Broadway great Bernadette Peters will be at Lexington Opera House

When Bernadette Peters arrived home from school as a child, her mind exactly didn’t race to homework. What she became engrossed in was instead an education well outside the classroom that would fortify her through six decades.

“School would finish at 3, I would come home and the 4 o’clock movie would come on TV. I would watch that before I did homework. They showed these wonderful 1930s Busby Berkeley musicals. That’s where I got so much information.”

Having appeared on a children’s TV game show at the age of 3 and joined Actors Equity at 9, Peters broke through with the New York theatre community in 1968 through an Off-Broadway production of “Dames at Sea” — a musical where a wide-eyed, would-be actress arrives on Broadway to star in what was essentially a Busby Berkley musical.

“’Dames at Sea’ brought me to people’s attention, and it’s about a 1930 movie musical.”

Since being at sea, so to speak, Peters has become a Tony, Golden Globe and Drama Desk Award-winning actress, a staple of Broadway stages and one of the most critically revered interpreters of the music of Stephen Sondheim. But there have also been comic and dramatic turns in movies and television, as well as a touring career as a concert performer. The latter brings Peters to the Lexington Opera House this weekend to open the week-long Bravoh! festival honoring the venue’s 140th anniversary.

“I’m playing the W.C. Fields circuit now,” Peters said with a laugh, referencing the famed comedian/vaudevillian who played the Opera House in the early 20th century.

Peters sings songs from her musicals

The concert, which Peters will perform with her trio, covers songs from the many musicals she has appeared in. Some she popularized. Others were initially performed by other actresses in other roles, but absorbed when Peters would “sit in the wings listening to them, falling in love with the songs.”

To no one’s surprise, Sondheim music has long been prevalent in her concert repertoire. She originated the roles of Dot and Marie in “Sunday in the Park with George” in 1984 and The Witch in “Into the Woods” in 1987. As recently as 2025, she was back on Broadway co-starring in the Sondheim tribute revue “Old Friends.”

“We lost Stephen in 2021, right? Before that, I would go out to do my concerts and then come home and call him. Sometimes he couldn’t imagine his songs outside the shows. He just didn’t picture that. I guess that’s because he was so involved with why he wrote them in that moment and what they meant in the show.

“I used to say, and I still say, that he gives me so much to sing about. His songs cover the human condition. And who am I singing to? Humans.”

Despite her storied career, I sheepishly admitted to Peters that my introduction to her work came not through such theatrical greats as Sondheim, but a 1977 appearance on “The Muppet Show.”

“Oh, I loved that,” she replied. “That was so much fun. Those Muppets just become real. You want to kiss them, but everyone kept saying, ‘Don’t kiss them. Don’t kiss the Muppets.’ They’re made out of fabric. If you kiss them, you can’t get the lipstick off.”

Iconic roles, including Dolly

Still, Peters’ most longstanding performance home remains Broadway. But Sondheim is hardly the only theatrical muse whose works keep taking her there. Her first Tony came in 1986 for the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Don Black musical “Song & Dance.” In his New York Times review of the show, Frank Rich said of Peters, “As an actress, singer, comedienne and all-around warming presence, she has no peer in the musical theater right now.” The second was earned in 1999 for a revival of “Annie Get Your Gun.”

“I love it,” Peters said of performing on Broadway. “I love the routine. I love getting to the theatre early. I love growing into a role. You have to do the same show every night. It’s the same script, but it’s fluid and alive and hopefully we’re not doing it the same way every night. It becomes fresh and new for you.

“If I love the show and I love the role, you learn a lot about life and yourself. I loved doing ‘Hello Dolly.’ It’s a great show. I saw it once with Carol Channing, the last time she did it and I fell in love with her. Then, of course, my friend Bette Midler did it (Peters succeeded Midler as Dolly Gallagher Levi in a 2018 Broadway revival.)

“She came to me and said, ‘You should go into this after me.’ I was like, ‘I don’t think so. You’re doing just fine.’ I read the script and I read the original material, ‘The Matchmaker,’ that it was taken from and it’s really, really a beautifully constructed show. I can understand why Carol Channing did it for the rest of her life. It’s uplifting, it’s got wonderful music and dialogue. If a show is great, it’s just beautiful.”

Peters’ love of Broadway has also given her a platform for a variety of activist causes. Among the many charity events she oversees is an annual pet adoption event called “Broadway Barks,” which she began in 1999 with Mary Tyler Moore. The event’s popularity led Peters to organize a similar event overseas starting in 2020 with Elaine Paige (her co-star in another Sondheim musical, “Follies”) incorporating London’s theatre community with the banner title of “West End Woofs.” Almost on cue, Peters’ own dogs bark in the background as conversation turns to the adoption events.

“’Hi, kids. Did you just come back from your walk?’ It’s time for their treat.”

From Muppets to Sondheim, from Broadway to the big screen, Peters is still open to whatever opportunities still await her. Retirement, for now, is not on the table.

“I would like to be surprised to see what the universe brings to me. We shall see.”

Bernadette Peters & Bravoh! shows

When: May 10 at 7:30 p.m. as part of “Bravoh! — Celebrating 140 Years of the Lexington Opera House”

Where: Lexington Opera House, 401 W. Short

Tickets: Only Preferred Seating tickets remain at centralbankcenter.com/events/detail/an-evening-with-bernadette-peters

Other Bravoh! events at the Lexington Opera House include:

• May 13: Local Arts Spotlight, a showcase featuring music, dance and theatre performances by Bluegrass Youth Ballet, Kentucky Ballet Theatre, Lexington Children’s Theatre, SCAPA, Lexington Theatre Company and University of Kentucky Opera Theatre at 7:30 p.m. $27.35 adults, $13.40 children and students through ticketmaster.com.
• May 15: Symphony of Sound with the Lexington Philharmonic with guest violinist Tessa Lark and the Lexington Singers performing Elaine Hagenberg’s “Illuminare,” Michael Torke’s SKY Concerto and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 at 7:30 p.m. $44.75-$81.70 though ticketmaster.com.