Broadway Legend Barbara Cook Has Retired

Barbara Cook, the Tony Award-winning performer who made her mark on Broadway in The Music Man and Candide, has retired, according to an interview with her son, Adam LeGrant, in The New York Times. LeGrant noted that Cook, now 89, has been suffering from mobility issues, which played a role in her decision to retire. “The years have not been kind to her joints,” said LeGrant.

Cook is most known for her glorious soprano, which she lent to the role of Marian Paroo in the original 1957 Broadway production of The Music Man, winning her the 1958 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her extensive list of Broadway credits has also included Oklahoma!, She Loves Me, Candide, The Gay Life and a series of solo concert appearances.

In 2016 Cook released a memoir with Harper-Collins called Then and Now in which she disclosed her struggles with depression and alcoholism. An off-Broadway concert based off of her memoir had been scheduled to play a limited engagement at New World Stages but was eventually delayed and then canceled.

Cook's retirement could be temporary. “She may decide to come out of retirement like Frank Sinatra did,” said LeGrant. “It’s goofy, and we’ve laughed about it.”

Cook’s most recent appearance on Broadway was in the revue Sondheim on Sondheim in 2010 at Studio 54. Cook earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance. The Kennedy Center Honors paid tribute to Cook in 2011.