Bernadette Peters to Join the Boston Pops at Auditorium Theatre in March

Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters makes her Auditorium Theatre debut, and her first Chicago appearance in over 10 years, on March 31 when she joins the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra for a mixed program that features a tribute to George Gershwin and a medley of Broadway hits and classics.

"I am thrilled to welcome Bernadette Peters to Chicago for the first time in many years to perform with the Boston Pops," says Tania Castroverde Moskalenko, Auditorium Theatre CEO. "We can't wait for this American icon to grace our historic stage with her renowned voice."

The Pops, led by conductor Keith Lockhart, will give the world premiere of a reconstruction of Paul Whiteman's jazzy version of Gershwin's An American in Paris, in addition to a rarely-heard original orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue. The second half of the program will feature Peters singing a variety of Broadway hits and American classics.

The Boston Pops, an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was founded in 1885. Affectionately known as "America's Orchestra," the Boston Pops is the most recorded and arguably the most beloved orchestra in the country, beginning with the establishment of the modern-era Pops by Arthur Fiedler and continuing through the innovations introduced by John Williams and the new-millennium Pops spearheaded by conductor Keith Lockhart, who has led more than 1,500 Boston Pops concerts since 1995. In response to the ever-diversifying trends in music, Lockhart has taken the Pops in new directions, creating programs that reach out to a broader and younger audience by presenting artists-both established performers and rising stars-from virtually every corner of the entertainment world, all the while maintaining the Pops' appeal to its core audience.

Bernadette Peters is a three-time Tony Award-winning actor and singer known for her Broadway performances in Gypsy, Annie Get Your Gun, Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George, among many others. She has also appeared on television shows including Smash and Ugly Betty, and she currently stars on Amazon's Golden Globe-winning show Mozart in the Jungle. She will appear on the upcoming CBS series The Good Fight, a spin-off of The Good Wife, which premieres on February 19, 2017.

The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra with Bernadette Peters is set for Friday, March 31 at 7:30PM. Tickets start at $33, and are available online at AuditoriumTheatre.org, by phone at 312.341.2300, or in person at the Auditorium Theatre Box Office (50 E Congress Parkway). Discounts available for groups of 10+.

The Auditorium Theatre, located at 50 E. Congress Pkwy in Chicago, is an Illinois, not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community and educational programming to Chicago, and to the continued restoration and preservation of the National Historic Landmark. In September of 2014, the Auditorium Theatre was awarded the inaugural Fifth Star Award by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

The Auditorium Theatre 2016-17 Season is made possible in part with support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council and the Palmer House Hilton. For more information about programming, volunteer and donor opportunities or theatre tours, call 312.341.2310 or visit AuditoriumTheatre.org. For a complete listing of events at the Auditorium Theatre, click here.

Photo Credit: Andrew Eccles

To post a comment, you must register and login.