VIDEO: On This Day, May 1- Light the Lights! Bernadette Peters Returns to Broadway in GYPSY

On this day in 2003, the curtain went up on the legendary Bernadette Peters as Mama Rose in Gypsy on Broadway!

Bernadette Peters 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."

Her film credits include Pennies from Heaven (Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy), The Jerk, The Longest Yard, Silent Movie (Golden Globe nomination), Annie, Pink Cadillac, Slaves of New York,Alice, Impromptu, It Runs in the Family, and Coming Up Roses. Her solo albums I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (1997); Sondheim, Etc.: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall (1998); and Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers & Hammerstein (2003) have all been nominated for Grammys. She has also been featured on numerous Original Broadway Cast recordings and received her fourth Grammy nomination in 2002 for Follies.

Ms. Peters devotes her time and talent to numerous events that benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In addition, together with Mary Tyler Moore, Ms. Peters co-founded Broadway Barks, an annual pet adoption event that benefits shelter animals throughout the New York City area. The proceeds of her three New York Times best-selling children's books,Broadway Barks, Stella is a Star, and Stella and Charlie: Friends Forever all benefit Broadway Barks. Ms. Peters resides in New York with her rescue dogs Charlie and Rosalia.