Ellis Nassour

Unlike her big moment in the 1992 Broadway reading of Salome and her scenes in the Sidney Lumet film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, where she left nothing to the imagination, Oscar winner Marisa Tomei will be doing a change of pace at the Drama Desk and Obie-honored Flea Theatre [41 White Street, between Broadway and Church Streets] in Oh, the Humanity and Other Good Intentions by Pulitzer finalist Will Eno.

The production of these five short plays dealing with contemporary realities runs through December 22.

Eno garnered international attention with Thom Pain (based on nothing), which played to acclaim in London, Edinburgh and New York and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Tomei received a Supporting Actress Oscar for My Cousin Vinny and a nomination for In the Bedroom.

Tickets are $18, through tomorrow, to Flea members and, one hour prior to curtain, on a first-come/first-served basis to the public at the Flea box office. Beginning next Monday, tickets will be $50 and $60. They are available by calling (212) 352-3101 or online at theflea.org.

Friars Fete Friar Bebe Neuwirth

Tony and Emmy-winning star, dancer extraordinaire and new Friar Bebe Neuwirth, right on the heels of being honored by Inside Broadway for her theatrical outreach work and tributed with Rolex Gold at the Career Transitions for Dancers gala, will be grilled in the grill room of the Friar's Club on November 28 by New York Post theater columnist and Theater Talk co-host Michael Riedel. The event is being produced by Friar Randie Levine-Miller. Freddie Roman is head Friar.

Support Off Broadway!

Talks may have collapsed between the striking stagehands and the League of American Producers and Theatres, which is a darn shame (an even worse shame is that they do not plan to meet again until next week). Sadly, the majority of Broadway theatres are dark, inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of local and out of town theatergoers, during one of the theater season's usually busiest times. One door shuts, another opens; so don't sit home alone watching reruns. There's Off Bway and cabaret. Both are jumping. It's Turkey Lurkey Time. Happy Thanksgiving!

Ebersole and Stritch Create Winter Wonderland

Jim Caruso's Cast Party and TheaterMania.com are presenting Tony and DD-winner Christine Ebersole and pianist Billy Stritch in the holiday treat Winter Wonderland at Birdland December 5 and 6 at 8:30 and December 7 and 8 at 8:30 and 11.

The duo will perform seasonal standards and Ebersole will debut songs from her upcoming CD, Sunday In New York. Tickets are $40 with a $10 food/drink minimum [VIP tickets, $60 with the minimum] and can be purchased by calling (212) 581-3080 or online at www.birdlandjazz.com.

Golden-throated Luba Mason Returns

When Luba Mason enters a room, heads turn. After all, she's tall, blonde, beautiful, exotic and carries herself with the kind of je ne sais quoi that says she owns the world. When this classically trained Broadway babe sings, she has all ears.

You can enter Mason's ultra-sensual celestial zone for four nights, November 23-26 at the Metropolitan Room [34 West 22nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues] at 10 P.M. as her voice rocks the intimate room with a blend of Latin, pop, jazz and folk. Ed Alstrom will music direct as well as play keyboards, accompanied by his trio.

Mason, a first-generation American born to Slovak parents, participaticed in all manner of ethnic entertainments growing up in Queens. When she began auditioning after college, she worked extensively in regional theater, where she met Michael John LaChiusa, a budding composer who became a lifelong friend.

She wasn't so sure how show business would accept her given name and went through a period of Americanizing it. She finally settled on Luba, which is Slovak for love. Mason is her name from her first marriage.

After meeting Ruben Blades on Broadway, she was tapped as a guest vocalist for his acclaimed CD Mundo, which won a 2002 Grammy Award. Mason received kudos from critcs, who called her crystal-clear pop soprano "celestial" and "soaring." Not long after, she became more than a guest in Blades' life. After a long courtship, a nice diamond engagement ring materialzed. The couple recently celebrated their first anniversary.

"Not only have I studied and can now sing in Spanish," she says proudly, "I've been learning how to cook a lot of Spanish dishes."

In 2005, she was on Broadway as Velma "opposite," as she puts it, "fellow Amazon Brooke Shields" in Chicago, where she also worked with Debra Monka, who at the time was playing matron Mama Morton.

Her first big featured role on Broadway was in the 1987 revival of How To Succeed..., where she as Hedy La Rue she proved a secretary is not a toy opposite Matthew Broderick, Ronn Carroll, Victoria Clark, Jonathan Freeman and Megan Mullally. Her duet with Carroll, "Love from a Heart of Gold" was a showstopper.

When Linda Eder announced she was leaving Jekyll & Hyde, Mason was determined the part would be hers. Not so fast, there. Known for her dancing and comic skills, director Robin Phillips and composer Frank Wildhorn weren't convinced she had a Eder-type voice. "But I persisted," she reports, "and finally got in. I sang, and that was that." Her renditions of "A New Life" and "Someone Like Me" never failed to bring the house down.

Mason got her feet wet, so to speak, "learning a lot about Broadway and also comedy in two very dissimilar projects." Mason refers to her Broadway debut under the name of Kim Freshwater in the 1987 four-performance flop Late Night Comic [*]; and two years later, rechristened Lubitza Gregus, in five performances in comedy legend and TV pioneer Sid Caesar's revue. Featured roles in Sunset Boulevard and The Will Rogers Follies followed.

In 1998, she auditioned for the much-anticipated Paul Simon musical The Capeman starring Marc Anthony as young Salvador Argon and and Blades as the older Argon. The show only lasted 68 performances but it led to her introduction to Blades.

Then, time off for good behavior. "I had time to really think about what I wanted to do," says Mason. That turned out to mean going West and working on an album, "which I never would have had time to do if I'd remained in New York. You get wound up in shows and benefits, it's hard to focus on anything."

The result was the CD Collage [PS Classics], produced by Jeffrey Lesser. The 14 tracks live up to the title. There are songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Elvis Costello, Neil Diamond, George Harrison, Van Morrison, a memorable rendition of Lou Reed's post-9/11 commentary "The Calm Before the Storm" and Blades, who joins Mason for a super rendition of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now."

Most recently, Mason was appearing in epsodic TV. Then, with a wish to return to her theater roots, she auditioned for what had the potential to be one of the most talked-about musicals of all time, the musical [yes!] adaptation of Cecil B. DeMille's blockbuster film The Ten Commandments at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. "Sorry to say, it was talked about, but not in such a positive way," says Mason. She described the production as "absolutely incredible, but not especially in a good way."

Her portrayal of Egyptian princess Bithia who discovers Moses in the rushes and becomes his foster mother received good notices. She appeared opposite Val Kilmer as Moses She raved about Kilmer's professionalism in the face of an overblown and not-ready-for-primetime production. In spite of all the miracles God endowed upon Moses to perform, it doesn't seem bringing the musical to Broadway will be one of them.

Mason is no stranger to cabaret, having performed in at L.A'.s famed Roosevelt Cinegrill and Vibrato clubs plus Opia and Cafe Versailles here. A lesser known fact about Mason is that she's an accomplished pianist.

Before arriving in New York, Mason broke in her act in Chcago and San Francisco. She's spent the last few months finishing up a CD with music she's written in an acoustic Brazilian jazz style with two songs sung in Portuguese. She'll preview some of the material at the Metropolitan Room.

For reservations to see Luba Mason, call (212) 206-0440 or go online at www.metropolitanroom.com. There's a $30 cover with a two-drink minimum.

Also at the Metropolitan Room

Liz Callaway appears tonight through the 30th for six nights at various times. Christine Pedi will perform an early show on the 25th and a late show on the 30th.

*

Composer/lyricist Brian Gari, the grandson of stage and film legend Eddie Cantor, who resurrected memories of his short-lived musical with his book We Bombed in New London—the Inside Story of the Broadway musical Late Nite Comic [Bearmanor Media, 2006] now has a recording of the score and songs cut from the show. The 20th Anniversary edition CD, due December 1 on Original Cast Records with proceeds benefiting the Actors' Fund, features Liz Callaway, Mario Cantone, Jason Graae, Rupert Holmes, Brian D'Arcy James, Liz Larsen, Howard McGillin, Julia Murney, Daniel Reichard, Tony Roberts, Seth Rudetsky, Paul Shaffer, Mary Testa, Martin Vidnovic, Sal Viviano, Karen Ziemba and Chip Zien.

Feinstein at Feinstein's

Next Tuesday through December 29, four-time Grammy nominee Michael Feinstein will help ring in the holiday season with a festive program at his namesake club in the Regency Hotel [540 Park Avenue at 61st Street]. The all-new show, Winter Dreams, will contain seasonal favorites and standards, as well as tributes to Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Tony Martin and Kay Thompson.

Feinstein, who recently completed a sold-out two-week engagement in the West End, will be accompanied by musical director John Oddo on piano with a trio featuring guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. His latest CD is Hopeless Romantics [Concord Records], a songbook of Harry Warren classics recorded with legendary jazz pianist George Shearing. Recently he hosted and produced The Great American Songbook, a PBS special, now available on DVD [Warner Home Video].

All shows have a $95 cover and a $40 minimum. Jackets are suggested, but not required. For reservations, call (212) 339-4095 or visit online at feinsteinsattheregency.com and TicketWeb.com.

This is the last week, through November 26, to catch Chita Rivera's extraordinary return engagement. If Linda Eder pops your cork, plan ahead. She'll be holding court at Feinstein's New Year's Eve.

Zip It

Gay Marshall, named by Playbill as one of the Top Ten Divas of 2006 for her performance in the recent revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, brings her acclaimed solo show back to The Zipper [336 West 37th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues], where she co-starred in JBIAAWALIP, for four performances November 27 through December 18, all at 7:30.

She plans an eclectic array of songs from blues and jazz and Piaf and Brel; in addition, she'll share her French/American experience in comedic excerpts from her one-woman shows If I Were Me and Piaf: La Vie l'Amour. Marshall appeared on Broadway in ACL and played Grizabella in the original French production of Cats.

Tickets for Gay Marshall at the Zipper are $25 in advance and available by calling Ovation Tix at (212) 352-3101, online at www.thezipperfactory.com; and, if available $30 at the door.

The Sound of Music with Strings Attached

Talk about a family treat for the holidays! The renowned Salzburg Marionette Theatre's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music and Mozart's Magic Flute will play two metropolitan-area dates. The company is celebrating its 94th year.

The elaborate, beautifully costumed, all-marionette production of TSOM, directed by Richard Hamburger, is set to a new fully orchestrated recording featuring, among numerous others, Christiane Noll and Tony-nominee and DD-winner and Broadway Unplugged veteran Martin Vidnovic as Maria and Captain von Trapp; Spring Awakening's Tony and DD-nominated Jonathan Groff as Rolf and Friederich von Trapp; Bill Youmans as Max; two-time Tony and DD-nominee Crista Moore as Elsa; Michael McCarty as Franz; Jeanne Lehman as the Mother Abbess; and Tarzan's Jane, Jenn Gambatese, as Louisa. The music is performed by the Istropolis Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Larry Blank.

TSOM plays solo at NJPAC's Victoria Theatre November 30–December 2. Tickets are $49 for adults, $26 for children under 14; and available by calling (888) 466-5722, at Newark's NJPAC box office or online at www.njpac.org.

TSOM plays four performances December 7, 8 and 9 and TMF one performance on December 8 at 7 P.M. in Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tickets are $15-$45 and available by calling (212) 570-3949, at the box office in the Great Hall or online at www.metmuseum.org/tickets.

The holiday season at the Met is in full swing with the stunning Baroque nativity creche, Christmas tree, concerts [December 18 and 19 ] and carols [December 20] with choristers from the Church of the Heavenly Rest. The concerts are at 6:30 and 8:30. To reserve, visit the above online address or box office.

John Ford Silent Classic Restored

One of the early works of legendary Western film director John Ford, that was originally supposed to be presented in the New York Film Festival, will be shown in its miraculously fully-restored print with orchestral scoring when the Film Society of Lincoln Center screens 1924's two-and-a-quarter-hour classic The Iron Horse at the Walter Reade Theater on November 27 at 2 and 7 P.M.

Kudos to 20th Century Fox for their digital restoration. No one knows how the negative survived, but it's believed that since Ford also produced the film he managed to somehow perserve it.

Starring is 20s hunk George O'Brien, a sort of pre-John Wayne [whom Ford would discover two years later] and an actor who easily made the transition from silents to talkies. He plays Davy Brandon, the son of a surveyor with dreams of building a railway to the West. The father is killed by a white man masquarading as an Indian [in attempts to raise Cheyenne uprisings as a means to stop the transcontinental railroad]. The role is played by one of the screen's great villians, Fred Kohler, then in his hunky prime [his partial right hand is no screen trick, but the result of a mine accident]. There are some excellent character roles among the Irish and Italian immigrants who laid the tracks and pounded the spikes.

Four-time Oscar-winner Ford took three years to film this epic. He was 29 and this was his 52nd film; however, as may have been the custom then in silents, he isn't credited. The producer is. Ford had two worker towns built and used more than 5,000 extras [including Chinese workers, Pawnee soldiers and, for the most part, real Indians]. He proved his mastery of narrative by weaving a revenge tale into the fabric of American history. He painted a wide canvas, covering the aftermath of the Civil War where Blue and Gray worked side-by-side, Lincoln's presidency, warring Indians and even got in and Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickock.

For audiences of the time, the big draw was the train ambush by the Cheyenne Indians, but there are amazing sequences such as roaming herds of buffalo, stampeding cattle, stunning scenic vistas. There are impressive closeups, but the camera is stationary 99% of the time. You might detect a slight move to the left twice, but nothing approaching a pan shot, which evidently hadn't come into favor. The entire film was shot on location.

O'Brien, the son of a San Francisco police chief who went on to stardom not only on the athletic field and as a WWI heavyweight boxing champion, appeared in over 85 films, including six helmed by Ford. He co-starred with Janet Gaynor in 1927's Oscar winner Sunrise, directed by famed German emigre F.W. Murnau.

For a silent, it has none of the trademarks of films of that era, such as those circular and wipe fadeouts. The extraordinary cinematography [shot from under speeding trains and atop them] is by George Schneiderman. The recently added symphonic score is composed, orchestrated and conducted by Chirstopher Caliendo.

Single screening tickets for The Iron Horse are $11, $7 for Film Society members, students and seniors and are available at the Walter Reade box office and online at www.filmlinc.com.

Pasolini Remembered

The Italian Cultural Institute and Fondazione Aida in collaboration with the Film Society of Lincoln Center are presenting a tribute to controversial Italian filmmaker and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini from November 26 through December 4 onscreen, in exhibition, concert and readings.

Locations include the Italian Cultural Institute, the Film Society's Walter Reade, the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery, Joe's Pub, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò. The series is sponsored by Consorzio per la Tutela dell'Asti Spumante.

Pasolini's murder at age 53 transformed an already controversial and extraordinary artist into an iconic figure. It's been a decade since his work has been exhibited here. His significance as film writer and director increased with the release of the notorious Salò: 120 Days of Sodom, which will screen December 2 at 4 P.M. and December 3 at 8 at the Walter Reade.

FSLC will screen 11 of Pasolini's features and shorts and documentaries on his work. Among other films to be screened are Accattone, Mamma Roma, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, The Hawks and the Sparrows and Teorema.

For complete information on screenings and events, visit www.filmlinc.com, www.iicnewyork.esteri.it and www.fondazioneaida.it.

A Classical Bonanza on CD

There have been so many changes in the recording industry due to mergers and acquisitions. For instance, BMG, bought RCA; Sony bought Columbia; then BMG and Sony merged. In the process, classical music got shortchanged. So it's good news that Sony BMG has reactivated the respected RCA Red Seal series.

A host of hard to find classical composers in the once-famous Living Stereo series has been released, all totally-remastered. Some highllights of the latest releases are: Berlioz's Harold in Italy and four overtures, including Roman Carnival, [1958, 1959] with William Primrose on violin and Charles Munch conducting the Boston Symphony [SRP $10]; Mahler's The Song of the Earth, one of the first [1959] stereo recordings of the composer's epic and haunting symphony, featuring contralto Maureen Forrester and tenor Richard Lewis under the baton of Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony [SRP $11]; the acclaimed pianist Arthur Rubinstein with Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2 [SRP $12], Franck's Symphonic Variations and Liszt's Concerto No. 1 [with full symphony conducted by Alfred Wallenstein [1956, 1958] [SRP, $11]; and Richard Strauss' Symphonia Domestica and the charming French Baroque Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme with Reiner and the Chicago Symnphony [1956], unmatched in their interpretations of Strauss [SRP, $11].

Posted by Matthew Murray at 10:09 AM | Permalink

The New York Philharmonic will host a belated celebration of and with Barbara Cook to mark her 80th birthday, which was October 25. Miss Cook will reminisce about her storied career and sing from her lengthy repertory of songs by Bernstein and Comden and Green, Lerner and Loewe, Arlen and Mercer, Gershwin and Caesar, Hammerstein and Romberg and, among others, a friend named Stephen. The concerts are Monday and Tuesday at 7:30 at Avery Fisher Hall.

This week's birthday concerts mark Miss Cook's first time with the Philharmonic since playing Sally in the still-talked-about 1985 concert version of Follies. Lee Musiker will music direct in his Philharmonic debut and accompany on keyboards.

Sondheim will be in the concert repertory. She doesn't think of his tunes as songs but as gifts. "I love the simplicity and the clarity of Irving Berlin, and Stephen's work has that also. There's something so rich about his work that I never tire of his songs. The more I do them, the more I'm finding different things and subtleties. Quite simply, nobody writes as he does."

The 80th Birthday celebration will culminate in London December 2 with an all-star West End World AIDS Day concert, Barbara Cook and Friends at the London Coliseum. Such stars as Ruthie Henshall, Julia McKenzie, Elaine Paige and Sian Phillips will join her. The concert will benefit Interact Worldwide, a UK-based international AIDS charity.

Barbara Cook's pure soprano tone and warm presence have delighted audiences around the world for more than 50 years. Considered a favorite ingenue during the heyday of the Broadway musical, Miss Cook launched a second career as a concert and recording artist.

In her trasdemark black pants, black pull-over that's a cross between a chemise and a poncho and those oh-so-comfortable sandals, Miss Cook has been equally at home on international stages, such as London's Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall or intimate cabaret settings, such as Cafe Carlyle, where she often rang in Spring with long-time collaborator and accompanist [the late] Wally Harper, and Feinstein's at Loews Regency.

She has a much-lauded career with Tony, Drama Desk, New York Drama Critics Circle and Grammy Awards. Miss Cook is a Theatre Hall of Fame inductee. In January, Miss Cook became the first female pop singer to be presented by the Metropolitan Opera in its 123-year history.

Her 2004 engagments on the West End and at Lincoln Center's Beaumont Theatre, Barbara Cook's Broadway, were hot tickets and received critical raves. Three years earlier, she premiered Mostly Sondheim at Carnegie Hall and took it to the West End, where she was nominated for Olivier Awards for Best Entertainment and Best Actress in a Musical.

Returning stateside, she took the show to the Beaumont for 14 sold-out weeks, and was Tony-nominated for Best Theatrical Event. Miss Cook and Harper, a team for over 30 years, were recipients of MAC Lifetime Achievement Awards.

It's been quite a lifetime for the seemingly ageless Miss Cook, who possesses one of the most impressive lyric soprano voices in show business.

Miss Cook arrived in New York from Atlanta in 1948 "to seek my fame and fortune." It took three years. "Considering the great talents in theater at that time," she says, "that was pure luck." A long-term cabaret experience in Boston prepared her for Broadway and clubs. "I spent nine months doing revues with small casts. The music was orter, Gershwin and Berlin."

She made her Broadway debut at 23 in 1951 as the ingenue lead in Flahooley, went on to play Ado Annie in the City Center revival of Oklahoma!, did the national tour and, in 1954, was a memorable Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel. She went on to create roles in Plain and Fancy, the original Candide as Cunegonde, The Music Man as Marian the Librarian, The Gay Life, She Loves Me!, The Grass Harp and, less we forget, Carrie.

The original Candide lasted only 73 performances, but what a pedigree it boasts: the only musical libretto by Lillian Hellman and one of Leonard Bernstein's best scores. Lyricist, John LaTouche, died prior to rehearsals and Richard Wilbur took over. However, no less than Dorothy Parker made a few contributions.

"When I heard who was putting it together," explains Miss Cook, "I wanted to be cast, but never thought I'd get a part. My vocal instructor insisted I learn Verdi, Puccini and Mozart, even though I kept telling him it wasn't the type of music I wanted to sing."

As it turned out, that insistence was a huge pay off when she arrived at her first audition and found she was surrounded by opera singers.

Bernstein was always late, "but," relates Miss Cook, "I used the waiting time to look over the sheet music and, with all those high notes, you could have mistaken it for grand opera."

Audition she did, and Bernstein was impressed enough to want to hear more, but not what she was prepared to sing. In what she called quite a brazen and foolhardy moment, she told the mastro that she would do an aria from Madama Butterlfy if she had the music.

"He said, 'I don't need the music! I know it.' And Mr. Bernstein sat at the piano and started playing - at a different place than I knew. He was playing a part of the aria I didn't know! But we got on the same page and I gathered all my strength and ended with a D Flat and, boy, did he perk up!"

As one might assume, Miss Cook learned a lot about music working with Bernstein. "He was wonderful and made me feel as if I could do anything." She adds, "He loved to catch you off guard. There was, however, one time I could have strangled him. He came to my dressing room and took great delight in telling me Callas was out front. 'That's not what I need to hear before a performance,' I shot back. He laughed and replied, 'Watch out! She'd kill for some of your E Flats!'"

Miss Cook was a memorable Anna in the City Center revival of The King and I, appeared in their production of Carousel as Julie Jordan and did a stunning portrayal of Magnolia in the New York State Theater's production of Show Boat. She ventured into non-musical roles during the run of Any Wednesday, in Jules Feiffer's Little Murders and the Lincoln Center production of Gorky's Enemies.

There is one theatrical experience she omits and it won't take long to figure why.

Tastes had changed and the Barbara Cook of Carousel, The Music Man and She Loves Me found her style of music was out-of-favor with "audiences that count." Work was hard to find. When director Terry Hands offered her the co-starring role in the original production of the infamous Carrie at Stratford in the Royal Shakespeare Company production it seemed like a good idea. It would be a new start.

Casting her as Margaret White was quite unusal casting [the part was played on Broadway for a few nights by Betty Buckley]. Throughout her career, Miss Cook played those nice girls Broadway audiences of that period loved. She wasn't quite your vision of a rabid religious fanatic, but she dug in and gave it her all. There were more than a few "creative differences" during rehearsals as she and Hands got into heated arguments. She wanted to quit but thought that would be unprofessional, so she courageously stuck with the show.

"Courageously" is not used casually. "On opening night," reports Miss Cook, "in one of those freak stage accidents, I was almost decapitated when one of the props malfunctioned!" She wanted out as soon as posible. "I did absolutely the right thing in leaving. It was a debacle. There were some good songs, but as a whole it was...Oh, God!"

Hands, then a leading light of the RSC, she explains "had a good vision - in the beginning. But he was used to directing works by dead authors. He'd never done a musical [actually, he had]. Carrie was a whole different can of worms. And I think we may have had a few cans of them onstage!

"I don't know if it was so much ill-conceived, or just problem-plagued," she continues. "The biggest problem was that not one person working on it had done a show from scratch. No one had a clue as to how to fix it. I thought if a scene didn't work, Terry would see it. He didn't."

Miss Cook's new theatrical beginning was not to be. She admits she found solace in alcohol, "which led to manic depression. Somewhere, somehow when I saw how I was spiraling to that point of no return, I pulled myself up and sought help."

Part of her "recuperation" was getting back onstage and singing. And her concert appearances and new recordings led to a rediscovery from new audiences.

Miss Cook has a long memory and jokes about Broadway's so-called "Golden Years," saying, "I didn't know it. I was just walking, one foot in front of the other, wondering where my next job would come from. Do you think, one day, the actors working today will look back at this time as the 'Golden Years' of musicals."

On second thought, rolling off names such as Ethel Merman, Gwen Verdon, Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews and the shows they were appearing in at the time, she opines "I guess those were golden years. And I was lucky to be where I was. It was just the right time and I was the right package. I was so fortunate to have worked with such amazing people."

For Music Man, Miss Cook won a 1958 Tony. Strangely, it was in the Featured category but she was the co-star with Robert Preston and billed above the title.

She says she couldn't have asked for a more outstanding, easy-going or nicer co-star than Preston. "It was such a pleasure to come to work and hard to believe you were enjoying every day as much as you were. Robert was the engine of the show, the spark. Onstage, he had enough electricity to light Chicago for ten years!

"It was nice being in a show that was such a hit," she adds. "Everyone who was anyone came, and came back after. One night Robert came into my dressing room for our usual chit chat and said, 'Coop's out front.' I replied, 'Coop?' He said, 'Yes, Coop. Gary Cooper.' That got my attention. I told him if I didn't meet Gary Cooper there'd be hell to pay. After the curtain, there was a knock on my door. I opened it and there he was. I looked up at him and said, 'Oh, Mr. Cooper, it's so wonderful to meet you. I'm a huge fan.' And Gary Cooper replied, 'Gosh.' And that was it. Yes, there are some disappointments in life."

There was a huge one in 1964. Her She Loves Me! co-star Jack Cassidy was nominated for a Tony, but in her intergral role as Amalia Balash she was inexplicably overlooked by the Tony nominators. What made the oversight more unbelievable was the fact that Miss Cook had become a musical theater darling.

Though concerts and cabaret are her bread and butter, "Broadway," she says, "is still my first love." She was thrilled to be named to the Theater Hall of Fame in the early 90s.

"Candide, She Loves Me! and The Music Man were great experiences. Though I haven't done musical theater since 1971's The Grass Harp, there's nothing like it. I loved everything about it, especially the rehearsal period and being with people all working toward one goal. I made bonds that will last forever. Theater offers a wonderful sense of family and camaraderie. Even when you don't always get along!"

What? Not get along with Cunegonde, Marian the Librarian and Amalia Balash? "No, when they didn't get along with Barbara Cook," she reports. "It happened occasionally. But usually it was like we were all fighting on the same side, in the trenches, watching out for each other."

On those rare occasions when there were serious falling outs or a problem with a fellow performer, Cook says it was difficult to leave hurt feelings backstage, especially when she had to go out and sing a romantic ballad and do a love scene. "A couple of times it was quite the most difficult thing!" she emphasizes. "Most of the time, however, I just went out and did it. I didn't have a choice. Thankfully, the problems I had didn't last long. I'd try to patch things up quickly.

"It all comes down to the fact that you're not out there alone," she continues. "Some actors thrive on that. I never did. I hate that! I always tried to keep things cool because it's hard to work if you feel you can't trust the other person."

Miss Cook was greatly influenced in her approach to concert and cabaret music by the legendary song stylist Mabel Mercer. "I owe so much to Mabel for all I learned from her."

Over the years, it's often been noted that Cook's crystal soprano changed. Of course, she's aged, gained weight and isn't in the best physical shape. The voice is a shade darker but not in a blatant or perceptible way. There are other singers much younger who still perform and shouldn't. Miss Cook often forgets lyrics to songs she's sung a thousand times. Many wonder if it's a little trick to milk the audience. However, when she sings, it's magic.

Miss Cook is still blessed with the ability of sustaining mesmerizing and lengthy high notes with great clarity. She may not be younger than springtime, but her voice certainly is. It's amazing how very personal she makes the lyrics. You see she's feeling them and that makes for an affecting performance.

Now, at the milestone of her 80th years, you might wonder how much longer she can go on. "It's something I love doing," says Miss Cook, "so, as long as I can do it, why stop?"

Surprisingly, she never does vocal exercises. "I was fortunately born with a naturally sweet soprano. I had a wonderful vocal teacher who helped me build my voice. I learned good technique and I've always done what I was supposed to do. A lot of it has to do with the genes."

The person who often told her what to do was the person she trusted most, her rock, Harper. His death in 2004 was a devastating blow. Theirs was an incredible partnership where one seemed to know what the other was thinking before they even thought it. That's not to say they didn't argue and disagree. "Just like old friends," she laughs, "we went at each other over just about everything under the sun. In spite of that, we got along quite nicely. Now that I think about it, maybe it was because we rarely disagreed. On those occasions when we did, I listened to him. The best I can say about Wally is that he was simply a musical genius!"

From their first meetings in the 70s, Harper wanted to add another "element" to Miss Cook. She explained he really pushed her, not always willingly, to experiment to see what she was capable of doing. The result was the addition of a strong rhythmic pattern to her vocals.

Musiker is bringing a wealth of experience to the podium Monday and Tuesday. A fourth-generation musician, he's not only performed with the Philharmonic, New York City and American Ballet, the London Symphony and the Boston Pops, but has performed her and abroad as pianist with his trio.

Tickets for Barbara Cook's 80th Birthday Celebration with the New York Philharmonic are $29 to $119 and avaiable at the Avery Fisher box office, online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656.

A Monday without Amps and Mikes

Scott Siegel's Broadway Unplugged is back tomorrow night at 8 P.M. at Town Hall and amps and mikes be damned. The sound from the starry array of vocalists will be the old-fashioned kind, the way it used to be on Broadway: without microphones and amplification. You might say the credit can read: Sound design by God.

There will be approximately 20 stars, including Sarah Uriarte Berry, Darius de Haas, Max Von Essen, Marc Kudisch, Aaron Lazar, Beth Leavel, Andrea McArdle, William Michals, Paul Schoeffler, Emily Skinner, Martin Vidnovic and Barbara Walsh. Musical direction is by Ross Patterson who'll be on keyboards accompanied by his Little Big Band. Dan Foster is directing. Siegel will host.

"Marc Kudisch [on his off night from his tour-de-force in Stephen Flahery and Lynn Ahrens' The Glorious Ones] and Emily Skinner continue to be its foundation. The gold standard is represented by William Michals and Martin Vidnovic. We keep adding 'booming' talent. Aaron Lazar, Max Von Essen, Sarah Jane McMahon and Michael McElroy are new to Unplugged."

Lazar, Von Essen and McMahon proved their mettle by bringing down the house at Town Hall singing unplugged in Siegel's Broadway by the Year last season.

Broadway Unplugged is sponsored by the Edythe Kenner Foundation, Thoroughbred Records, TheaterMania.com, Trattoria Dopo Teatro, Jill and Irwin Cohen, Edith and Ervin Drake, Peter and Barbara Leavy, Fred Landau, Stuart E. Bloom and Robert Aaron: Lightstyles, LLC.

Tickets are $75, $50, or $25 and available at the Town Hall box office, through TicketMaster, (212) 307-4100, or www.ticketmaster.com.

A CD Launch in Elegant Style

The Jay Records cast album of the York Theater one night benefit production of Richard and Robert Sherman's Busker Alley, which starred Tony and Drama Desk winners Jim Dale and Glenn Close, will be launched on November 30, but not in a record megastore. The setting will be very first class: the majesty of Cunard's Queen Mary 2, docked in Brooklyn.

There will be lunch and a theatrical presentation directed by multi-Tony Award-winning theater/film designer Tony Walton, who helmed last November's benefit at the Kaye Playhouse. The musical staging reunited old friends Dale and Close, who starred in Barnum [1980]. It was also a reunion for Close and Walton, who worked together on Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing [1984]

Also starring were John Bolton, Jessica Grove, George S. Iriving, Simon Jones, Greg Mills, Noah Racey, Krista Rodriguez, Anne Rogers, Michael Lane Trautman and Jeff Williams.

The book is by A.J. Carothers, based on the 1938 British film St. Martin's Lane [released in the U.S. as The Sidewalks of London] which starred Charles Laughton, Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison.

Busker Alley Partners have plans to bring the musical to Broadway next year starring Dale. That would be 39 years after the Shermans and Carothers finished it. The show's storied path to Broadway and the pratfalls along the way are now part of theatrical lore.

The Shermans, long a mainstay of anything that came out of Disney Studios with a song score [Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and one of the most played and best loved songs of all time, "It's A Small World"] will be honored.

Aaron Gandy will be music directing. Lisa Shriver will be choreographing. Among Walton's design credits is the acclaimed Guys and Dolls and Annie Get Your Gun revivals, the original Chicago , A Funny Thing Happened..., Grand Hotel, 1776, She Loves Me, Pippin, and The Will Rogers Follies. He will be directing Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, which begins performances at Irish Repertory on December 5. Last night he was honored by the National Arts Club with their Medal of Honor.

The event will be filmed for a Disney documentary about the Shermans.

Breakthrough for Early Thanksgiving?

According to sources involved in weekend negotiations between striking stagehands and the League of American Producers and Theatres, a major breakthough is predicted. As one producer active in the talks put it, "Let's hope by the end of Sunday, there will be compromises, handshakes around the table and that by Tuesday all Broadway shows will be up and running." He thought for a moment, then added, "Of course, there are no guarantees. If they dig their heels in, we're in big trouble."

If they don't, it will be just in time for the normally huge box office of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The sentiment on the picket lines was mostly for a quick settlement, as dragging the strike on is only creating ill will among theatergoers. One stagehand picketing in front of the St. James encountered a very irate parent who had tickets for The Grinch... and accused him of ruining her family's holiday trip to town.

Let's bring back Broadway...and soon!

Posted by Ellis Nassour at 3:44 AM | Permalink