BERNADETTE PETERS
Hope you caught Bernadette this past Sunday night, ensconced in a red gown and singing her heart out for the Presidential Inauguration ceremonies. BP sang a song by Beauty and the Beast's Alan Menken, entitled "These Are the Good Times" and was joined by a diverse group of students from the class of 2000. Despite battling bronchitis, Peters looked and sounded great.

The list that all BP fans have been waiting for, the song list for her upcoming Carnegie Hall album has been set. The CD, which was recorded live in December is scheduled for release on March 11 and features the following songs:

"Broadway Baby" from Follies
"No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods
"Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy
"Making Love Alone," originally performed on "Saturday Night Live"
"Time Heals Everything" from Mack and Mabel
"Raining in My Heart" from Dames at Sea
"Some People" from Gypsy
"Johanna" from Sweeney Todd
"Happiness" from Passion
"Hello Little Girl/Any Moment" from Into the Woods
"There Won't Be Trumpets" from Anyone Can Whistle
"You Could Drive a Person Crazy" from Company
"Not a Day Goes By" from Merrily We Roll Along
"Being Alive" from Company
"Move On" from Sunday in the Park with George

It's interesting to note that all but three of the songs feature Stephen Sondheim as lyricist, composer or both. It is completely fitting because Peters remains one of, if not the foremost interpreters of the works of Sondheim, always bringing some fresh spin to his works. She even manages to bring life to songs that you have heard hundreds of times: her comic take on "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" and her uplifting "Being Alive" are just two examples of her masterful work.

The director for Bernadette's triumphant evening at Carnegie Hall, Richard Jay-Alexander, recently said that the recording will feature 60 minutes of music and 12 minutes of BP's delicious patter. We were also informed that the recording will feature many photos from the event, or as Jay-Alexander put it, it is "deluxe, groovy packaging"!

BETTY BUCKLEY
Betty Buckley is in Chicago through Jan. 26, starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Music of the Night at the Chicago Theatre. BB recently concluded the Los Angeles portion of the tour, and there was one last review of the show that appeared in "Drama-Logue." Following is an excerpt from Bruce Feld's Jan. 16-22 write-up

". . .The good news is that Betty Buckley, vibrato never stronger, offers a high musical intelligence and considerable authority. Her stage presence is secure, her choices are wise, her style is persuasive. She sings the plum songs--"I Don't Know How to Love Him," "All I Ask of You," "With One Look"--beautifully and makes "Memory" an incomparable triumph of musical theatre--which, indeed, it is."

Also, be sure to check out Betty B's website--in its home on Playbill On-line--as many photos of Ms. B have been added to the scrapbook section of the site. You can see Betty as a baby, in her first professional production, and more. . . SARAH BRIGHTMAN
Sarah (The Phantom of the Opera's first Christine) Brightman will join the National Symphony Orchestra on February 28 and March 1 for two concerts to be held at Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Hall, which is located at 18th and D Streets, NW. Tickets range from $25-$47 and showtime is 8:30 PM. For more information regarding one of Brightman's few U.S. Concert dates or to purchase tickets, call (202) 467-4600. You can be sure Brightman will perform a host of Andrew Lloyd Webber tunes, having performed in Cats, Song and Dance, Aspects of Love and, of course, The Phantom of the Opera.

EVITA
After snagging three Golden Globe Awards Jan. 19, Evita continues to rake in the bucks, both at the box office and in record stores. In fact, the recording was the No. 2 album in the country last week, selling more than 100,000 copies for the week ending January 22.

I had received a request to reprint the lyric changes made in "The Lady's Got Potential," a song that was on the original Evita studio recording with Julie Covington (sung on that album by C.T. Wilkinson, aka Colm "Les Miz" Wilkinson) and reinstated for the movie (sung by Antonio Banderas). Here are the lyrics, supplied to Playbill On-Line by Tim Rice himself:

THE LADY'S GOT POTENTIAL (FILM VERSION)
Lyrics: Tim Rice -- Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber

In June of '43 there was a military coup
Behind it was a gang called the GOU
Who did not feel the need to be elected
They had themselves a party at the point of a gun
They were slightly to the right of Atilla the Hun
A bomb or two and very few objected

Yeah - Just one shell and governments fall like flies
Kapow! Die!
They stumble and fall
Bye Bye!
Backs to the wall
Aim high!
We're having a ball
The tank and bullet rule as democracy dies

The lady's got potential she was setting her sights
On making it in movies with her name in lights
The greatest social climber since Cinderella
OK she couldn't act but she had the right friends
And we all know a career depends
On knowing the right feller to be stellar

Yeah - Just one shell and governments lose their nerve
Kapow! Die!
They stumble and fall
Bye Bye!
Backs to the wall
Aim high!
We're having a ball
That's how we get the government we deserve

Now the man behind the president calling the shots
Involved so discreetly in a lot of the plots*
Was Colonel Juan Peron, would-be dictator
He began in the army out in Italy so
Saw Mussolini's rise from the very front row
And reckoned he'd do likewise sooner or later Yeah - Just one blast and the tear gas falls like rain
Kapow! Die!
They haven't a chance
Bye Bye!
The terrors advance
But one guy
Doesn't dirty his hands
Peron was biding time out in the slow lane

Then suddenly an earthquake hit the town of San Juan
Kapow! Die!
They stumble and fall
Bye Bye!
Keep away from the wall
But one guy
Was having a ball
The tragedy a golden chance for Peron

He organised a concert with incredible flair
In aid of all the victims - such a grand affair
Politicians, actors, stars of every flavour
It was January 22nd 1944
A night to remember yeah that's for sure
For that's the night that Peron first met Eva
For that's the night that Peron first met Eva

*Tim Rice's original line here was "who gave every up and coming lady the hots," a lyric which, Rice says, "I prefer."

FLORENCE LACEY
And, speaking of Evita, one of our favorite stage Evitas and the woman who has played the role more than any other actress, Florence Lacey, concludes her run as Fantine in the Broadway production of Les Miserables this Sunday. I will be catching her last performance this weekend, and will write about that and future Lacey plans in the next column.

That's all for now. Happy diva-watching!--

By Andrew Gans
e-mail me at [email protected]