Bernadette Peters Joins Cast of CW Series KATY KEENE

Bernadette Peters has joined the cast of the upcoming CW series Katy Keene, according to Deadline. The Riverdale spin-off series stars Lucy Hale as the titular character.

Katy Keene follows the lives and loves of four iconic Archie Comics characters - fashion legend-to-be Katy Keene, singer/songwriter Josie McCoy, performer Jorge Lopez/Ginger, and "It Girl" Pepper Smith - as they chase their twenty-something dreams in New York City...together.

Peters will play "Ms. Freesia," described as "Pepper Smith's eccentrically elegant surrogate mother and mentor" who "taught Pepper in the art of the con." "Ms. Freesia" is "a wealthy Upper East sider who secured her luxurious lifestyle through cunning means and is actively forming Pepper in her fabulous image."

Chan's Pepper is the name-dropping "It Girl" of Katy's inner circle of friends. She's the type who is always in the right place at the right time, knows all the hip people and is a sort of link between Katy's gang and the red-velvet-rope crowd.

Broadway star Daphne Rubin-Vega was also recently announced as an addition to the Katy Keene cast, recurring as Luisa, the mother of Katy's friend Jorge/Ginger, an aspiring, ever-auditioning Broadway performer by day and drag star by night.

Tony Award-winning actress Bernadette Peters has dazzled audiences and critics with her performances on stage, on television, in concert, and in the recording industry. In 2003, she received her seventh Tony Award nomination for her electrifying portrayal of Momma Rose in Sam Mendes' record-breaking Broadway revival of Gypsy. Peters received both the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for her critically-acclaimed performance in Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical Song and Dance. Peters also received Tony nominations for her work in the 1992 musical The Goodbye Girl; Stephen Sondheim's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park With George; the Jerry Herman/Gower Champion ode to the movies, Mack and Mabel; and the Leonard Bernstein/Comden and Green musical On The Town.

Peters also boasts an impressive list of television credits ranging from performing arts specials such as PBS' Evening at Pops and THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS to appearances in variety shows such as The Carol Burnett Show and an Emmy-nominated performance on The Muppet Show. She appeared in the star-studded Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall and also played an opera diva-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown in Terrence McNally's The Last Mile, both for PBS' highly acclaimed Great Performances series. Peters has also starred in 17 films throughout her career, and she received a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Pennies From Heaven.