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spicedogsBy HOWARD GENSLER
Philadelphia Daily News
gensleh@phillynews.com
215-854-5678
IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE it's been 40 years since Bernadette Peters made a splash off-Broadway in "Dames at Sea," but the bouncy, ageless performer remains a favorite in theater, movies and television.
Tonight the two-time Tony winner (out of seven nominations) will be back in the city for the first time in years, at the
Mann Center for the Performing Arts, backed by members of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
The Daily News spoke with Peters last week by phone and was captivated by her big laugh and thick, Queens, New Yawk accent.
Q: So what can we expect from the show tonight?
A: Mostly singing. Just to entertain. I was born to entertain. I sing a lot of Sondheim, I sing things from the shows I've been in, things from the shows that I didn't sing in the show - and I'm doing Peggy Lee's "Fever" and singing a song that was in my head for a couple years, "Shenandoah," the old Americana song. And I do Rodgers and Hammerstein.
I love singing the Sondheim songs - I love what they say and I sort of miss them when I haven't sung them for a while. And then I start to sing them and I go, "Oh, yeah, that's something important that we need to know."
Q: With your busy schedule, do you get any rehearsal time with the orchestra?
A: Usually two days. We like the orchestra to feel secure. It's only fair to everybody in the audience.
Q: You've done so much great work with Sondheim. Do you ever see each other when you're not working?
A: He has a lot of friends. He's going off here and he's going off there and I have dinner with him every so often. He's got two dogs that I came over to play with. He's a wonderful guy.
Q: Which of your Broadway roles do you think is the most like you?
A: You know I never thought of it that way. Every time you play a role you just find something so strongly that you can relate to. . . . It's hard to say. Like in "Gypsy" when I did Rose I investigated my life from inside out and sideways and upwards and downwards and it was the best therapy I ever had. . . . There's so much to find within each role and that's the reason you do them.
Q: In 1970 you appeared here on "The Mike Douglas Show." How did that come about?
A: When I was in "Dames at Sea" I started doing appearances on "The Tonight Show," then I did a "Merv Griffin Show" and then "The Mike Douglas Show" called me to come down to Philadelphia. I really enjoyed him and he was very nice to me and he liked the way I sang. It was fun.
Q: Any recollection of what you sang?
A: I probably sang Irving Berlin ballads, "All Alone" and "What'll I Do." And I remember I did a couple of Harry Nilsson songs. [sings] "My old desk/does an arabesque/in the morning when I come in." Just stuff like that.
Q: You do a lot of charity work, but Broadway Barks seems to have a special place in your heart. How did it begin?
A: Broadway Barks started when I went to the city shelter and I just saw all the dogs that needed help. Purebreds and mixes and pit bulls and little ones and poodles and cocker spaniels. They were in the city shelter and nobody knew that these are great dogs and that's where they were. And I thought, "This needs somebody's attention," so I decided to try to help. So that week we put on this adopt-a-thon - 10 years ago was the first one. We raised the most money for Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS when I was in "Annie Get Your Gun," and we said, "This feels good! Who else can we help?"
So we said, "Let's help animals." And I said, "Oh, my friend Mary Tyler Moore, she'll help us do it. She loves animals."
So that was the first adopt-a-thon, with only five shelters. Now we have 26.
Because of this I was approached to write a children's book and they thought we should have a song with the book, and I was like, "Who's going to write the song?" I wasn't going to write a song. I have too much respect for composers. I never wrote a song before. So I'm on a plane coming home from some engagement and . . . this song came to me. Music and lyrics at the same time.
Q: Will writing books and songs become a new career for you?
A: Well, I've got No. 2. Let's see if it goes to No. 3. The first book was about my dog Kramer and the new one will be about my other dog, Stella. It's about not being afraid of who you are and not judging people from the outside.
Q: Although it's not polite to discuss a woman's age, how is it possible that you are as old as you are?
A: (Laughs.) You keep blowing out the candles.
Q: What do you do to stay in shape?
A: I think you have to have good genes to begin with, which I do. And I'm Sicilian. Exercise now has become a part of my life. I used to hate exercise.
Q: And keeping your voice in shape?
A: You've got to get enough sleep. You can't over-talk. You can't go to noisy restaurants. When you're doing eight shows a week you really have to be careful.
Q: Any chance chance you'll return to Broadway?
A: There's talk about something on Broadway. But you do eight shows a week, it has to be irresistible.
Q: You seem to be doing more TV now. Has that been a conscious career decision?
A: You look at what comes your way. That's the way my life has always been. . . . I just did a movie for Lifetime that's going to be on Oct. 18, called "Living Proof." It's a true story about the doctor who developed a breast cancer drug [Herceptin]. Dr. [Dennis] Slamon. He's at UCLA. . . . I play the only survivor from the Phase I test group.
But here's the weird part. In the movie we talk about the Fire & Ice Ball [which Revlon puts on for breast cancer] and then I'm offered a "Grey's Anatomy," which I just did the season-opening two-parter, and my character in "Grey's Anatomy" is in a limousine accident going to the Fire & Ice Ball.
I'm just following the map of my life to see where it takes me next. *
SOURCE: Philly.com
