By Andrew Gans
"When you think that ten years ago, [Mary Tyler Moore and I] started [the pet-adopt-a-thon charity] Broadway Barks with six shelters and eight animals adopted. Last year we had 26 shelters because that's all they could fit [in Shubert Alley]. Now we even have vans up and down the street, so the animals can be in there, too. We have cats available also. Last year we adopted 100 animals, and this past year we adopted 125 animals. So people finally understand, "Come to Broadway Barks, come to the adopt-a-thon event and adopt!" And I am so proud that the event belongs now to the Broadway community. It's their event, and they look forward to it. Nathan Lane came this year, and last year Angela Lansbury opened it. They come, and they love it. It's really pet therapy. Pets make you feel amazing. They're really creatures here for us to make our lives better. They're very healing."
And, does Peters have plans to return to the Broadway stage? "There are some things in the air," she says, "but it's got to be worth doing eight shows a week, something really exciting or something I want to do. I'm really enjoying doing the television that I've done [and] the concerts, which I love doing, and writing these books and raising money for my charities, which are shelter animals and Broadway Cares and a school called Standing Tall, which is a school for severely immobilized, handicapped children. So that's really how I'm spending my time, but I'm pretty amazed that I'm writing these books and the songs are coming out and I get to perform them!"
DIVA TIDBITS
Tony Award winner Laura Benanti, who is currently starring in the acclaimed revival of Gypsy, will host the Drama League's fifth annual Fall Festivities Concert Nov. 17 at the Metropolitan Room. The 6 PM concert will spotlight new and upcoming musicals both on and Off-Broadway. Attendees can expect to enjoy performances from the casts of 13, The Musical; A Tale of Two Cities; Irving Berlin's White Christmas; Sessions; and Angels, among others. Performers will include James Barbour, Maya Days, John Hickock and Kerry O'Malley. Tickets, priced $45-$60 (Drama League members) and $100 (for non-members), are available by calling (212) 244-9494, ext. 5. There is also a two-drink minimum. The Metropolitan Room is located in Manhattan at 34 West 22nd Street.
"Brady Bunch" star Florence Henderson, who bowed on Broadway in Wish You Were Here, will play a limited engagement at Feinstein's at Loews Regency Nov. 5-8. Henderson's act, entitled All the Lives of Me . . . A Musical Journey to New York City, will feature songs from Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The Sound of Music and Annie Get Your Gun. The singing actress will also offer anecdotes about "a life on the boards of Broadway and the Brady set." Show times are Wednesday and Thursday at 8:30 PM and Friday and Saturday at 8 and 10 PM. Feinstein's at Loews Regency is located in Manhattan at 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street. For reservations call (212) 339-4095 or visit www.ticketweb.com.
Tony Award winner Barbara Cook's latest solo recording, "Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder," will arrive in stores Nov. 11 on the DRG Records label. To celebrate the new disc, Cook will make an in-store appearance at the Lincoln Triangle Barnes and Noble Nov. 13 at 4 PM. The celebrated singer-actress will perform songs from the new CD (she will be accompanied by musical director Lee Musiker) and will also autograph copies of the recording. Cook recorded "Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" July 30 at Legacy Recording Studios in Manhattan. Grammy winner Hugh Fordin — president of DRG Records Incorporated — produced "Rainbow," which features arrangements by Musiker, who also conducted the band. Cook will also join fellow Tony winner join Audra McDonald for a one-night-only concert at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre Oct. 19. Entitled Audra McDonald & Barbara Cook: Broadway Voices for Change, the evening of song serves as a fundraiser for the grassroots organization America Votes. Show time is 8 PM. Tickets, priced $50-$99, are available by phoning (212) 239-6200 or by visiting telecharge.com.
Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.
17 Oct 2008
Peters is equally excited about her second children's book — based on the life of her dog Stella — and the debut of a new plush toy based on the character of Kramer (her other rescued dog) in her best-selling book "Broadway Barks." "[The Kramer toy is] adorable," says Peters. "It's like the illustrations in the book. It's beautiful. I'll be at FAO Schwarz [Nov. 8] starting at one o'clock [to promote the toy], and I can sign the bottom of the toy, I can sign the book. They make great Christmas gifts, and the money goes to shelter animals." Peters has also penned her second song; her first, "Kramer's Song," now serves as an encore to her concert act. "I couldn't believe it, but the [second] song came out," she laughs. "[The songs] are like my little miracles."
Kramer doll and "Broadway Barks" book
As for her own dogs, Peters says that Kramer is particularly fond of music. "His tail will wag in time to the music. He loves when I sing to him. He loves his song ['Kramer's Song'] …If I'm rescuing dogs, and they're in the back of the Jeep, they may be barking and carrying on. If I start to sing the song, they quiet down and go to sleep."
Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters at Broadway Barks 2008 photo by Aubrey Reuben
The Roundabout Theatre Company will present a one-night-only gala concert reading of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Tony Award-winning A Little Night Music Jan. 12, 2009, at the Nokia Theatre Times Square. Scott Ellis (She Loves Me, 1776, Curtains) will direct the 7:30 PM performance, which will boast the talents of Natasha Richardson (Desirée Armfeldt), Victor Garber (Frederick Egerman), Christine Baranski (Countess Charlotte Malcolm), Laura Benanti (Anne Egerman), Marc Kudisch (Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm) and Vanessa Redgrave (Madame Armfeldt). Additional casting will be announced shortly. Musical director Paul Gemignani will lead a 27-member orchestra with orchestrations penned by Jonathan Tunick. Tickets, priced $150-$2,500, will be available through Oct. 30 through an arrangement with American Express. Beginning Oct. 31 tickets will go on sale to the general public by calling (212) 719-1300 or by visiting www.roundabouttheatre.org. (Premium and reception tickets include an exclusive cast party following the performance.) The Nokia Theatre Times Square is located at 1515 Broadway at 44th Street.
DIVA TALK: Catching Up with Tony Winner and "Living Proof" Star Bernadette Peters
[Peters will appear with her rescue dog Kramer at FAO Schwarz, 767 Fifth Avenue at 58th Street, Nov. 8 at 1 PM. She will read her book "Broadway Barks," answer questions and autograph copies of the book and the new Kramer plush toy, which will also be on sale. . . For Bernadette Peters concert dates, visit www.bernadettepeters.com. . . . For more information about "Living Proof," which debuts Oct. 18 at 9 PM ET on Lifetime, visit www.mylifetime.com. Encore air dates are Oct. 19 at 8 PM and Oct. 20 at 9 PM.]
