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The last time Broadway star Bernadette Peters was in town, she performed a pair of concerts with Pacific Symphony Pops at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
Peters returns to Segerstrom Concert Hall Thursday, Sept. 29, but instead of an orchestra she’ll be backed by a smaller jazz combo. One thing that won’t be smaller is her magnificent voice, which can belt out Broadway showtunes or sing soft and sentimental ballads with equal finesse.
Peters’ impressive credits include three Tony Awards, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
She will perform songs from her storied Broadway career along with her Grammy Award-winning and nominated albums. Expect to hear tunes by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, and many others.
Peters recently starred on Broadway as Dolly Gallagher Levi in the hit musical “Hello, Dolly!” Prior to that, she starred in City Center’s Encores! Production of “A Bed and a Chair: A New York Love Affair” featuring the music of Stephen Sondheim and orchestrations by Wynton Marsalis.
Peters garnered both the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for her performance in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Song and Dance.” She also won a Tony Award for her performance in “Annie Get Your Gun.” She received Tony nominations for her outstanding performances in Sam Mendes’ critically acclaimed revival of “Gypsy,” in Neil Simon’s “The Goodbye Girl,” Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Sunday in the Park with George,” the Jerry Herman/Gower Champion ode to the movies, “Mack and Mabel,” and the Leonard Bernstein/Comden and Green musical “On The Town.”
In addition to these honors, Peters earned a Drama Desk nomination for her unforgettable portrayal of the Witch in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Other memorable shows include two more Stephen Sondheim musicals: “A Little Night Music” and “Follies.”
I had the pleasure of seeing Peters in the Los Angeles production of “Mack and Mabel” opposite another Broadway legend, Robert Preston, more than 40 years ago. Her magnetic performance and stellar vocals stood out, and I still remember her renditions of “Wherever He Ain’t” and “Time Heals Everything,” which she still often performs during her concerts.
“I choose songs that I connect to in some way, and the audience will connect to them,” Peters told me in a 2016 phone interview. “I want to give audiences something interesting and fun. I am there to entertain, and that can be done in a dramatic and fun way.”
Anyone who has heard her live album “Sondheim Etc.: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall” recording from her debut solo show in 1996 knows that her performances are nuanced, delightful, exciting and often riveting.
In between performing in concert and on Broadway, Peters devotes her time and talents to numerous events that benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Her “pet project” Broadway Barks, co-founded with Mary Tyler Moore, is an annual, star-studded dog and cat adoption event that benefits shelter animals in the New York City area.
She is a New York Times best-selling author who has penned three children’s books: “Broadway Barks,” “Stella is a Star,” and “Stella and Charlie: Friends Forever.” Proceeds from the sale of these books benefit Broadway Barks.
Peters resides in New York and Los Angeles with her rescue dogs, Charlie and Rosalia.
Single tickets for Bernadette Peters at Segerstrom Center for the Arts start at $39 and are now available online at www.SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, or by calling (714) 556-2787.
For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236.
