Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald Perform at the Kimmel Center on March 18th
March 8, 2007
Audra McDonald
"Indeed this young soprano-who-acts, or actress-who-sings, is hitting yet another crest in what is proving to be a barrier-busting career, one that seems to be all peaks and no valleys." –The London Times about Audra McDonald
The epitome of Broadway, Barbara Cook sets the standard for sheer artistry and elegance. Joining her on stage is four-time Tony® Award Winner Audra McDonald, at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall on Sunday, March 18 at 7:30pm. Cook thrills audiences with Broadway classics and standards from the American Song Book; whereas McDonald who is presently in rehearsals for a New York production of 110 in the Shade, will deliver an array of Broadway favorites with contemporary music theater selections. In 2006 Cook debuted her solo concert at New York’s Metropolitan Opera Company, making her the first female pop singer to be presented by the MET in the company’s 123 year history. McDonald recently starred in John Doyle’s production of "Mahagonny" at the Los Angeles Opera.
In conjunction with the Philadelphia Bach Festival, an Organ Postlude with Organist Matthew Glandorf will follow the Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald ticketed performance in Verizon Hall.
Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald is the fourteenth concert in the Verizon World Pop Mix series. The next concert in the series is Leahy on Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 1pm.
Tickets for Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald are $32, $49, $59, $75, and $89 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10pm to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-893-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Barbara Cook’s silvery soprano, purity of tone, and warm presence have delighted audiences around the world for more than 50 years. Considered "Broadway’s favorite ingénue" during the heyday of the Broadway musical, Miss Cook then launched a second career as a concert and cabaret artist soaring from one professional peak to another. Cook made her Broadway debut in 1951 in the production of Oklahoma! Since then, Cook has been in Carousel, Plain and Fancy, Candide, The Music Man, She Loves Me, The Gay Life, The Grass Harp, The King and I, Showboat, Little Murders, and Enemies. In 2004 Cook’s concert, Barbara Cook’s Broadway, was hailed by both the Associated Press and USA Today as one of the ten best theatre productions of the year. Following the spring 2004 Lincoln Center Theater run, Cook premiered Barbara Cook’s Broadway in London’s West End in May, returned to perform the show for two sold-out encore engagements at Lincoln Center that summer, before returning to London with the show for a second time in September. The concert was recorded live and release on DRG Records.
USA Today noted that "Barbara Cook is singing gloriously as ever in her latest one-woman show," adding that "this septuagenarian’s combination of gorgeous technique and emotional insight is nothing short of miraculous." The Associated Press called Barbara Cook’s Broadway "the most satisfying musical-theater experience of the year. At 77 and still in marvelous voice, she has earned the right to be called legendary."
Cook’s studio recordings include eight original cast albums; two Ben Bagley albums of songs by Jerome Kern and George Gershwin; an album entitled Songs of Perfect Propriety, 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 videocassette. Accolades include Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, along with her citation as a Living New York Landmark and her induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame.
Audra McDonald, a 1993 graduate of The Julliard School, has sung regularly with all the major American orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony, under many of the world’s greatest conductors, such as John Adams, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Michael Tilson Thomas. Overseas she is a returning guest artist at London’s BBC Proms, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic. At the end of this season, McDonald plans to make her first solo appearance in Paris, returning to the Theatre du Chatelet after a phenomenal success in her French debut two seasons ago in an orchestral concert with the legendary French pop composer/conductor Michel Legrand.
In September 2006, Audra McDonald released her first solo album in four years, Build a Bridge (Nonesuch Records), which includes music written by contemporary singer/songwriters like Elvis Costello, Nellie McKay, John Mayer, Randy Newman, Laura Nyro, Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, and two songs by musical-theater composer Adam Guettel. Previous albums that have won her national praise include: Way Back to Paradise (1998), How Glory Goes (2000), and Happy Songs. She has made appearances in CBS’ Peabody Award-winning "Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years," ABC/Disney’s "Annie," Emmy-nominated "Wit," "Mister Sterling," the PBS production "A Richard Rogers Celebration," "60 Minutes," "The Today Show." She was also a regular guest on "The Rosie O’Donnell Show."
Kimmel Center Presents' 2006/2007 season is supported by: Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, National Endowment for the Arts, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, ARC Wheeler, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, The Presser Foundation, Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com are media sponsors for the Great Orchestras on Tour series.
FREE AT THE KIMMEL events are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
Sunday, March 18, 2007 | 7:30pm
Verizon Hall
Verizon World Pop Mix
Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald
Ted Sperling, Piano and Music Director
Peter Donovan, bass
Dave Ratajczak, drums
Barbara Cook
Lee Musiker, piano and music director
Peter Donovan, bass
FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENT:
Sunday, March 18, 2007 | Post-Concert | Organ Postlude
Verizon Hall
Matthew Glandorf, Organist
Join us for an organ postlude in Verizon Hall following the Audra McDonald and Barbara Cook ticketed performance.
UPCOMING FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENT:
Friday, March 23, 2007 | 6:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Ann Newman Advanced Study String Quartet
A group of four string players from Settlement Music School performing classical string repertoire. Prior to Sarah Chang ticketed performance in Verizon Hall.
Friday, March 23, 2007 | Post-Concert | Organ Postlude
Verizon Hall
Peter Conte, Organist
Join us for an organ postlude in Verizon Hall following the Sarah Chang ticketed performance.
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