Bernadette Peters Makes Triumphant SRO Concert Appearance at Valley Performing Arts Center, Northridge

 

What can you say about a legend? Peters has been enthralling her fans since the sixties with her splashy award-winning debut lead performance in Dames at Sea. She is a one-of-a-kind beauty whose charismatic warmth and inimitable heartfelt way with a pop song are as fascinating today as they were almost 50 years ago. And she is still incredibly gorgeous to look at! When Peters sings classic Broadway show tunes like those of Stephen Sondheim, of which there were many in this concert, she owns them. She transports you on an emotional journey through each song that makes you not only appreciate her artistry but understand and savor the very core of what the composer intended. Take, for example, "No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods, or "In Buddy's Eyes" from Follies or "Not a Day Goes By" from Merrily We Roll Along. Through Peters' sometimes delicate, but always dynamic communication, we, her audience, are more than moved ... we are practically transformed. From Rodgers and Hammerstein, also recorded by Peters, she offered "Some Enchanted Evening", usually performed by a man, and the lilting "When I Marry Mr. Snow" from Carousel.

 

Other highlights of the evening included: a deliriously riveting "Fever" sung sensually on top of the piano as only Peters could carry it off, and a deliciously comedic "There Is Nothin' Like a Dame" from South Pacific. The latter is also usually sung longingly by a man, but Peters used her sexy body movements and bold feminine security to convince us that it is unquestionably true. She went into the audience and sang the lower registers of  "Dame" to an elderly man, who, from the expression on his face, was pleased to the point of ecstasy. There was also a strong "Let Me Entertain You" as opener from Gypsy, as well as "Some People" from that show, a gorgeous rendition of "Oh, Shenandoah", a lovely "When You Wish Upon a Star", and Sondheim's classics "Being Alive", "Children Will Listen", "You Could Drive a Person Crazy", among others, which Peters could sing in her sleep, she performs them so flawlessly, yet with an unqualified freshness on each and every note. Apart from the seriousness of this lady's artistry, there is a quiet almost self-deprecating sense of humor. When she strikes a pose, she is having as much fun doing it as we get from watching it. Peters' finale was a song recorded about her dog Kramer who is the subject of a children's book she wrote to benefit animals in shelters called Broadway Barks, also the name of a charity she lovingly co-founded with Mary Tyler Moore.

 

Marvin Laird, who has been Peters' accompanist since he first met her at age 13 essaying a Hollywood blonde in Gypsy, served as musical director of the 9-piece orchestra, that also included Cubby O'Brien, an original Mouseketeer, on drums. Peters wore a gorgeous violet sequined gown, that set off her voluptuous figure to perfection. What can one say about a legend? Well, when it's one like Bernadette Peters, quite a lot. She's a seasoned pro who keeps on giving a tremendous amount of pleasure to her audiences and that's sufficient reason for her to be named a national treasure.