Barbara Cook was one of the finest voices ever to grace the American musical theatre, and in 1987 she brought that voice to the stage of the Historic Elitch Theatre. She appeared in a show billed as “A Concert for the Theatre,” the same title as her acclaimed one-woman show with longtime collaborator and pianist Wally Harper. Her visit placed the oldest continuously operating summer theatre in the country on a tour schedule alongside the great concert halls where she was celebrated. Audiences in Denver heard a performer who by then was widely regarded as one of the premier interpreters of theatre songs and American standards, especially the songs of Stephen Sondheim.
Cook had made her greatest mark on Broadway in the 1950s, when she was its leading ingénue and originated several roles. Her lyric soprano, prized for its agility, range, and warmth, carried her through Plain and Fancy (1955), Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (1956, as Cunegonde, singing “Glitter and Be Gay”), and The Music Man (1957), in which she created Marian the Librarian. That performance won her the 1958 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 1963 she originated Amalia Balash in She Loves Me, introducing “Ice Cream,” a song that became one of her signatures.
In the mid-1970s, after a difficult stretch in which stage work grew scarce, Cook reinvented herself as a concert and cabaret artist. Her January 1975 Carnegie Hall debut with Harper launched a second career that lasted more than forty years and took her to the White House, London’s West End, the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, and, in 2006, the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first female pop singer the company ever presented. When she stood on the Elitch stage in 1987, she was at the height of that second act. She had just won the Drama Desk Award for the very concert she brought to Denver, and her audience saw a Broadway legend who had become a master of the intimate concert. She was honored at the Kennedy Center in 2011 and retired in 2017. She died on August 8, 2017, at the age of 89. Broadway’s marquee lights were dimmed in her memory.
Seasons at the Theatre
- 1987
Productions/Roles:
- Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre (1987), solo concert. Cook performed with pianist and music director Wally Harper, her collaborator from 1975 until his death in 2004.
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- Marian Paroo in The Music Man (1957): She created the role of Marian the Librarian on Broadway. She won the 1958 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and the original cast album won a Grammy.
- Cunegonde in Candide (1956): She sang Bernstein’s “Glitter and Be Gay” in the original production, which established her as one of Broadway’s leading ingénues.
- Amalia Balash in She Loves Me (1963): She originated the role in the Bock and Harnick musical and made “Ice Cream” a signature number. The cast album won a Grammy.
- Carnegie Hall debut (January 26, 1975): Her solo concert launched her cabaret and concert career. It became a landmark live album and began her partnership with Wally Harper.
- Drama Desk Award, Outstanding One-Person Show (1987): She won for A Concert for the Theatre, the show she performed at Elitch.
- Inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame (1994).
- Barbara Cook Sings Mostly Sondheim (2001–2002): The show played Carnegie Hall, London’s West End, and Lincoln Center. It earned two Olivier nominations and a Tony nomination for Best Theatrical Event.
- First female pop singer presented by the Metropolitan Opera (2006): She gave a solo concert of Broadway and jazz standards, with guests Audra McDonald and Josh Groban.
- Tony nomination for Sondheim on Sondheim (2010): She returned to Broadway at age 82 and was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
- Kennedy Center Honors (2011): She was honored with a tribute broadcast on CBS. In 2016 she published her memoir, Then & Now.
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- 1951 — Flahooley (Broadway Musical): Ernest Truex (HET 1903). Barbara Cook played Sandy and Ernest Truex played B. G. Bigelow in the original Broadway production at the Broadhurst Theatre, May 14–June 16, 1951. Both are documented members of the opening-night cast.
Wikipedia Link:
