Reviews
Mama, Harvey Milk Reimagined
Opera Parallele
Cook as Mama in Harvey Milk Reimagined
“A mother’s memories of the horrors of the Holocaust are embedded in a Young Harvey as Catherine Cook sings in an emotionally trembling and beautiful mezzo-soprano, ‘Never forget who you are … Remember, never again.'”
Theater Eddys, Eddie Reynolds
“…mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook gave her part as Mama an intensity and pathos.”
The Opera Tattler, Charlise Tee
“Harvey Milk’s mother was enacted by veteran San Francisco mezzo Catherine Cook… in glorious tone.”
Opera Today, Michael Milenski
“With many minor characters in the original now removed, smaller roles had more space to develop. Catherine Cook’s portrayal of Milk’s mother warmly transcended stereotypes of a Holocaust-obsessed Long Island immigrant homemaker.”
Musical America, Ken Smith
Mother Jeanne, Dialogues des Carmelites
San Francisco Opera
“Mezzo soprano Catherine Cook had an impressive moment in the brief cameo role of Mother Jeanne.”
Opera Today, Michael Milenski
Cook as Mother Jeanne in Dialogues des Carmelites
Cook as Berta in The Barber of Seville
Berta, The Barber of Seville
San Francisco Opera
“And Catherine Cook’s sympathetic housekeeper Berta has been a fixture of ‘Barber’ at the company since the 1990s. All four… emerged from San Francisco’s Adler Fellowship young artists program.”
The New York Times, Thomas May
Cook as Berta in The Barber of Seville
Mrs. Peachum, The Threepenny Opera
West Edge Opera
“But the heroic star of the proceedings…was the magnificent mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook as Mrs. Peachum. Cook showed how to give Weill’s music its full due without sacrificing any of the script’s satiric bite, especially in account of “Ballad of Sexual Dependency” with a winning blend of swagger and tonal richness. Her comic pacing was impeccable…she delivered every line and every take with crisp exactitude. There’s nothing she can’t transform into pure delight.”
The San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Kosman
Marcellina, The Marriage of Figaro
San Francisco Opera
“The antagonists (calling them villains would go too far) were superbly embodied by Catherine Cook as Marcellina (her signature role, and one that gets better with each outing)…”
The San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Kosman
“Best of all, though, is Catherine Cook’s hilarious Marcellina (a role in which she is justly celebrated). Her every movement, even a subtle nod of the head, is an occasion for laughter.”
Theatrestorm, Charles Kruger
Cook as Julia Child in Bon Appétit!
Cook as eponymous Dolores Claiborne
Dolores Claiborne, Dolores Claiborne
San Francisco Opera
“To say that Ms. Cook was a revelation is an understatement, since she stamped the part as her own, and experienced a triumph for her sensational performance… When her last piercing held note was finally cut off with percussive orchestra stings that recall the end of Salome, the audience leapt to their feet lustily cheering Catherine’s total success.
“Ms. Cook is possessed of a round mezzo tone of great beauty, admirable control and potent power in all ranges and at any volume. Best of all, she is also able to float a pianissimo with the best of them. There is so much exposed lyrical high singing required at key musical moments… the writing fit Ms. Cook like a glove and there was nothing she seemed not able to do to perfection.”
Opera Today
Photo Credit: Vero Kherian, Cory Weaver