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Tag: Bernadette Peters

  • Bernadette Peters, Original “Into The Woods” Witch, To Reunite With Original Cast

    Bernadette Peters, Original “Into The Woods” Witch, To Reunite With Original Cast

    Bernadette Peters made a very memorable run on Broadway as the original witch in Into the Woods before Meryl Streep brought the role to the mainstream with the movie.

    Bernadette Peters will be joined by original cast and crew from the 1987 Tony award-winning production for a special panel on June 21st at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

    In attendance will be Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, along with Tony winner Bernadette Peters, Tony winner Joanna Gleason, who played the Baker’s Wife, Chip Zien, who played the Baker, Robert Westenberg, who played Cinderella’s Prince, and Kim Crosby, who played Cinderella.

    Also in attendance will be Danielle Ferland, the original Little Red Riding Hood, and Ben Wright, the original Jack.

    What an amazing and interesting reunion!

    In a 2014 interview for Playbill, Bernadette Peters revealed some of her favorite memories from the production.

    When Bernadette Peters was asked about her favorite onstage or rehearsal memory, she said, “The memory that stands out the most for me is when our choreographer, Lars Lubovitch, tied me up so that I would get the feeling of being hunched over in a croney position to play the haggard witch.”

    She added, “So every morning I’d come in to rehearsal and Lars would tie me up and there would go Bernadette, rolling around the rehearsal room, until one day, he said, ‘You got it… No need for the ropes anymore!’ That was a happy day!”

    Bernadette Peters also remembered a story involving Stephen Sondheim.

    She said, “It was wonderful to hear Steve talk about [“No One Is Alone.”] He said people think the song is about being alone, but it’s not. It’s about how we all affect one another… in everything we do it affects someone, and we have to think about that.”

    Interesting memories from Bernadette Peters! What do you think about an Into the Woods reunion?

  • Bernadette Peters: “Into The Woods” Cast Reunion

    Bernadette Peters joined other former cast members of the immensely popular Broadway play Into the Woods on Sunday. The reunion was a highly-anticipated event which brought together many of the original cast, as well as the behind-the-scenes creators of the show.

    According to Playbill.com, Bernadette Peters, who originally played the witch, and Joanna Gleason, who played the baker’s wife, “looked like they could step back into the next Woods revival without missing a beat.”

    The first 20 minutes of Sunday’s event featured Stephen Sondheim, composer, and James Lapine, libretist, in conversation with host Mo Rocca discussing the play’s origins and inspiration.

    Apparently, Into the Woods came about as a follow-up project to the team’s Sunday in the Park with George. Sondheim suggested a “quest musical” along the lines of The Wizard of Oz.

    When they decided to mix the fairy tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel with an original story about a childless baker, a quest is certainly what they got.

    The second act featured the song “Your Fault” which reunited Bernadette Peters, Chip Zien, Ben Wright, Danielle Ferland and Kim Crosby and brought down the house.

    Bernadette Peters largely carried the second act. She performed a trio of Woods numbers and also shared some of the talk time with Sondheim and Lapine.

    She quickly learned that the part of the witch was still available following the show’s pre-Broadway run in San Diego. Bernadette Peters, who knew nothing about the role, threw her hat in the ring right on the spot.

    The witch, she admitted, is the outsider. Bernadette Peters loved playing the pragmatist who says what everybody else is thinking and who has no problem being unpopular.

    Who wouldn’t love that?

  • Bernadette Peters Goes Back “Into the Woods”

    “How many of you know Into the Woods?”

    On November 9 a reunion of the original cast and creators of the award-winning musical Into the Woods took place at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA.

    The event was hosted by humorist Mo Rocca who spoke to composer Stephen Sondheim and librettist James Lapine for the first 20 minutes as they discussed the musical’s inspiration and origins. The two men even talked about their conflicts, which were few.

    “Steve had a rule,” said Lapine. “‘Whoever cares the most wins.’”

    The first performers to take the stage were Chip Zien (the Baker) and Joanna Gleason (the Baker’s Wife) who sang a rendition of “It Takes Two.” During the original production Zien and Gleason had an off-stage relationship which, Gleason said, definitely had its peaks and valleys.

    “He was the first actor I ever worked with who I ended up hitting,” said Gleason.

    Zien finished the segment with “No More” followed by Kim Crosby (Cinderella) who sang “On the Steps of the Palace.”

    Others to perform that evening were Robert Westenberg (Cinderella’s Prince, and later the Wolf), who is now Crosby’s real-life husband, Danielle Ferland (Little Red Riding Hood), and Ben Wright (Jack) who, although he’s now a financial advisor, still sang a magical rendition of “Giants in the Sky.”

    Last but not least came Bernadette Peters, 66, who basically took over the second half of the night, talking onstage with Sondheim and Lapine and performing numbers such as “Stay With Me” and “Last Midnight.” As always, Peters’ voice was stage gold and she looked like she hasn’t aged a day.

    In the past, Sondheim has said of Peters, “Like very few others, she sings and acts at the same time. Most performers act and then sing, act and then sing … Bernadette is flawless as far as I’m concerned. I can’t think of anything negative.”

    The evening ended with the entire cast coming together to sing “Children Will Listen.”

    With the excitement of Disney’s Into the Woods film opening on Christmas Day, new fans are being grown every minute. Oddly enough, the film was barely mentioned at the November 9 event which instead focused on the show’s nearly 30-year heritage.

    Rocca even asked Sondheim and Lapine about creating a sequel.

    “Out of the Woods?” Sondheim replied, but left the question unanswered.

  • Bernadette Peters Joins Other Theatre Greats in Tribute to Elaine Stritch

    Bernadette Peters will join a slew of other theatre greats to pay tribute to the legendary actress, Elaine Stritch, in Everybody, Rise! A Celebration of Elaine Stritch.

    The all-star tribute, which will feature reminiscences and performances on the life and career of the late Tony and Emmy-winning actress, who died on July 17 at the age of 89, will be held 4 p.m. Nov. 17, at The Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

    Under the direction of George C. Wolfe, a portion of the contributions collected during the celebration will be donated to the Elaine Stritch Scholarship Fund at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting

    The Honorary Producing Committee for the tribute includes Chiemi Karasawa, Carol Fineman, Rob Bowman, Hal Prince, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Julie Keyes, Rick Borutta, Mindy Cohn, Joseph Rosenthal, Cheryl Wiesenfeld and Will Gaines.

    Everybody, Rise! is a collaborative effort and includes the participation of Jujamcyn Theaters/Jordan Roth, Kinky Boots the Musical and IAC, The Nederlander Organization, Lyn and Norman Lear, Terry Hekker and Steinway & Sons.

    Stritch is known as Alec Baldwin‘s mother on NBC’s 30 Rock, but she was best known for her work in the theatre, which includes her candid one-woman show At Liberty and the Stephen Sondheim musical Company.

    A limited number of tickets will be available to the general public on the day of the event on a first-come, first-served basis at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, which is located at 302 West 45th Street in New York City.

    Details on how and when tickets will be available will be released closer to the date of the event.

  • Whoopi Goldberg Among Legion of Celebrities Mourning Joan Rivers at Funeral

    Whoopi Goldberg Among Legion of Celebrities Mourning Joan Rivers at Funeral

    There wasn’t the reported red carpet outside New York’s Temple Emanu-El Sunday for the arrival of mourners Sunday, but Joan Rivers’ funeral was very much the star-studded event the legendary comedienne envisioned.

    Whoopi Goldberg, who said “Joan made me laugh harder than anyone I’ve ever known,” joined dozens of A-list celebrities from the worlds of Hollywood, theater, fashion and media.

    Howard Stern delivered the eulogy, while Broadway singer-actress Audra McDonald offered her rendition of the gut-wrenching song, Smile.

    Leading off the service was a men’s choir singing some of Rivers’ favorite Broadway tunes. Hugh Jackman was also expected to sing at the end of the service, according to The Seattle Times.

    They were among the many A-list celebrities who came to mourn the 81-year-old trailblazer who died Thursday, a week after she stopped breathing during a routine throat procedure at a Manhattan medical clinic.

    Other mourners included Rivers’ dear friend Kathy Griffin; colleague and friend Kelly Osbourne; Sarah Jessica Parker; and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz.

    Theater legends, including Bernadette Peters, Alan Cumming and Tommy Tune, were also in attendance.

    From the music industry, record producer Clive Davis was in attendance; and from the fashion industry, designers Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors paid their respects.

    Television stars Barbara Walters, Geraldo Rivera, Diane Sawyer, Giuliana Rancic, Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Andy Cohel, and Late Night band leader Paul Shaffer, as well as moguls Barry Diller, Donald Trump and Steve Forbes, were among the many who came to mourn Rivers.

    And as per her wish, a large contingency of paparazzi lined the street across from the temple amongst hundreds of fans from around the world.

    The comedian shared her last wishes in her 2012 book I Hate Everyone … Starting With Me:

    “When I die — and, yes, Melissa, that day will come; and, yes, Melissa, everything’s in your name — I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action….I want Craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don’t want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing Mr. Lonely. I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyonce’s.”

    Those words were reportedly printed in the funeral program.