Barbara Cook at Ravinia Tonight!

Tonight, I am going to see Barbara Cook in the Martin Theatre at Ravinia.

Being a musical theatre fag, I am beside myself.

For those of you that don't know the difference between a "Soundtrack" and an "Original Cast Recording" - - and yes, Virginia, there IS a difference - - Ms. Cook is musical theatre, operetta and concert stage royalty.

She originated the role of Marian the Librarian in The Music Man.

She originated the role of Amalia Balash in She Loves Me.

She originated the role of Cunegonde in Candide.

In Candide, she introduced the song Glitter and Be Gay. One of my theme songs.

For the record, some of my other theme songs are...

1) Peggy Lee's Is That All There Is? which describes those guys carrying a baby gherkin who have the nerve to ask if they're hurting me

2) Sondheim's Another Hundred People which describes my "dating" life

3) Loretta Lynn's Fist City for the obvious reason. And if it's not obvious to you, you really don't want to know. Trust me on this one. You probably don't.

Tonight is going to be amazing. I'm sure of it. I very much hope that Ms. Cook will sing Sondheim's In Buddy's Eyes this evening. As you can see from the video, Barbara Cook understands the song and sings it like no one else on the planet. Period.



For an added treat, be sure to watch for Elaine Stritch at about the 2:09 point in the clip.

Barbara Cook is rehearsing her song, surrounded by actors and actresses and the music that she is producing is angelic. It stops the room cold. Nobody moves.

Except Stritch. She's fishing through her bag looking for a cigarette. She finally finds one and then proceeds to change her shoes. For awhile. Elaine pays more attention to her own feet than to Cook and I love every second of it.

You may not find it funny, but to me it's pure Stritch. Even without screaming one note, she's hysterical.