Ageless, Timeless, Bernadette Peters Wows a Sell-Out CSUN Crowd

On Feb. 28, Bernadette Peters turned 64. Anyone lucky enough to see her perform Saturday night at CSUN's will swear the first sentence was a misprint.

That's because Peters imbibes heavily from the Fountain of Youth. There really is no better way to explain that timeless grace, those sexy moves, that innocent expression and a voice that is as pitch perfect today as it was when she made her Broadway debut in 1967, two Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards ago.

Glittering in a form-fitting Bob Mackie-style gown, Peters  opened with Let Me Entertain You from Gypsy, one of many Broadway hits in which she has starred.  If the full house needed assurance that Peters still has it, that number did the trick. Among those applauding was Martin Short, who shared the stage with Peters some 20 years ago in Goodbye Girl.

Next up was a heartfelt rendition of No One is Alone from Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, yet another hit show with which Peters is associated.

Clearly, Peters loves Sondheim. She was an honorary chair for his 80th birthday benefit in 2010 and had been part of the gala for his 75th birthday five years earlier. Nearly half of her songs were Sondheim creations. If here is any criticism of the night's concert by this consummate professional it is that there was so much Sondheim that it felt at times like the show had been hijacked by a sentimental desire to create a tribute concert to the legendary songwriter.

Make no mistake. Watching Peters sing Sondheim is nothing to complain about. It's just that when you see how wonderfully she breathes life into a wide range of standards, practically pouring every inch of her petite frame into each lyric, you  are eager for her to interpret a wide variety of favorites.

She exuded sex and sass with a version of There is Nothing Like a Dame, a number she previously performed for the last birthday of Sen. Ted Kennedy three years ago. Her  rendition of Fever was so sultry it seemed to raise the temperature inside the Valley Performing Arts Center. And she gave an ethereal quality to the folk song Shenandoah.

At times, Peters eschewed the most popular songs from a hit musical in favor of more whimsical and less familiar numbers, such as (When I Marry) Mr. Snow from Carousel and You Can Drive a Person Crazy from Company. However, she balanced her choice from Company with the more popular number, Being Alive, with which she closed the 90-minute show.

For an encore, she sang Kramer's Song, a lullaby she wrote for the first of her two children's books. The book with the CD, which came out in 2008, was one of many projects through which Peters raises money for Broadway Barks, which promotes pet adoption by raising money for shelters.

Her performance was backed by a nine-piece orchestra with musical director Marvin Laird on piano and original Mousketeer Cubby O'Brien on drums.