Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
10086sunset
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/16
#2Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 7:44pm
This is so heart breaking.
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10086sunset
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/16
#3Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 7:51pm
Not sure if it was necessary to share so much regarding her current state.
Updated On: 3/29/16 at 07:51 PM
#4Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 7:52pm
This is so damn sad. It sounds similar to Elaine Stritch's state in her latter years. Maybe a small concert would have been a better idea, not a full one woman show.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#5Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:02pm
What a shame. Tommy would have been in the limelight again and we would have had Cook to boot. Wishing her the best.
Poster Emeritus
Updated On: 3/29/16 at 08:02 PM
10086sunset
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/16
#6Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:06pm
Surprising the principals involved thought she would be able to pull this off.
indytallguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/13/08
#7Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:07pm
Interesting that it is asserted she was pushing her agent to get her work.
#8Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:18pm
This really is so sad. I hoped to see Barbara live in person at least once. I can't wait to read her memoir.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
#9Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:32pm
10086sunset said: "Not sure if was necessary to share so much regarding her current state.
"
Exactly: "(the producer) thought Cook should share the blame...."?
At 88? Oh, yes, let's make sure she gets her share of punishment.
#10Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:41pm
I am so lucky to have seen Barbara Cook live three times. First, right in the front row of tables at the Carlyle, second time in London and finally at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles several years...or more...ago. I have listened to "As of Today" more times than I can remember. Her rendition of Janis Ian's "Stars" is the definition of heartbreaking.
#11Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:58pm
I don't think its about the producers trying to punish Barbara Cook, but on the other shoe, she is the one that pushed to do the show, and it's not their fault that she isn't up to the task. They have their own reputations to protect and that's showbiz.
There was, honestly, a little part of me that thought this show sounded a little too cautiously optimistic. The last time I saw the divine Ms. Cook she was having some re-call issues, and God love her, at 88 it is completely understandable. I hope she takes the bones of this act and does it in a shorter, more casual run at the Carlyle or 54 Below.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
Updated On: 3/29/16 at 08:58 PM
#12Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 9:29pm
I heard her book was ghost written by someone who has done that sort of thing for other show biz folks.
#13Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 9:31pm
Her book has a credited CO AUTHOR, which is a bit different from a ghostwriter.
#14Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 9:55pm
First off, I am saddened to hear about how this is all unfolding. I was hopeful that this would be a beautiful way to bookend a fantastic career, but I had a feeling that it was going to have its struggles. Miss Cook is a legend. None of what happens now taints my opinion of who she is, what she has accomplished, and what she means to the history of Broadway theater. People age. It's sad, but it's better than the alternative, and I think that it's wonderful that she gave it a go. It would be wonderful if, instead, the Broadway community would rally behind her, and have a tribute show for her in an appropriate venue where she could sing one or two songs from the wheelchair. I think a lot of Broadway's elite would take part, and I most certainly would buy a ticket.
#15Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 10:04pm
Well they already did a wonderful tribute show to Ms. Cook on the Kennedy Honors -- and I remember a little backstage snark that she actually didn't really love the idea of having to watch other people do her material, and I don't blame her! It's not her funeral. I think she is likely more than fine with doing a casual hour long cabaret act -- but what was being planned here was apparently a much more elaborate and scripted production with greater expectations of her.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
#16Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/29/16 at 10:20pm
She performed exactly a month ago at the Roundabout gala in her wheelchair. Riedel's article is definitely heartbreaking and hard to swallow 
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#17Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 10:57am
Very sad...
Saw her last summer in Ptown and she sadly forgot a lot of lyrics. Breaks my heart
#18Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 11:19am
She's close to 90, I realize she loves performing but the other people involved had to realize what a gamble this was. Still sad.
"when I’m on stage I see the abyss and have to overcome it by telling myself it’s only a play." - Helen Mirren
wolfwriter2
Stand-by Joined: 4/20/15
#19Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 4:32pm
I think I mentioned once before that I saw her, late 2014 at a college in NJ. The voice was still there and wonderful, but she forgot quite a bit and rambled about things that didn't make a lot of sense. She was also brutally off color for a Sunday afternoon crowd.
I cringed a bit, for her, but she wasn't so off that a teleprompter or reading lyrics/words would be bad. If Bruce Willis can use an earpiece and Sinatra used a music stand, Ms. Cook can certainly have some help. And who cares if she's sitting in a wheelchair? The last few times I saw her she sat through the show. She has terrible back issues.
I wish she wouldn't give up because her voice is still magnificent to listen to. I like the idea of a tribute show with her there to sing a bit. Maybe Carnegie Hall. It might be nice to do it while someone we love is still with us, instead of waiting until they're gone.
#20Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 5:21pm
When the audience is uncomfortable wants to take care of the performer (Stritch, Liza, Cook) it is time to stop the concert level of performance. It's really heartbreaking.
That being said there are fantastic ways to have an audience with a legend, like Cook. Like recent events with Carol Channing, give Barbara a couch, a moderator, some clips and let her interact with fans. She is even welcome to sing as she likes, as much as she likes.
There are ways to honor a legend without pushing them past their capabilities.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
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smidge
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/06
#21Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 5:56pm
Bettyboy72 said: "When the audience is uncomfortable wants to take care of the performer (Stritch, Liza, Cook) it is time to stop the concert level of performance. It's really heartbreaking.
That being said there are fantastic ways to have an audience with a legend, like Cook. Like recent events with Carol Channing, give Barbara a couch, a moderator, some clips and let her interact with fans. She is even welcome to sing as she likes, as much as she likes.
There are ways to honor a legend without pushing them past their capabilities.
I agree. I haven't seen Ms. Cook live before and that's my own stupidity. She probably would still like to perform in some capacity and a one or two night special event may suit her better. And I'll be there!
"
#22Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 8:36pm
QueenAlice said: "I don't think its about the producers trying to punish Barbara Cook, but on the other shoe, she is the one that pushed to do the show, and it's not their fault that she isn't up to the task. They have their own reputations to protect and that's showbiz.
There was, honestly, a little part of me that thought this show sounded a little too cautiously optimistic. The last time I saw the divine Ms. Cook she was having some re-call issues, and God love her, at 88 it is completely understandable. I hope she takes the bones of this act and does it in a shorter, more casual run at the Carlyle or 54 Below.
"
I was only going by what Riedel wrote. I have no other source.
I think if they had gone with the earlier proposal and blamed the problem on too little rehearsal time, we all could have figured out who had the problem with the lack of practice.
DAME
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
#23Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 9:11pm
Bettyboy72 said: "When the audience is uncomfortable wants to take care of the performer (Stritch, Liza, Cook) it is time to stop the concert level of performance. It's really heartbreaking.
That being said there are fantastic ways to have an audience with a legend, like Cook. Like recent events with Carol Channing, give Barbara a couch, a moderator, some clips and let her interact with fans. She is even welcome to sing as she likes, as much as she likes.
There are ways to honor a legend without pushing them past their capabilities.
"
You are so right. I saw Elaine Strich at Disney Hall in one of her last concerts and it was heartbreaking. Interestingly... I saw Liza twice within one week... One show was her and Coco Peru in the kind of setup you just mentioned. And it was magic. One week later I saw her at Disney Hall.. and while it was still a fun show; it shouldn't have happened.
HUSSY POWER!
------ HUSSY POWER!
MarkBearSF
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/11
#24Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 9:43pm
DAME said: "Bettyboy72 said: "...That being said there are fantastic ways to have an audience with a legend, like Cook. Like recent events with Carol Channing, give Barbara a couch, a moderator, some clips and let her interact with fans. She is even welcome to sing as she likes, as much as she likes."
Agreed. The last event held at the Curran Theater in SF before closing for remodeling was a celebration of Carol Channing, hosted by Tommy Tune. (In which she told of delivering Christian Science Monitor papers to the stage door for the actors as a child when her father was pastor of the church around the corner - and that she was older than the theater itself).
Tune gently prompted her and guided her responses and allowed her to do pieces of her famous bits [including "Cecelia Sisson"] It was a glorious evening.
A couple of months previous to that, I caught Barbara Cook at Feinstein's at the Nikko (replacing Elaine Stritch's cancellation of that last tour) and she was luminous, I would love to see her one more time in a presentation attuned to her situation.
#25Riedel inside the collapse of Cooks show
Posted: 3/30/16 at 9:50pm
Hopefully she'll do a B&N book signing and maybe sing a bit there.
