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  • AWARD-WINNING PERFORMER BERNADETTE PETERS MAKES HER WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL DEBUT
  • Feb. 17, 2008
  • Concert is Part of the LA Phil’s 2007/08 Songbook Series

    SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2008, AT 7:30 PM

    Two-time Tony Award-winner Bernadette Peters presents a glamorous songbook evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Sunday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m. Peters celebrates the Broadway shows for which she has received accolades, as well as songs from her Grammy award-winning and nominated albums. The stellar evening – with a 28-piece orchestra led by Ms. Peters’ Music Director, Marvin Laird – includes popular standards, Rodgers & Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim, among others, performed as only Bernadette Peters can. The performance is part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2007/08 Songbook series.

    Peters’ career as a musical theater, television and film performer has garnered her numerous honors including two Tony Awards, seven Tony  nominations, three Grammy awards for her work on cast recordings, three Grammy nominations for her solo recordings, three Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe. Performing since the age of 3, Peters’ enduring career continues to thrive with her one-woman concert tour throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as starring on Broadway, television appearances and on recordings. Her most recent Tony Award nomination, for her role of Momma Rose in Sam Mendes’ Broadway revival of Gypsy, earned her The New York Times’ Ben Brantley’s statement, “Bernadette Peters is a revelation!”

    Music Director Laird is no stranger to Peters. They first worked together when he served as the assistant conductor on the national tour of Gypsy, which Peters appeared in as a child, and came full circle with the 2003 revival of the show. Over the course of his illustrious career, Laird has conducted or written (or both) the dance and vocal arrangements for more than two dozen Broadway and West End shows.

    Each year since its inception, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Songbook series has brought audiences some of the most cherished evenings of song. The final show of the 2007/08 series is John Pizzarelli: “Dear Mr. Sinatra” on March 16, 2008.

    Throughout her illustrious career, Tony Award-winning actress BERNADETTE PETERS has dazzled audiences and critics with her performances on stage and television, in concert and on recordings. The Ozone Park, New York-native began her performing career at the age of 3, appearing on television shows such as “Name That Tune,” and made her theatrical debut in This is Google, directed by the legendary Otto Preminger. While still in her teens she appeared in The Most Happy Fella and The Penny Friend and performed in the national touring company of Gypsy. Peters made her Broadway debut in 1967 in Johnny No-Trump, and in 1968 starred with Joel Grey in the musical George M!, earning a Theatre World Award for her memorable portrayal of Josie Cohan. One of Broadway’s brightest stars, Peters has garnered two Tony Awards for the Broadway musicals, Song and Dance and Annie Get Your Gun, and seven Tony nominations, the most recent for her electrifying portrayal as Momma Rose in Sam Mendes’ record-breaking Broadway revival of Gypsy, and her brilliant performance was captured on the Grammy award-winning Gypsy cast recording. Peters’ latest Angel Records CD, Sondheim, Etc., Etc.: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall (The Rest of It), features never-before-released highlights from her historic 1996 solo debut at Carnegie Hall. The concert was a benefit for Gay Men’s Health Crisis. This performance was repeated in Bernadette Peters in Concert, her London solo debut at Royal Festival Hall, which later was telecast on PBS and is available on DVD. While Peters is best known for her work in the theater, her career does not end at the footlights. She boasts an impressive list of television credits, which include Emmy-nominated performances on The Muppet Show, FOX’s hit television series Ally McBeal and the Showtime Television Movie, Bobbie's Girl. A performer of amazing versatility, Peters has lit up the silver screen in 17 films throughout her distinguished career. She received a Golden Globe Award for her memorable performance in Pennies From Heaven. Other film credits include The Jerk, The Longest YardSilent Movie, Annie, Pink Cadillac, Slaves of New York, Alice, Impromptu and It Runs in the Family . In addition to numerous Grammy-winning Broadway cast albums including Gypsy and Annie Get Your Gun, Peters has recorded six solo albums: Sondheim, Etc., Etc.: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall (The Rest of It); Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers & Hammerstein (Grammy nomination); Sondheim Etc.: Bernadette Peters Live At Carnegie Hall (Grammy nomination); I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (Grammy nomination); Bernadette Peters; and Now Playing. Her numerous accolades throughout her distinctive career range from the Tony Award to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Police Athletic League (PAL), named her as Woman of the Year for 1999; the Actors Fund of America bestowed on her their Artistic Achievement Award; she has received the Special Advocate Award from the City of New York for her contributions to the gay and lesbian community; and she is the youngest person to be inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. Bernadette Peters devotes her time and talents to numerous events that benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Peters’ “pet project” is Broadway Barks, an annual, star-studded dog adoption event, she co- founded with friend Mary Tyler Moore, benefiting animal shelters throughout New York. She resides in New York City and Los Angeles.

    MARVIN LAIRD is the composer of the award-winning Off-Broadway musical, Ruthless! His collaboration with Joel Paley, the author/lyricist of that show, has been ongoing for 25 years. Their most recent piece, The Yiddish are Coming…! The Yiddish are Coming…! is currently playing regionally throughout North America. Since the 1960’s, he has conducted and/or written dance and vocal arrangements for over two dozen Broadway and West End Shows, including the award-winning production of Annie Get Your Gun, and the most recent Broadway revival of Gypsy, both starring Bernadette Peters. Laird supplied the music for the Lar Lubovitch ballet, Smile with My Heart, which had its world premiere with both Lubovitch’s company and the American Ballet Theatre in New York. His long-term working relationship with Bernadette Peters began in the early 1960s when he was assistant conductor for a national tour of Gypsy which also featured the child actress Peters. The rest is history.

    The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music — Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association’s involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2008, at 7:30 PM

    WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles



    Songbook Series



    BERNADETTE PETERS IN CONCERT



    BERNADETTE PETERS

    MARVIN LAIRD, music director

    Tickets ($35-95) are on sale now online at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full-time students may be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office two hours prior to the performance. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person; cash only. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For information, please call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Adam Crane, 213.972.3422, acrane@laphil.org; Lisa White, 213.972.3408, lwhite@laphil.org; Photos: 213.972.3034