BWW Exclusive: Bernadette Peters Opens Up About Her Broadway Return in HELLO, DOLLY!

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, legendary two-time Tony Award-winning Bernadette Peters, capping a 60-years-long career of triumph after triumph as "the most accomplished musical comedy star of her generation" (The Washington Post), will take on the title role in the most successful and beloved Broadway production of the year: Hello, Dolly!

How is she getting ready for her Broadway return? "I'm so excited. It's a wonderful role," Peters told BroadwayWorld. "Bette is magnificent in the role and I love seeing her in it. I actually saw Carol Channing the last time she did [Hello, Dolly!]. I've just started looking at the role and it's wonderful."

Ms. Peters will begin performances Saturday evening, January 20, 2018, prior to a Thursday, February 22 opening night.

Bette Midler, who received universal raves and every Broadway acting honor for her performance as Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly!, including the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, will play her final performance on Sunday, January 14.

Bernadette Peters (Dolly Gallagher Levi) is one of Broadway's most critically acclaimed and well-loved stars, having won two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, four Grammy Award nominations, and three Emmy Award nominations. She received her first Tony in 1986 for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance, and her second for the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun. In 2012, she received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, in recognition of her years of service to charitable organizations. Ms. Peters made her stage debut at the age of nine, and first came to the attention of New York theatergoers with her back to back acclaimed performances in both Dames at Sea (Drama Desk) and George M! (Theater World Award). She gave landmark performances in two historic Stephen Sondheim musicals: the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park with George, for which she received Tony and Drama Desk nominations, and Into the Woods, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination.

On Broadway, she originated the title role in Jerry Herman's Mack and Mabel (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), and also starred in On the Town (Tony nomination), The Goodbye Girl (Tony nomination), Sam Mendes's revival of Gypsy (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), A Little Night Music, and Follies (Drama Desk nomination). While best known for her work in the theater, Ms. Peters stars on television in "Mozart in the Jungle" and "The Good Fight," with notable guest appearances on "Smash," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Ugly Betty."