Artistically And Personally Inspiring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            Not since Ted Chapin's book about the 1971 musical, "Follies," entitled " 'Everything Was Possible, And Nothing Made Sense'," has a theater book absorbed me as much as "Then And Now," by the now late Barbara Cook.

                                             Theater mavens, and Cook devotees, will gobble it up.  At just 237 pages, a lot of life and experience is crammed into the text, much as if one were sitting down with her, and she was speaking directly.

                                               I had no idea of the arduousness of her early life.  A poverty ridden childhood in Atlanta, having to sleep with her mother in a bed till the age of twenty, and that mother, while loved and loving, being a constant source of ambivalence, is not the stuff of a typical Barbara Cook musical.  It was not all birds and roses before coming to New York, and even afterward.

                                               As I suspected, the weight issues I knew about, and alcoholism I had heard about, were gender related--both ran in the family.  But she freely admits how she  fell into both, and how she got out of them, and it was not easy. Is it, ever?  Anyone in this situation should read this, for it may inspire.  But even Cook says, the person has to want to do it.

                                                The details of her shows are dazzling, especially the difficulties in learning "Glitter And Be Gay," hers still being the signature rendition.   I had no Idea Irra Petina was such a pain, and I was not at all surprised about Elaine Stritch.  Her speaking about "The Music Man" is special, and emotionally resonant, as is her account of "She Loves Me," and how the song "Ice Cream," not originally written, came to be.

                                                  I marvel at how full a life--both good and bad--was being lived during and between shows.  And how she emerged from the shadows of semi-obscurity.  And the people in her life, from husband David Le Grant, her son, Adam, and Arthur Hill?  Arthur Hill, aka 'Owen Marshall'?  Yes, darlings, that Arthur Hill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  This is one of the most thrilling tales in show business, with a dramatic arc that a playwright could not imagine.  It happened to Miss Cook, and she takes us along with her, giving a glimpse of what it was like.

                                                   Barbara Cook was just not, as I always called her, "the greatest of all Cunegondes."

                                                    She was a great human being, and her book will entertain theatrically and inspire others struggling with difficult times.

                                                      Don't miss it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!