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PTM Registered User
Registered: 6/26/2003 | posted: 2/1/2005 at 10:35:42 AM ET http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-mupetersfeb01,0,3048442.story?coll=sfla-features-headlines
Peters soars, charms, from brassy to dulcet
By Bill Hirschman
Staff Writer
Posted February 1 2005
"Hold your hat and hallelujah/Momma's gonna show it to you."
Pile-driving home those brassy lyrics from the musical Gypsy, Bernadette Peters brought a near-sell out crowd to its feet at the Broward Center Sunday night.
The veteran Broadway star with the kewpie-doll face and hourglass figure charmed, trumpeted and serenaded her way through a songbook of theater standards, many by Stephen Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Sex drenched the evening, from the moment she strode on stage in a shimmering beige gown like a Varga girl to the stripper anthem Let Me Entertain You.
She could blast away at the audience with raw power, as in the tidal wave of Being Alive. But even more impressive were the ballads, in which she formed and interpreted each word like an artist selecting and precisely affixing each daub of paint. She slowly caressed each beat of the lyric in exquisite renditions of No One Is Alone, Not a Day Goes By, With So Little to Be Sure Of and Children Will Listen.
In fact, Peters delivered nearly every signature song (other than Broadway Baby) in the 90-minute set that her fans could have dreamed of. But there also were unexpected successes, such as a torchy rendition of the Elvis hit Fever as she sprawled atop a grand piano, and a gut-wrenching version of the Linda Ronstadt ballad Faithless Love.
For her curtain call, she came back with the climactic Rose's Turn from Gypsy. She opened the musical in New York to justifiably tepid reviews, but after a year and half exploring this nervous breakdown set to music, Peters didn't just nail the number Sunday, she gave it hitherto unseen colors and shadings.
Peters cleverly closed by crooning a delicate lullabye, Irving Berlin's bittersweet Count Your Blessings from the film White Christmas. It sent the audience out not with a slap on the back, but a benedictory kiss.
PTM
| moljul Registered User
Registered: 4/2/2001
From: New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 2/1/2005 at 10:40:04 AM ET "sex drenched"????
And just a little rant: Gypsy did not open to tepid reviews. They were not raves across the board. There were some negative, some positive and some mixed. The majority were positive. Okay, rant over.
Thanks, PTM, for posting the review.
| Karen Registered User
Registered: 5/3/2002 | posted: 2/1/2005 at 10:48:27 AM ET Right. Most of the reviews were extremely positive. Someone's trying to rewrite history again.
| Sister Rose Registered User
Registered: 5/4/2004
From: NYC | posted: 2/1/2005 at 12:11:15 PM ET I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait!
So, did she do the Peggy Lee version of Fever or the Elvis version of Fever? Aren't they two different songs?
"Anyone who stays home is DEAD!"
| PTM Registered User
Registered: 6/26/2003 | posted: 2/2/2005 at 12:49:07 AM ET Here's another review
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/neapolitan/article/0,2071,NPDN_14939_3515192,00.html
Review: Bernadette Peters dazzles in all-too-short, high-octance show
By NANCY STETSON, nrstetson@naplesnews.com
February 2, 2005
The Tony Award-winning actress/singer Bernadette Peters knows how to deliver a song.
Somehow, she has that paradoxical, rare skill of embodying the lyrics while simultaneously knowing how to get out of the song's way. Peters can make it seem so effortless.
She's especially gifted in singing the music of Stephen Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein.
She performed a number of their songs Monday night during her short but powerful concert at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts.
Peters has recently finished a 1 1/2 year run as Mama Rose in the recent Sam Mendes Broadway revival of "Gypsy," for which she received a Tony Award nomination.
Peters just delights in the music and allows us to take joy in it as well. When she sings, she is totally luminescent.
Monday night she sang "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" from "South Pacific." A Rodgers and Hammerstein tune that's traditionally sung by men, Peters' version was a celebration of womanhood as she ran her hands through her corkscrew curls, wiggled her hips and raised her arms, reveling in being a woman.
If "I Feel Pretty" is a young girl's celebration of her femininity, Peters' version of "There Is Nothing Like A Dame" is the self-assured declaration of a woman in her prime...and loving it.
She followed it up with a sultry version of "Fever," reclining on top of the grand piano in her slinky gown, vamping it up.
Later in the evening Peters performed another tune from "South Pacific" — "Some Enchanted Evening." It was stunning in its purity and simplicity of delivery.
"No One is Alone" and "Being Alive" were delivered with a ferocity of feeling.
Peters' voice at times seemed slightly husky, and I wondered if she was battling a cold.
It was a short concert — she took her bows just 65 minutes after starting. Some audience members were surprised that the show was over so soon and checked their watches.
Peters came out and sang two songs for her encore. Donning a frumpy black sweater and practical black pumps, she belted out a gut-wrenching "Rose's Turn," her 11 o'clock number from "Gypsy."
While previous Peters concerts have been magical and infused with delight, Monday's performance seemed to have an undertone of loss and heartbreak.
She opened the evening with "Let Me Entertain You," also from "Gypsy." And she did. But she did it so well and for such a short period of time that she left her audience, 75 minutes later, thirsting for more.
PTM
| SingOutAnnie Registered User
Registered: 8/23/2003
From: Bradenton/Sarasota, FLA | posted: 2/2/2005 at 8:11:24 AM ET "...If "I Feel Pretty" is a young girl's celebration of her femininity, Peters' version of "There Is Nothing Like A Dame" is the self-assured declaration of a woman in her prime...and loving it. ..."
Great!!
| barcelona Registered User
Registered: 7/27/2004 | posted: 2/2/2005 at 7:41:53 PM ET These reviews (and reports from you guys) have been great to read in some respects, but torture in others! They make me want to be there so badly! I really would travel the Atlantic if I could. Bernadette is worth it.
| GraceAnne Registered User
Registered: 5/20/2004
From: New York, NY | posted: 2/2/2005 at 8:42:12 PM ET "While previous Peters concerts have been magical and infused with delight, Monday's performance seemed to have an undertone of loss and heartbreak."
Did you all who saw the concert feel this was true?
| jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 2/2/2005 at 9:30:07 PM ET
quote: "While previous Peters concerts have been magical and infused with delight, Monday's performance seemed to have an undertone of loss and heartbreak."
Did you all who saw the concert feel this was true?
I've noticed that those who write articles/reviews about Bernadette sometimes bring undertones of grandiosity and drama to the table. Well,they're positive,so that's nice,at least. But sometimes I read these articles and I cringe.
But I didn't see the concert,so what do I know?
Jenn
| Karen Registered User
Registered: 5/3/2002 | posted: 2/2/2005 at 10:13:33 PM ET Grandiosity and drama? Thank goodness no one here ever falls into that trap.
Hey, quit staring at me!
But seriously, I really love your observation.
| jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 2/2/2005 at 11:26:38 PM ET No,no,no! That wasn't meant to be about anyone here. It just seems different in an article. I don't know if I'm making any sense.
Jenn
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