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closeSaturday, Sep. 27, 2008
A devoted diva
The hardworking Bernadette Peters performs at Bass Hall on Saturday.
By PUNCH SHAW
Special to DFW.com
Musically, Bernadette Peters is going to the dogs.
But that doesn’t mean you’ll want to miss her performance with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra tonight at Bass Hall. Because if you don’t show up, you won’t hear her sing Kramer’s Song, a lullaby Peters wrote to support Broadway Barks, a Big Apple event started 10 years ago by Peters and fellow thespian Mary Tyler Moore to encourage pet adoptions.
"The first year we had five animals adopted, and this year we had 125 adoptions," gushed Peters, who also authored a children’s book, Broadway Barks, which stars her dog, Kramer, whom she adopted from a shelter.
The depth of Peters’ commitment to this canine cause is evidenced by her willingness to put pen to paper for the project. Because, although the 60-year-old singer has performed and popularized hundreds of show tunes and standards in her career, she had never before donned a composer’s hat.
"I’ve never written a song in my life — I have too much respect for composers," said Peters, who has certainly earned the respect of a number of tunesmiths over the years. But, much to her surprise, she was struck by inspiration in an odd place.
"I was on a flight, and this song just comes to me, music and lyrics at the same time," the two-time Tony winner said, noting that she had to resist the urge to sing it from her seat. (And that is perhaps the most amazing thing about that story — the fact that Peters thought the other passengers would have minded if she had.)
Because while one aspect of her career may have picked up a few fleas, the rest of Peters’ act is in as good a shape as her famously straight-line-free figure.
"You learn early on that you can’t serve too many masters," said Peters, by way of explaining how she has maintained her voice over a career that has brought her success on stage, screen and television.
But, while she says she rests herself and her voice, her résumé suggests otherwise. In addition to doing concerts like the one here and supporting Broadway Barks, Peters continues acting, as featured Thursday in the two-hour season premiere of TV’s Grey’s Anatomy and in Lifetime Network’s upcoming movie, Living Proof, which casts the Broadway star opposite Harry Connick Jr.
So, after having done so much for so long, why is she still drawn to the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd?
"The performing arts parallel my life. I learned about life by performing," said Peters, who started performing in public at age 3 and earned an Actor’s Equity card by age 9. "So now I don’t take just any role that comes along. Usually it’s something that I like thinking about in life or I need to think about."
Bass Hall
$29-$99
817-665-6000; www.fwsymphony.org
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