Musical theater legend Barbara Cook is taking her cue from a recent New York Times Magazine article written by Frank Rich about Stephen Sondheim, in which the composer talked about songs he wished he had written. She has made his list the theme of her month-long engagement at Feinstein's at the Regency. Accompanied by Wally Harper, her piano accompanist and musical arranger for 25 of her 50 years in show-business, and fine bassist Jon Burr, Cook, by virtue of her luscious soprano voice, is nightly spinning silvery and golden threads around songs by Sondheim and others he wished he'd written. Judging by the emotional range Cook demonstrates, she could also be said to be singing those songs that most deeply affect her. This is not to imply that she over-emotes but rather subtly mines the subtext and sensitivities of each song.
The admired award-winning star of such shows as The Music Man, Candide, and She Loves Me has moved so gracefully and gloriously past the image of ingenue that her recent years as cabaret and concert artist seem almost the high point of an impressive career that is still going higher. If she really has to think (as she confesses) of Kiri Te Kanawa before she attempts the b natural in her signature song, "Ice Cream" from She Loves Me, her thoughts go much deeper when she reveals the poignancy and pain of unrequited love in an ecstatic pair of Sondheim arias from Passion. And a medley of "Not A Day Goes By," from Merrily We Roll Along, and "Losing My Mind" from Follies is almost more rapture than one susceptible can bear.
Cook has included in the mix enough bouncy and sassy songs to keep the set bubbling. The witty and dizzyingly modern patter of Sondheim's "Everybody Says Don't" from Anyone Can Whistle, and "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" from Company flow as breezily from this artful interpreter, as do the familiar sing-a-long-ish lyrics of such old war-horses as "Waiting For The Robert E. Lee," "Hard Hearted Hannah," and "San Francisco." If a romantic peak was reached it was with Irving Berlin's "I Got Lost In His Arms," from Annie Get Your Gun. But, my personal favorite was the bluesy Harold Arlen medley, "The Eagle and Me," from Bloomer Girl, and "I Had Myself A True Love," from St. Louis Woman. Although we were not to find out until the end of her set (thanks to Harper's immodest aside) that the night we attended was Cook's 73rd birthday, her mood and our response was as generally celebratory as one could wish. Living legends don't go on forever, so get over to Feinstein's (where dining is also a treat) before the "Ice Cream" melts.
