel; won a role in Plain And Fancy '55, with the Arnold Horwitt/Albert Hague hit 'Young And Foolish'. Then she originated Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's Candide '56: she suggested an alteration to 'Glitter and be Gay', and Bernstein said, 'You're absolutely right. Why didn't I think of that?' The show ran only 73 performances but became a cult favourite and led to the big chance for Cook: she created the role of Marion the librarian in Meredith Willson's The Music Man '57 for 1,375 performances and an Antoinette Perry (Tony) award. She was in The Gay Life, for which Arthur Schwartz and Howard Deitz reunited '61, it ran only just over 100 performances but She Loves Me '63 was more successful; ironically she was cast with Jack Cassidy, whose wife Shirley Jones got the film role of Marion. In her first straight part Cook took over from Sandy Dennis in the Muriel Resnick comedy Any Wednesday '65. She toured late '60s, early '70s (Funny Girl, The Gershwin Years), then returned to cabaret in NYC. Her successful solo stage debut Barbara Cook At Carnegie Hall was recorded by CBS '75 including a medley from She Loves Me; played there again '80 (It's Better With A Band on MMG) including a Bernstein medley and Irving Berlin's 'I Love A Piano'; stand-out track for fans was 'The Ingénue', written by her music director Wally Harper (d 8 Oct. 2004 aged 63) with David Zippel. She also did guest shots on Perry Como's TV show etc, and had London club work in the late '70s. Other LPs included As Of Today from Columbia Special Products; a new recording of Carousel on MCA '87 produced by Thomas Z. Shepard featured her, with Samuel Ramey, Sarah Brightman, David Rendall, Maureen Forrester and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Gemignani; also Sings The Walt Disney Songbook '88 on MCA; Close As Pages In A Book '93, Live From London '94, Surrey With A Fringe On Top '97 (lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein) on DRG. She remained the ingénue for Broadway buffs, but a fine interpreter of songs in any context; she had lost some power and range with age, but was ever more invested in a song's lyrics. She published a memoir in 2016, Then and Now, written with Tom Santopietro. |