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Thursday, November 7th, 2019

Turn Back Time : we revisit Barbara Cook as a Kennedy Awards Honoree in 2011

 

The Tony Award winning actress and singer BARBARA COOK arrived on Broadway in the 1950’s and never  disappeared from the limelight until her death in 2017 at the age of 89.. She was in the very first production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, created the role created the award winning role of Marian the Librarian in Meredith Willson’s 1957 hit The Music Man.  She launched the second part of her career as cabaret singer in the 1970’s with her accompanist Wally Harper and became one of the very best interpreters of Sondheim.

Cook became the first female pop singer to be presented by the Metropolitan Opera; she received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for her contribution to the musical theater; she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame; performed at The White House for Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton

Cook also solidified her position as a beloved Gay Icon for numerous fundraising concerts to help people with AIDS.

In 2011 she was one of the 34th Annual Kennedy Honorees and in from of President and Mrs Obama was played tribute too with stunning  performances from ::

Laura Osnes: “This is All Very New to Me” from Plain and Fancy
Rebecca Luker: “Will I Ever Tell You?” from The Music Man
Kelli O’Hara: “Will He Like Me?” from She Loves Me
Glenn Close: “Losing My Mind” from Follies
Sutton Foster: “Everybody Says Don’t” from Anyone Can Whistle
Patti LuPone: “Come Rain or Come Shine” from St. Louis Woman
Audra McDonald: “Till There Was You” from The Music Man
“Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide

By the time Audra broke into the finale , there were not many few dry eyes in the house …….especially from follow honoree Meryl Streep.   It was a fitting celebration to a remarkable lady that many of us will never forget


Posted by queerguru  at  19:26


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