A free stream of Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert is set for 8 pm ET on Friday, July 10, 2020 and can be watched at broadwaycares.org/bernadette on Broadway Cares’ Facebook and YouTube channels. It will also be streamed on iHeartRadioBroadway's YouTube channel and iHeartRadioBroadway.com.
WATCH IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE.
The night will serve as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Donations can be made here. 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 event Broadway Barks with Peters, and appearances by furry friends looking to find their forever homes.
“I’m delighted to be able to share this incredible evening again, which has only been seen by those who were inside the Minskoff Theater,” Peters said. “I hope this evening will bring joy to those who now get to experience it while still making a real difference for people in need across the country, and in our industry through support of Broadway Cares.”
Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, said: “Bernadette has been an invaluable friend and champion of Broadway Cares for more than two decades. She has been at our side as a member of our Board of Trustees. She’s led, with a personal and cheerful insistence, the appeals and front-of-house fundraising at the Broadway shows in which she’s starred. And she’s been a fearless advocate for those who need a helping hand in troubled times. We’re honored she’d allow us to revisit this magnificent concert online.”
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 AIDS is 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.