Editing Barbara Cook (section)

===Early career===
[[File:Barbara Cook.jpg|thumb|left|Cook in December 2008]]
In 1947 Cook was engaged as a featured performer for Atlanta's Southeastern Fair at the [[Lakewood Fairgrounds]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=General Outdoor: ATLANTA BEHIND 1946 PEAK|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|volume=59|issue= 39|date=October 4, 1947|page=49}}</ref> While visiting [[Manhattan]] in 1948 with her mother, she decided to stay and try to find work as an actress.<ref name="sixty">{{cite news|last=Wallace|first=Mike|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/barbara-cook-toast-of-broadway/|title=Barbara Cook: Toast of Broadway|work=CBS News|date=June 13, 2004|access-date=May 18, 2007}}</ref> In 1949 she performed in a touring [[vaudeville]] act entitled "A Toast To [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]]" which was organized by pianist Erwin Strauss, the son of the composer [[Oscar Straus (composer)|Oscar Straus]]. Beginning in Boston, the act performed mainly at hotels and venues owned by [[Ernie Byfield]] in cities like New York and Chicago.<ref>{{cite news|title=Vaudeville: Erwin Straus Toast To R&H in Boston Room|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|volume=176|issue=8|date=November 2, 1949|page= 51}}</ref> She began to sing at other clubs and resorts, eventually procuring an engagement at the Blue Angel club in Manhattan in 1950.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Vaudeville: Night Club Reviews - Blue Angel, N. Y.|author=Abel|journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|volume=180|issue=7|date=October 25, 1950|page= 50}}</ref> 

Cook made her Broadway debut as Sandy in the short-lived 1951 musical ''[[Flahooley]]''.<ref name="Grove"/> She landed another role quickly, portraying Ado Annie in the 1951 [[New York City Center|City Center]] revival of [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]]'s ''[[Oklahoma (musical)|Oklahoma!]]'',<ref name=cambridge>Wilmeth, Don B. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UYsXbFvjrXkC&dq=%22Barbara+Cook%22+%22The+King+and+I%22&pg=PA182 "Barbara Cook"] ''The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre'', p. 182</ref> and stayed with the production when it went on its national tour the following year.

Also in 1952, Cook made her first television appearance on the show ''[[Armstrong Circle Theatre]]'' which presented her in an original play entitled ''Mr. Bemiss Takes a Trip''.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/the-armstrong-circle-theatre/mr-bemiss-takes-a-trip-357312/ "The Armstrong Circle Theatre. 'Mr. Bemiss Takes a Trip' (Season 3, Episode 24)"] tv.com, accessed September 9, 2011</ref> In 1954, Cook appeared in the short-lived soap opera ''[[Golden Windows]]'' and starred as Jane Piper in a television version of [[Victor Herbert]]'s [[operetta]] ''[[Babes in Toyland (operetta)|Babes in Toyland]]''. That summer, she returned to City Center to portray Carrie Pipperidge in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''[[Carousel (musical)|Carousel]]'', which Cook described as "the first time the critics really paid attention to me. It was like I was the new young thing. It was very important for me."<ref>Weinstock, Matt. [https://www.nycitycenter.org/About/Blog/blog-posts-2014/barbara-cook-talks-about-working-with-rodgers--hammerstein/ "Barbara Cook Talks about Working with Rodgers & Hammerstein,"] [[New York City Center]] blog, accessed August 21, 2017.</ref>

In 1955, she received major critical praise for playing the supporting role of Hilda Miller in ''[[Plain and Fancy]]''. [[Walter Kerr]] wrote of her performance: "Barbara Cook, right off a blue and white Dutch plate, is delicious all the time, but especially when she perches on a trunk, savors her first worthwhile kiss, and melts into the melody of 'This Is All Very New to Me'."<ref>Suskin, Steven. [https://books.google.com/books?id=in2on7YbNfwC&dq=%22Barbara+Cook%22+%22Plain+and+Fancy%22&pg=PA131 "Barbara Cook"] ''Broadway Yearbook 2001–2002'' (2003), Oxford University Press US, {{ISBN|0-19-515877-6}}, p. 131</ref> Cook's critical reputation and [[coloratura soprano]] range won her the role of Cunegonde in [[Leonard Bernstein]]'s 1956 operetta ''[[Candide (operetta)|''Candide'']]'', in which she sang the vocally demanding, show-stopping comic aria "Glitter and Be Gay".<ref name="Grove"/>

Although ''Candide'' was not a commercial success, Cook's portrayal of Cunegonde established her as one of Broadway's leading [[Ingenue (stock character)|ingenues]]. In 1957 she appeared in a second City Center revival of ''Carousel,'' this time in the role of Julie Jordan,<ref name=cambridge/> and won a [[Tony Award]] for creating the role of Marian the Librarian in [[Meredith Willson]]'s 1957 hit ''The Music Man''.<ref>Atkinson, Brooks.[http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?html_title=&tols_title=THE%20MUSIC%20MAN%20(PLAY)&pdate=19571220&byline=By%20BROOKS%20ATKINSON&id=1077011428963 "Theater Review. 'The Music Man'"] ''The New York Times'', December 20, 1957</ref> Cook continued to appear regularly on television in the late 1950s, starring in a 1956 ''[[Producers' Showcase]]'' production of ''[[Bloomer Girl]]'', a 1957 live broadcast of ''[[The Yeomen of the Guard]]'', and a 1958 musical adaptation of ''[[Hansel and Gretel (1958 TV special)|Hansel and Gretel]]''.<ref>Gould, Jack. "TV:New 'Bloomer Girl'", ''The New York Times'', May 29, 1956, p. 55</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metguild.org/Opera_News_Magazine/2013/2/Recordings/SULLIVAN__The_Yeomen_of_the_Guard.html|title=Sullivan: The Yeomen of the Guard|last=Perwin|first=Sam|publisher=Metropolitan Opera Guild|access-date=August 9, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9woEAAAAMBAJ&q=barbara+cook+Hansel+and+Gretel&pg=PA7|title='Hansel and Gretel' Happy Offering|last=Grevatt|first=Ren|date=5 May 1958|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=August 10, 2017}}</ref> She also made appearances on ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'',<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/barbara-cook-dead-remembrance-broadway-great |title=Why Watching Barbara Cook Sing Sent Chills Down Your Spine |last=Musto |first=Michael |date=August 9, 2017 |magazine=[[W (magazine)|W]] |access-date=August 10, 2017}}</ref> ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=Ed+Sullivan+Show&p=1&item=T:68725|title=Rodgers and Hammerstein with Ed Sullivan (segments from 'Toast of the Town' and 'The Ed Sullivan Show') (TV)|publisher=[[The Paley Center for Media]]|access-date=August 10, 2017}}</ref> ''[[The Dinah Shore Chevy Show]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Hischak|first=Thomas S.|title=American Literature on Stage and Screen: 525 Works and Their Adaptations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vfie60kGGuAC&q=barbara+cook+The+Dinah+Shore+Chevy+Show&pg=PA166|access-date=August 10, 2017|year=2012|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=978-0-7864-6842-3|page=166}}</ref> and ''[[The Play of the Week]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Jerry|title=Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kW8j6sHvrewC&q=barbara+cook+The+Play+of+the+Week+In+a+garden&pg=PA294|access-date=August 10, 2017|year=2009|publisher=[[The Scarecrow Press]]|isbn=978-0-8108-6138-1|page=294}}</ref>

Cook starred in an acclaimed 1960 City Center revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''[[The King and I]]'' and in the short-lived 1961 musical ''[[The Gay Life]]''. In 1963, she created the role of Amalia Balash in the classic [[Jerry Bock]]-[[Sheldon Harnick]] musical ''[[She Loves Me]]''.<ref name=loves>[http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000141 "'She Loves Me' Additional Facts"] mtishows.com, accessed September 7, 2011</ref> Her performance prompted Norman Nadel of the ''World-Telegram & Sun'' to write, "Her clear soprano is not only one of the finest vocal instruments in the contemporary musical theatre, but it conveys all the vitality, brightness and strength of her feminine young personality, which is plenty."<ref name=loves/> A number from ''She Loves Me'', "Ice Cream", became one of Cook's signature songs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/watch-7-of-barbara-cooks-most-memorable-performances|title=Watch 7 of Barbara Cook's Most Memorable Performances|last=Culwell-Block|first=Logan|date=August 8, 2017|work=[[Playbill]]|access-date=August 9, 2017}}</ref>

In the mid-1960s, Cook began working less frequently. She appeared in the 1964 flop ''[[Something More!]]'', which ran for only 15 performances on Broadway, and tried her hand at non-musical roles, replacing [[Sandy Dennis]] in the play ''[[Any Wednesday (play)|Any Wednesday]]'' in 1965<ref name=cambridge/> and originating the role of Patsy Newquist in [[Jules Feiffer]]'s 1967 play ''[[Little Murders]]''.<ref>[http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2939 "'Little Murders', Broadway 1967"] Internet Broadway Database, accessed September 8, 2011</ref><ref>Kerr, Walter.[https://www.nytimes.com/1967/04/26/archives/theater-feiffers-little-murders-comedy-by-cartoonist-opens-at.html?sq=Feiffer&scp=3&st=p "Theater: Feiffer's 'Little Murders'; Comedy by Cartoonist Opens at Broadhurst"] ''The New York Times'' (requires registration), April 26, 1967p.38</ref> She starred in national tours of ''[[The Unsinkable Molly Brown (musical)|The Unsinkable Molly Brown]]'' in 1964 and ''[[Funny Girl (musical)|Funny Girl]]'' in 1967.<ref name=filmref/> Her last original "book" musical role on Broadway came in 1971 when she played Dolly Talbo in ''[[The Grass Harp]]''.<ref name=cambridge/><ref>Barnes, Clive.[https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/03/archives/theater-capotes-the-grass-harp-makes-its-debut-as-musical-kenward.html?sq=%2522The+Grass+Harp%2522&scp=1&st=p "Theater: Capote's 'The Grass Harp' Makes Its Debut as Musical; Kenward Elmslie Does Book and Lyrics Characters Motivated by a Gypsy Cure"] ''The New York Times'' (requires registration), November 3, 1971, p. 41</ref> In 1972, Cook returned to the dramatic stage in the Repertory Theater of [[Lincoln Center]]'s production of [[Maxim Gorky]]'s ''[[Enemies (play)|Enemies]]''.<ref>Barnes, Clive.[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50610F63A591A7493C2A8178AD95F468785F9&scp=1&sq=%22Enemies%22&st=p "The Theater: Rising to the Occasion of 'Enemies'; Lincoln Center Troupe Excels in Gorky Work Revolution Is Backdrop at Vivian Beaumont"] ''The New York Times'' (requires registration), November 10, 1972, p. 47</ref>