Bernadette Peters Plays the Jorgensen Stage, 4/13-14

Bernadette Peters is set to perform at Jorgensen's Cabaret on Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14, at 8 p.m. Fresh from wowing audiences in the Broadway revival of "Follies" and coming to Storrs on her first East Coast stop of her national tour, Peters will perform selections from a rich stock of musicals and popular tunes by Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers & Hammerstein and others.

Backed by a 30-piece orchestra, Peters' selections in Jorgensen's Cabaret will include songs from "Follies," "There is Nothing Like a Dame," the Peggy Lee hit "Fever" and "Some Enchanted Evening," an apt image for this stellar performer in concert.

Taking the stage at age 3, Peters has won two Tonys, two Grammys, a Golden Globe and a trove of nominations for her roles on stage, film and television. Most recently, she starred as the Tony-winning mother of wannabe Broadway star Ivy in NBC's new hit series "Smash" and will return in future episodes.

Peters is the go-to star in all things Sondheim, having had leading roles as a wonderful witch (in "Into the Woods"), a glamorous but fading actress (in the recent revival of "A Little Night Music" with Elaine Stritch) and the frustrated mistress and model for painter Georges Seurat (in "Sunday in the Park With George"). But she won Tonys for her performances in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Song and Dance" and as the lead weapon wielder in "Annie Get Your Gun."

She received Tony nominations for her role as Rose in the revival of "Gypsy," and for "The Goodbye Girl," "Sunday in the Park With George," "Mack and Mabel" and "On the Town." She has received numerous Drama Desk and Theatre World awards, including the former for "Dames at Sea" and the latter in the same year for an early Broadway role as Josie Cohan with Joel Grey in "George M!" Peters was the youngest person inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.

She has performed in numerous "The Kennedy Center Honors" and PBS "Great Performances" programs, including "Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall." She earned Emmy nominations for her work on "Ally McBeal" and "The Muppet Show" and has appeared on "Grey's Anatomy," "Ugly Betty" and "The Carol Burnett Show."

She starred in the films "Pennies From Heaven," for which she won a Golden Globe, "The Longest Yard," "The Jerk," "Silent Movie," "Annie," "Pink Cadillac," "Impromptu," Woody Allen's "Alice" and "It Runs in the Family."

Her recordings include numerous Grammy-winning Broadway cast albums and six solo albums, including her newest, "Sondheim, Etc., Etc.: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall (The Rest of It)," "Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers & Hammerstein" and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight." The recent CD "Legends of Broadway" celebrates her theatrical career.

Peters is a relentless supporter of Broadway Barks, an animal rescue effort she co-founded with Mary Tyler Moore and for which she donated proceeds from her two children's books, Broadway Barks and Stella Is a Star. She composed original songs for each. Peters also has regularly done benefits for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Peters last appeared in Jorgensen's Cabaret for its 50th anniversary celebration in 2005, only a couple months after her husband died in a tragic helicopter crash in Montenegro. The star gracefully kept her dates at Jorgensen, sweeping audiences away, in particular by her rendition of "Not a Day Goes By," from Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along."

Bernadette Peters is featured in Jorgensen's Cabaret, winner of the "Best Cabaret" designation in Connecticut Magazine's "2011 Best of Connecticut" issue. Her April performances are sponsored by New England Public Radio.

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2132 Hillside Road on the UConn campus in Storrs. Doors open at 7 p.m. Sandwiches, dessert, alcohol and other beverages are available for cash. Regular tickets are $55 for table seats, $45, $38 and $34, with some discounts available. For tickets and information, call the Box Office at 860.486.4226, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., or order online at
jorgensen.uconn.edu. Convenient free parking is available across the street in the North Garage.

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