Bernadette Peters recently joined SJ Arnegger, Director of iHeartRadio Broadway, to talk about her upcoming free stream of Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert that is set to air at 8 PM EST on Friday, July 10th. The concert will be available on iHeartRadio Broadway's Youtube Channel, iHeartRadioBroadway.com, Broadwaycare.org/bernadette and Broadway Care's Facebook and Youtube Channels.
The night will serve as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Bernadette Peters, a three-time Tony Award recipient and star of TV and film, will be joined by actor and friend Michael Urie to talk about the concert, share inside Broadway stories and celebrate Peters’ illustrious career.
The concert, which was filmed in 2009 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre, features extraordinary performances of songs by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim and more. The evening also includes the legendary Mary Tyler Moore, who co-founded the annual pet adoption eventBroadway Barks with Peters, and appearances by furry friends looking to find their forever homes.
The original Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert was directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, with music direction by Marvin Laird and Cubby O’Brien on drums. Sound design was by Tom Sorce with lighting design by Lenny Cowles. Richard Hester served as production stage manager and the production managers were Michael Flowers, Nathan Hurlin and Patty Saccente. For the streaming event, Hester serves as director.
Every dollar donated from the evening will help provide healthy meals, lifesaving medication, emergency financial assistance, housing, counseling and more to people across the country, including those in the entertainment industry, whose needs are heightened by the COVID-19 crisis. The donations also support and champion organizations working toward social justice and anti-racism.
Thus far in response to the pandemic, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has given $5 million to The Actors Fund, ensuring thousands who work in theater and the performing arts receive help getting essential medications, housing, food and utilities. Broadway Cares awarded another $2 million to vital organizations across the country facing unprecedented challenges from the pandemic. And on behalf of Broadway and the entire theater community, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, Broadway Cares provided $125,000 in now-annual grants to The Bail Project, the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Color of Change.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDSis one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.
For more information, please visit Broadway Cares online at broadwaycares.org.