As Barbara Cook entered Feinstein’s, singing among the tables as she made her way to the stage, her voice seemed a little thinner than expected. Would she, could she live up to her remarkable reputation? After all, she noted at the start of her performance, this was her first cabaret show in over eight years, and she was singing “new stuff I haven’t sung before.” Would we, the audience, wind up simply paying our respects to a legend?

All it took was three songs for Cook to get into gear and dispel all doubts. In her new show, Here’s to Life, with Lee Musiker as music director and pianist, she lit up the night with her warm glow, her sweet spunky spirit, and her voice—that voice—gliding from note to note and touching the heart. She remains an expert, as both singer and actress, in giving familiar songs new, richer meanings. Her Sondheims (“Send In the Clowns,” “No One is Alone”) shine with plaintiveness and intelligence; her Porter (“I’ve Got You Under My Skin”), at slowed tempo, points up a lover’s happy surprise; her Rodgers and Hart (“Where or When”) illuminates a sense of wonder. Like her role model, Mabel Mercer, Cook steps outside the rules, demonstrating—with her personal warmth, her digging into the meaning of a song, and interpreting it as if it were a happy new discovery—that, no, a song is not just about the notes; it’s about the communication.

Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
April 15, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org