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Friday, February 14, 2003

By Betsy Kline, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

More than 50 years ago, Barbara Cook, a honey-voiced ingenue from Atlanta, stepped into her first Broadway role in the 1951 musical "Flahooley." The show flopped, but Cook went on to wow 'em in "She Loves Me" and "Candide" and won a Tony Award as Marian the Librarian in the original cast of "The Music Man."

	'MOSTLY SONDHEIM' WHERE: Byham Theater, Downtown. WHEN: 7:30 tonight; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. TICKETS: $31-$41 (students with ID $26.50); 412-456-6666.

This weekend, the veteran songstress will flood the Byham Theater with the lyrical musings of more than a dozen characters in her critically acclaimed show, "Mostly Sondheim." But forget the costume changes and the dramatic dialogue; this show is about the music, pure and not so simple.

"Certainly, what I do now is more vocally demanding than any show I've ever done," Cook said in an interview this week from her New York City home. "In a show, you need to sing as the character would sing and speak as she would speak. I'm going out there as Barbara, and that's liberating. Some people think it is dangerous, but I don't. I'm putting my own signature on those songs every night."

"Mostly Sondheim" focuses largely on the musical moods of legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, from shows such as "Follies," "Company," "Passion," "A Little Night Music," "Anyone Can Whistle," "Saturday Night" and "Merrily We Roll Along."

"I don't think of them as characters," Cook said of her set list. "They're dramatic songs. I wasn't even aware I was singing songs in a theatrical sense. For instance, 'Send in the Clowns' [from 'A Little Night Music'] is a very simple melody, but it needs constantly to be filled in emotionally. It's one of the songs I have to work on every night."

Cook never appeared in a Sondheim musical, but if she'd had the chance and the timing had been right, she would have liked to have played Sally in "Follies." The closest she got was a concert version of the musical in 1985.

What is it about Sondheim's music that is so appealing to actors? Cook barely hesitates. "His songs are so actable. Actors love doing them, even people who don't sing terribly well. They can act the song, even without the brilliant tones."

A good part of the evening is also devoted to songs that Sondheim once said he wishes he had written, songs by Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Cy Coleman and many others. (Tex Arnold will be stepping into Wally Harper's customary shoes as accompanist and musical director for this weekend's trio of concerts.)

"Mostly Sondheim" has been hailed as a bravura comeback for the 75-year-old soprano who has fought her way back from the black hole of alcoholism and depression. She's justly proud of her accomplishments, which include not only a Tony, but a Grammy, a Drama Desk Award and induction into the Broadway Hall of Fame. Last month, she was honored as a "living landmark" by the New York Landmark Conservancy with fellow honorees Mike Wallace, Peter Martins, Clive Davis and the Forbes brothers.

But she's especially proud of the Mental Health Award bestowed on her last June by the Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies for her efforts to raise mental health awareness by going public with her own story. "Me! A bloody mental health award!" she chortles.

Halfway into her eighth decade, Cook has no plans to slow down. She enjoys the enduring demand for her cabaret act and will team with Marilyn Horne this fall to make some beautiful music.

She takes Sondheim's lyrical imperative to heart. This lady makes a noise and it's glorious.