Thursday, November 8, 2012

Barbara, revisited.

Since I wrote the blog on Barbara Cook last night, I have it on excellent authority that she has not had plastic surgery but has simply lost weight.

Whatever she did, she looks as beautiful as I remember her when she was Marian the Librarian.

Quoting the title of my first book on singing: Sing On! Sing On!, dear Barbara!!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Let it snow

This afternoon, two intrepid friends and I drove to Princeton, NJ through rain and snow to listen to a legend sing.

Eighty-five year old Barbara Cook walked out on stage with the help of a cane, sat down, and enchanted a frost-bitten audience  for an hour and a half.

I last heard her several years ago at the Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington. Her voice has lost a little of its luster since then, but she still sings with that sweet sound that has identified her for years.

The program included a number of interesting songs that I was not familiar with. Most of the songs were on the quiet side with a couple of up-tempo numbers thrown in.

Barbara Cook Kennedy Center HonoreeShe now sings mostly in the middle octave of her voice with an occasional trip into head voice. No more 'Glitter and be Gay'. But she is really amazing.

Magically, she has lost the double chin that was obvious when last I saw her. Far be it from me to suggest plastic surgery, but if that is what happened, the results are sensational. She looks great!

On the drive home, the intrepid Jim did the driving honors through feet of snow. Rte 33, a major NJ highway, was like driving through a field. New Jersey goes into a South Carolina mode at any sign of snow. But he got Peggy and me home safe and sound. We celebrated with chocolate chip cookies.

Barbara announced that she was planning to keep on singing and singing and singing, and I see no reason why that will not happen.