Barbara Cook
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Barbara Cook's silvery soprano, purity of tone, and warm presence have delighted audiences around the world for more than 50 years. Recently inducted into the Broadway Hall of Fame, Tony, Grammy, and Drama Desk Award winner Barbara Cook was considered "Broadway's favorite ingenue" during the heyday of the Broadway musical. In subsequent years she launched a second career, as concert and cabaret artist. Whether in the intimate setting of New York's Café Carlyle or on the stages of major international venues the world over, Cook's popularity continues to thrive—as evidenced by her 1997 birthday concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Albert Hall in London, her triumphant returns to Carnegie Hall in 1998 and again in 2001, and her New Year's Eve Millennium concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Along with her longtime accompanist Wally Harper, Cook recently completed a critically acclaimed seven-week engagement at the Lincoln Center Theater (where they will return in summer 2002), performing their popular sensation Mostly Sondheim. They will also bring that show to the Kennedy Center. Mostly Sondheim was recently mounted as a theater piece for the London stage and proved to be the smash hit of the 2001 summer season, garnering two Laurence Olivier Award nominations.

Last year Cook performed with composer-conductor Marvin Hamlisch at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. And she was one of the only American performers chosen to perform at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival in the fabled Sydney Opera House.

The Atlanta native made her Broadway debut in 1951 as the ingenue lead in the musical Flahooley. Next, she played Ado Annie in the City Center revival of Oklahoma!, which was followed by a national tour of that perennial favorite. Her 1954 performance as Carrie Pipperidge in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel led to the role of Hilda Miller in the original production of Plain and Fancy. She went on to create the role of Cunegonde in the original production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, a part she followed up with her portrayal of Marian the Librarian in the premiere production of Meredith Willson's The Music Man; for this performance, Cook earned a Tony. In addition to starring roles in She Loves Me, The Gay Life, and The Grass Harp, Cook also played Mrs. Anna in the legendary City Center revival of The King and I. She appeared in a second production of Carousel at the City Center, this time in the Julie Jordan role. Some time later she played Magnolia in the New York State Theatre production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's fabled Showboat. Cook originated the role of Patsy in Jules Feiffer's Little Murders, and in 1972 she again returned to the dramatic stage in the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center's production of Gorky's Enemies.

In 1974 Cook began a creative partnership with musical arranger, accompanist, composer, dance arranger, and conductor Wally Harper; theirs is a shining model of artistic collaboration and enduring friendship. Numerous recordings mark the journey of this unique 25-year partnership, beginning with BARBARA COOK AT CARNEGIE HALL, a live recording of their legendary 1975 Carnegie Hall debut, now freshly re-released by Sony Records. A subsequent engagement at Carnegie Hall in September 1980 was captured on IT'S BETTER WITH A BAND, produced and arranged by Harper. Cook and Harper have traveled the world together and performed a number of times at the White House—for Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.

In September 1985 Cook appeared with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra as Sally in the renowned concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. She also recorded Rodgers and Hammerstein's CAROUSEL and THE DISNEY ALBUM for MCA. Nominated in 1986 for an Olivier Award for her one-woman show at London's Albery Theatre, Cook received the Drama Desk Award in 1987 for her Broadway show A Concert for the Theatre, a highlight of her then-13-year collaboration with Wally Harper. In October 1991 Cook's appearance as a featured artist with Harper at the Carnegie Hall Gala Music and Remembrance: A Celebration of Great Musical Partnerships underscored their commitment to two important causes: the advancement of the performing arts and support of AIDS research.

Cook's studio recordings include eight original cast albums; two Ben Bagley albums of songs by Jerome Kern and George Gershwin; an album called SONGS OF PERFECT PROPIETY, featuring poems by Dorothy Parker set to music by Seymour Barab; and AS OF TODAY on the Columbia label. Cook can also be heard as the voice of Thumbelina's mother in the Warner Bros. animated film Thumbelina, with music by Barry Manilow, now available on homevideo. Her most recent recordings have been for DRG Records: CLOSE AS PAGES IN A BOOK, featuring the lyrics of Dorothy Fields; BARBARA COOK: LIVE FROM LONDON; OSCAR WINNERS: The Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein; ALL I ASK OF YOU; THE CHAMPION SEASON: A Salute to Gower Champion; and her latest release, BARBARA COOK SINGS MOSTLY SONDHEIM.

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Grabow Entertainment has a proven history since 1983 in the corporate and private entertainment industry, and acts as an entertainment contractor and producer of private and corporate events. We do not claim or represent ourselves as the exclusive agent or management of all the artists included on our roster. We concentrate our efforts on serious inquiries of talent buyers. We are unable to answer fan club information requests, fan email, public relations contacts or questions , or personal requests for contact information for artists or speakers.