Broadway legends leads master class

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Broadway legend Barbara Cook (center) takes Catherine Miller and George Lilly through song interpretation exercise. Submitted photo

October 30, 2012

Broadway legends leads master class

Staff report CNHI The Times Enterprise Tue Oct 30, 2012, 03:22 PM EDT

THOMASVILLE — Local performing arts students from Brookwood, Thomas County Central and Thomasville high schools had the opportunity to hear and learn from a Broadway legend during a recent master class sponsored by the Thomasville Entertainment Foundation as part of its educational outreach program.

Held Oct. 22 at the Thomasville Music & Drama Troupe’s Fred Allen Building, the class featured Tony and Grammy award-winning performer Barbara Cook, who was in town for her concert as part of TEF’s 75th anniversary season.

Cook, whose 60-plus-year career includes dozens of Broadway performances as well as cabaret and concert appearances in the world’s premiere venues, shared her views, her techniques and some highlights of her performance career with nearly 50 middle and high school students in attendance.

“This is not a performance opportunity — it’s a class,” Cook saod at the outset, admitting that she was more accustomed to working with older, more advanced students of the arts. “I stress the importance of the lyrics, not so much the sound.”

Four senior members of the Thomasville Music & Drama Troupe — George Lilly, Audrey Simmons, Catherine Miller and Evan Pell — volunteered to sing for Cook, who is widely known for her blunt, if sometimes brutal, assessments and analyses of student work in an attempt to prepare them for possible careers in music and theatre.

Hearing each performer individually and walking them through exercises designed to force them focus on and emphasize the meaning of the lyrics, the feisty singer-actress encouraged them to “give the words their full due” and to open themselves up and be vulnerable on stage as they work to perform, not just sing, their songs.

“Be present — really present — and, when you are ready, present yourself as honestly you know how,” Cook explained. “Be yourself — you are enough! Don’t try to be someone else — you are enough!”

See Wednesday's edition for more details.

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