Bernadette Peters brings Broadway, Hollywood to Tucson stage

She’s juggling two TV series — Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle” and CBS’ “The Good Fight,” a spinoff of “The Good Wife” that’s set to premiere Feb. 19.

And in between it all, she’s rushing to concert gigs like the one she will perform with UA Presents at Centennial Hall on Saturday, Jan. 21, and the awards shows — awards season kicked off earlier this month with the Golden Globes in Los Angeles.

That’s where we caught up on the phone with the star of Broadway and Hollywood to talk about her Tucson concert — her first here since she did a Sondheim tribute with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in spring 2011.

“(Tucson) is such a pretty place,” she said. “I love the cactuses and the way it looks. I’m looking forward to coming back.”

Her Centennial Hall show, which is part of the Tucson Desert Song Festival, will have some elements of that 2011 concert: she’s sure to have some Sondheim gems on the setlist.

But she said we can also expect Rogers & Hammerstein, some Broadway hits and perhaps something from “Mozart.”

“My goal is to give a satisfying evening of entertainment, and that can be dramatic and funny and uplifting and thoughtful and silly. Everything,” she said.

“Everybody goes on this adventure together.”

Peters doesn’t sing songs; she inhabits characters and makes you forget that she is only playing a role.

It’s all by design for the 68-year-old expressive soprano who has been part of several Grammy-winning Broadway soundtracks.

“When I sing, I choose the songs, I choose the material that I like, that (expresses) sentiments that I like,” said Peters, who will be supported by a 10-piece band comprised of Tucson players. “For me, it’s the writing, it’s the words.”

Here are a few other things we learned during our call with the award-winning (Tony, Drama Desk, Golden Globe) singer/actress.

Busy schedule: “I’m going out (on the road) to do a show, go home, do a part of a (TV) series. Go out and do a show, come home and do a part of another series.”

What it feels like on the concert stage: “Doing a concert, there isn’t a fourth wall” — the imaginary wall that separates audience and actor in theater and the movies — “so you can talk, say anything you want and relate to the audience and look right at them. It’s just great. We’re all in this room together and you can have the experience and look right in their eyes. When you’re on stage doing a musical, you really can’t do that because you’re playing a character. You are in this world and you’re letting the audience enjoy it with you.”

A staunch animal advocate who believes dogs can save your life: “They are basically here to heal us and they are finding more and more how dogs sniff out cancer. They are basically on earth for us and their nose is so much stronger than ours they can sniff out a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic-size swimming pool. So they can sniff out cancer not in stage four or five, but stage zero. They can sniff it out before it’s stage anything, so now they are really here to save our lives.”

Peters, who has adopted a number of shelter dogs over the years and has two dogs — “one for each hand” — co-founded Broadway Barks with Mary Tyler Moore. The organization, marking its 19th year, promotes the adoption of shelter animals.