Barbara Cook has retired

[JBroadway]

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

 

Sad for us theatregoers, but happy that she's getting some well-deserved rest after a long and illustrious career. I feel very lucky to have seen her live at an intimate cabaret venue a few years back. A very fond and treasured memory of mine. 

[Dfgtoronto]

You're very fortunate. I never saw her in person, but I have been enjoying her supremely great performance as Marian on the OBC recording of The Music Man for decades.

[icecreambenjamin]

This isn't surprising news, but it is disappointing that I never had the chance to see her live.  I can't even imagine how glorious it must be to hear that voice in person.

[ljay889]

I am glad I got to see her a few times in Sondheim on Sondheim. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Not terribly surprising after her off-Broadway postponement last year, but sad news nonetheless. I'll never be able to say I had the privilege of seeing her live myself, but I'm so grateful for all she's given us over her incredible career!

[MichelleCraig]

I am so glad that I got to see her perform live in New York and Los Angeles.

And then there was that time we were both staying at the same hotel in London. She was there for the Olivier Awards and I ran into her in the hotel lobby. I said way too much, but she was just so gracious.

[SweetLips]

I saw her at an intimate cabaret setting -her and Wally-In Melbourne Australia--sublime-- but the best was a Master class dispensing her knowledge and experience to a few selected local performers.

 David Campbell sang and she said--Nothing I can say !

Then she sang--and I cried.

I had listened so long to THAT voice and then in person, the emotions just overflowed.

 

Thank you Barbara [and Wally].

[Speed]

I sat near her at Fantasia's Broadway debut in The Color Purple.  She said "That is how it's done."  That was a special night.  Fantasia was awesome.

[nsguy45]

I first saw Barbara Cook perform on a very humid summer evening in 1974 at Brothers and Sisters in NYC, followed over the years by appearances at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Symphony Hall in Boston and North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly. I've listened to her 1975 Carnegie Hall album for years, as well as her many others. Obviously a longtime fan, what a thrill it was when she purchased an item from me on eBay about ten years ago and I had an opportunity to thank her for her years of providing entertainment pleasure.

[Dollypop]

Saw Barbara Cook in the original SHE LOVES ME, then when she replaced Sandy Dennis in ANY WEDNESDAY, the stunning Lincoln Center revival of SHOWBOAT, the concert version of FOLLIES, and most recently in concert with the BOSTON POPS. She was always marvelous.

[OlBlueEyes]

Barbara on her birthday was a guest at Kelli O'Hara's Carnegie Hall concert. I was immediately distressed that she was in a wheelchair. That reminded me of the sad last years of Ella Fitzgerald, who suffered from diabetes and had to have both legs amputated. The audience of course sang Happy Birthday to Barbara, but she didn't perform at all. It seemed like that might have not been in her.

I first saw her on TV doing one of those "In Performance at the White House" episodes that ran during the eighties. She actually seemed rather imperious to me that night, directing people around without ever cracking a smile. But the night was devoted to Jerome Kern, and all was good.

[amaklo]

I only got to see her once, almost 15 years ago in Pittsburgh at the Byham Theater.  Wonderful.

One of my all-time favorites Youtube videos is the Kennedy Center Honors performance for her from 2011:  Laura Osnes, Kelli O'Hara, Rebecca Luker, Glenn Close, Sutton Foster, Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald performing individually, then the finale was Make Our Garden Grow from Candide with all the ladies, a chorus and orchestra.  WOW!

[Rudy2]

I'm glad I saw her in "Sondheim on Sondheim." She was absolutely dazzling - I'd never have believed that voice if I hadn't heard it myself. ??