‘I always keep trying to surprise myself ’
Bernadette Peters discusses Westport show, Sondheim and rescue dogs
Bernadette Peters used to play croquet with Stephen Sondheim on the lawn of his Roxbury home. Flash forward, the Broadway star is set to perform the tunes of the late composer at the Westport Country Playhouse in May.
“He was a wonderful host,” Peters told Hearst Connecticut Media. “He brought us (to his Connecticut home) before ‘Into the Woods’ to give us a little feel. And, I have to say, he made me laugh. He was really funny.”
In her May 19 concert, “An Evening with Bernadette Peters,” the Tony Award winner will sing tracks written by her late friend Sondheim, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerry Herman and other composers. She’ll also showcase her bubbly personality with dialogue in between songs.
“I’m there to entertain. And it could be funny. It could be dramatic. It could be all those things. I’m just there to engage the audience” she said.
The concert comes months after Peters made her West End debut as a performer in “Sondheim’s Old Friends,” a tribute concert to the composer devised by Cameron Mackintosh. She and her co-headliner Lea Salonga plan to return to their roles in Los Angeles February 2025 and on Broadway later in March.
Her association with Sondheim, who died in 2021, began in 1983 when she was cast as Dot in the Broadway production of “Sunday in the Park with George.” She later starred in Sondheim’s productions of “Into the Woods,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music” and “Gypsy,” for which he wrote the lyrics.
“Old Friends,” she said, highlights “the best of Steve Sondheim’s songs” and pays homage to the “depth and breadth of his work” that made him a rare talent.
“They are just wonderful songs. He crafted them with such detail,” she said. “And I never get tired of singing them because they just go so deep.”
Every time she sings Sondheim, she discovers a new meaning in the lyrics.
“That’s the beauty of his music and his songs,” she said. “I always keep trying to surprise myself. If I surprise myself,
then I surprise the audience.”
It’s one of the ways she’s captured audience members’ attention for her morethan-60-year career. The Queens native made her Broadway debut at 10 years old and since then, she has received two Tony Awards, plus an honorary award, a Golden Globe, three Emmy and four Grammy Award nominations and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her last Broadway appearance was in Jerry Herman’s “Hello, Dolly!” where she starred as Dolly Gallagher Levi in 2018. Tunes from the show, which she described as “the perfect musical” and “Jerry’s masterpiece,” will be featured in her Westport show.
Peters first performed at the Westport Country Playhouse in 1966 for the musical production of “Riverwind,” though she doesn’t remember her characters name. Since then, she’s been happy to support the non-profit venue and headline a few concerts. She was honored with the Playhouse’s Award for Distinguished Dedication and Service to the American Musical Theater in 2011.
She couldn’t reveal the set list for her Westport show, but hinted that it will have a mix of dramatic, entertaining and funny tunes. Her favorite
songs to sing include “Into the Woods” tracks “Children Will Listen” and “No One is Alone.”
When asked if she will stop by any favorite spots in the Nutmeg State, Peters said she usually doesn’t make time to tour the places where she performs, establishing a clear separation between work and leisure.
“I’m in focus show mode. And that’s where I want to stay, I’m not there to relax and look around. Connecticut is very charming, and I love
Connecticut, and I’ve been there at different times and in different parts of it. It’s very beautiful and I like a lot, but I am not there to have that kind of fun. I’m not on vacation. I’m there to entertain,” she said.
In her downtime, she tends to her roof garden in New York City, dines with friends, attends shows (she saw “Hell’s Kitchen” last weekend) and spends time with her two rescue dogs, a pitbull and “kind of shaggy terrier type” pup. Peters gushed about her furry companions like a proud parent.
“People think (pitbulls) are so vicious. Mine’s afraid of rain! She’s just the dearest thing,” she said. “She wears pink pearls. And she’s so smart, oh my god.”
“(Dogs) understand a lot more than we give them credit for. They have a large vocabulary. I keep testing my dog and she understands. And the feelings and attachments...I wash my dog’s face every day and he just loves that I care about him. They teach you about love,” she added.
On Aug. 3, she and Sutton Foster are co-hosting Broadway Barks, an annual pet adoption event in Shubert Alley that features a live show with Broadway actors. The event, which Peters co-founded in 1999, aims to help get animals adopted from shelters in New York City.
She laughed when asked where her passion for helping dogs comes from.
“I think you’re born with it. I’ve always always loved animals. I begged my family for a dog and my father, he used to bring home injured birds,” she said. “I don’t know, I think I was born to do this. There are things in the world that need our attention and mine? I take care of the dogs and the cats. That’s my passion.”
With her performances and philanthropy, she’s not slowing down anytime soon. Peters is set to perform at Carnegie Hall Oct. 28 and rehearsals for “Old Friends” start in January, she said.
After that? What she’ll bring to the stage or screen is unknown.
“Whenever I have tried saying, ‘Oh I’m gonna just do this,’ that never works out. I always have to, like, surrender to the universe. I mean, I say no. But I have to feel it in my gut that this is right and this is the next thing I should do,” she said. “But I always do a Sondheim show because I know there’s always something I’m going to learn about life.”
“I just learn that I’m very comfortable up on stage,” she added.
“An Evening with Bernadette Peters” will take place at the Westport Country Playhouse on Sunday, May 19, at 7 p.m. Tickets are available to purchase online, and all proceeds from the event will go towards the nonprofit theater.