By Genesis Eve Garcia
Salt Lake City’s Maurice Abravanel Hall has long been the home of stellar musical performances. It is a beacon of culture in downtown Salt Lake City. Host to the iconic Utah Symphony, the venue beckons world class performers. This weekend, Utah Symphony hosts a Broadway legend, Bernadette Peters, an actor and singer with seven Tony nominations, and three wins.
The performance begins with a rousing tribute to Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein and Big Band music by the Utah Symphony, with Lee Mills conducting. The music lilts and rocks, with dancing bright percussion, and familiar melodies like, “No Business Like Show Business” and “Anything Goes”. After the tribute to Cole Porter, the symphony launches into three dance episodes from On The Town by Leonard Bernstein. During the first movement, I catch glimmers of “Fascinating Rhythm”. The instruments in the symphony represent the vibrant personas of a busy town, all coming together to create a vibrant community. The flutes float sweetly, and the brass brashly bounces in. Sometimes the melodies clash, sometimes they soar together.
During the second movement, everything slows down. The movement begins with a mesmerizing oboe solo, and merges into a duet with the flute. The music is gliding, slow, and hypnotizing. It builds to a clash of melodies that finally settle into that odd uniformity that sets Bernstein apart. We see similar patterns of cacophony resolving into melodic uniformity in Stephen Sondheim’s music. The Bernstein numbers were a perfect prelude to Bernadette Peters’ performance.
The third movement finds us returning to our bright, dancing selves. I imagine the town is waking up after the soulful late night of the second movement. The trombones come sliding in, the trumpets sing us along, and even the violins take on a jazzy character.
The Utah Symphony ends the first half of the night with a collection of big band favorites. Conductor Lee Mills dances as he conducts in a fantastic wine red suit. As the music plays, I feel like I am being swept off in a boat down a swift river. The music carries us all forward. The symphony brings us home with Glen Miller favorites like “Pennsylvania 6-5000” and “Sing Sing Sing”. My feet begin to do a triple step, triple step, back step, under my seat. It is thrilling.
After a brief intermission, the lady herself enters to the thrilling sound of a drum roll. I wondered what it would be like to see my idol after all these years. My first memory of her is as Lily St. Regis in Annie. I told myself that she would look older now, since it’s been almost forty years. As Bernadette Peters walks out on stage, I smile. She hasn’t aged a day. She has gorgeous curly red hair, and she is dressed in a tight silver sequined gown, and stiletto heels. She is absolutely timeless. She could play both Little Red and Mama Rose and no one would bat an eye.
She starts the night off with two Stephen Sondheim numbers, “Old Friends” from Merrily We Roll Along and “No One Is Alone” from Into the Woods. During the second number, she sings with just piano and cello. Every song feels like she’s singing it for the very first time, or maybe the very last time. It feels like she’s creating a special moment, just for us. Her musical director Joseph Thalken dances back and forth between playing the piano, and standing to conduct the Utah Symphony, as they accompany Ms. Peters.
The next song is from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. Normally sung by a man, Bernadette Peters makes us believe that the song “There Is Nothing Like A Dame” was meant to be sung by a beautiful dame. The song is charming, sexy, and hilarious! It is an absolute showstopper.
For her next number, Ms. Peters stretches across the grand piano to thrill us with Peggy Lee’s “Fever”. After that, she plays Carrie from Carousel and sings out “When I Marry Mr. Snow”. Ms. Peters finds the funniest little details in every song. Every number is a comedy, no matter how sexy or sincere she might also be. As she sings each song, she becomes the character. It doesn’t feel like a concert of songs sung by Bernadette Peters, it feels like a collection of characters sharing their stories with us. I begin to wonder why Ms. Peters shouldn’t just play all of the roles on Broadway. She brings an enchanting truth to every role. She is first and foremost an actor, and then a singer. The story always comes first. She lets her voice hover in an uneven place, that feels strained and vulnerable in one song, and then in the next moment, she chooses to explode in a confident belt or a soaring soprano. She uses her voice to tell the story of the character, not just the story of a world class Broadway star performing with a world class symphony.
As the night continues on, I find myself crying during “Buddy’s Eyes” from Follies, and then the symphony begins to play the familiar refrain from Sweeney Todd. Everyone in the audience sits forward and she regales us with a gorgeous rendition of “Joanna”. I missed the chance to see her play Dolly Levi, but tonight, she gives us our very own show with “Before The Parade Passes By” and “So Long Dearie”.
I think my favorite moment of the night is when she sings “Send In The Clowns” from A Little Night Music. As I watch her and listen to her, I realize that my favorite thing about Bernadette Peters is that in one number she manages to find the scared little girl inside the old lady, and the wise old lady inside the little girl. She is absolutely timeless and her performance is transcendent.
She closes the night with a thrilling performance of “Being Alive” from Company. The audience rises to their feet in a thunderous ovation. She comes back on stage and shares with us her favorite pet project, started with Mary Tyler Moore. It is literally a pet project called broadwaybarks.org and she shares her love for her dogs, and sings one encore–a song she wrote for her dog Kramer. It is delightful. She invites everyone to go home and love their pets, their friends, and each other.
Finally, we leave the show, absolutely thrilled to have experienced such a wealth of music and storytelling. Bernadette Peters with The Utah Symphony plays Saturday, November 19th at 7:30pm at Abravanel Hall, 123 W South Temple, Salt Lake City. Parking is easiest in the City Creek underground parking, just below Nordstroms. For tickets, visit https://utahsymphony.org/event/id/28211/.
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