Does anyone know Barbara Cook well enough to ask who her surprise guests will be on October 18 at Carnegie Hall? — Page 2

I saw her a few months ago in LA and while she was still in pain from some recent medical occurrences, she was magnificent. She sang songs that she wanted to sing, and you could tell she was enjoying them.

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Heard tell the guests will be Andrew Dice Clay and Ghallager

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Any time I see something like "Surprise Guests", I think that whomever these 'guests' will be won't be decided until maybe the week before because it will depend on who isn't working another bigger gig that date.

The guests may end up being a bit of a surprise to Ms. Cook herself at least until 3-7 days before the date.

Who was on the bill indeed?

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I really don't want to sound like I was unhappy to see Josh Groban, because it is always great to hear him. However, they saved him until the end, and I honestly felt that his performance was the least inspired and inspiring. He sang the same song he had prepared for her concert at the Met, had no interesting stories as to why he chose to sing it again, and didn't seem to have the heart the others had. The others seemed to have carefully prepared their choices, had thoughtful and meaningful stories to share, and as a result, the impact of each was exponentially strengthened. Josh simply seemed... out of place? Did anyone else feel that way?

So you don't want to sound unhappy with him, but you were unhappy with him. Ok.

I started by saying I wasn't unhappy-- unhappy is a word, when used properly, that means "not happy"-- I was happy to see Josh Groban. He is famous. But in the context of the surrounding circumstances, I felt, personally, that's all he was.