It might sound like an exaggeration to say that Bernadette Peters was born to stand onstage and sing the Great American Songbook. It overlooks the training, sore muscles and sweat that it took for Peters, who performs at the Charleston Music Hall on March 21, to become a three-time Tony Award winner.
But then you find out that she got her first Actors’ Equity card at age 9. That card signifies membership in the Actors’ Equity Association and professional status as a stage actor. So if she wasn’t born to do it, she certainly started early.
“I never really asked myself that before, but yes, I think I was born to do this,” Peters told the Charleston City Paper. “There’s really nothing else I can do, so that’s it!”
And what Peters and her trio will do at the Music Hall is make the music of Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerry Herman and more iconic Broadway composers come alive again.
Peters uses her powerful mezzo-soprano and expert acting chops to interpret classic stage songs like “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Send in the Clowns,” “It Might as Well Be Spring,” “Some Enchanted Evening” and more, with a heavy dose of sly jokes and jazzy improvisation.
“I’ll be singing a lot of my beloved Stephen Sondheim and a lot of Rodgers and Hammerstein,” Peters said. “I’m there to go on a musical journey, and hopefully you and I have fun. Hopefully, by the end of the evening, everyone feels like they’ve had a very satisfying time.”
While Patti LuPone might hold the unofficial title of Broadway’s grand diva, Peters, 78, has another informal title. Over the years, esteemed critics like Charles Isherwood of The New York Times have called Peters “the foremost interpreter of Stephen Sondheim.”
Her hilarious interpretation of “Broadway Baby” is as funny as her performance of “Send in the Clowns” is heartbreaking.
“He writes about the human condition and the things that are important in life,” Peters said of Sondheim. “It’s just that instead of reading from a book, I’m singing to people.”
Peters’ set list, which also typically includes classics like “Fever,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “My Romance,” might generally stay the same, but her interpretations are different every time.
“As I learn more about life, that’s how the songs change,” she said. “You know, we recently did a reunion of a production of ‘Into the Woods’ that I was in, only it was 29 years later. Well, I’ve lived a lot in 29 years, so you bring all that information back into the songs, and they resonate even more.”
Of course, it helps when a singer has a trio like Peters does. Pianist and musical director Tedd Firth, bassist Kevin Axt and drummer Cubby O’Brien have been with her for decades. There’s no full-blown orchestra at the Music Hall show, just stripped-down elegance.
“They breathe with me,” she said. “I’ve known these guys for such a long time, and they love it because it’s so intimate. I never do the songs the same way, because I try to be in the moment. So they have to be on their toes. I breathe in different places depending on how I’m feeling that day about the song. So they have to really listen.”
Interestingly enough, though Peters’ repertoire pulls from the past, she doesn’t subscribe to the idea that “they don’t write songs like that anymore.”
“You can find some new songs,” she said. “It’s just a matter of the performer and how they do them. I think it’s all about connecting to the song, and then the audience connects to the song.”
And Peters is probably going to be around to do those new songs when they emerge. She might be nearing 80, but she has no plans to slow down.
“‘Retire’ is an unfamiliar expression for me,” she said. “When I saw Lena Horne on Broadway, I think she was 65. And I was maybe in my late 30s, and I said, ‘That’s what I want to be doing when I’m 65.’ Well, I’m still doing this, and I’ve passed it!”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 7 p.m., March 21, Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St., Charleston. Tickets range from $92-$360. charlestonmusichall.com
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