Bernadette Peters turns 75 in February, although you'd never know it to look at her. One of the most versatile and talented singing actors Broadway has produced, Peters is also famous for her work ethic. This means she has quite a lot of material, but here are the highlights.
Peters is best known as a performer of Stephen Sondheim, and they've had a very fruitful partnership. Peters stars as a misunderstood witch in the original cast recording of Into the Woods and in the American Playhouse version of Into the Woods. Other roles include George Seurat's (of Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte fame) girlfriend in Sunday in the Park With George and major roles in the revival of Follies and Anyone Can Whistle.
Of course, Peters doesn't work exclusively with Sondheim. She's also been the star in Bernadette Peters in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance and Marvin Hamlisch's The Goodbye Girl, based on a Neil Simon comedy about struggling performers who fall in love. In the Emmy-winning Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Peters turns the evil to 11 as the wicked stepmother.
Peters can also act without singing, as she does in The Last Best Year, a drama about a gravely ill woman and her therapist who save each other.
Lastly, Peters has recently tried her hand at children's books. Stella Is A Star is about being yourself and Broadway Barks is about a stray who finds his forever home.
What's your favorite Peters performance? Tell us in the comments.
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