Stephen Sondheim and Wynton Marsalis are teaming up, and they’ve enlisted Bernadette Peters to help! The three-time Tony-winning actress will headline the cast of A Bed and a Chair: A New York Love Affair, a new collaboration between composer Sondheim and jazz musician Marsalis, which will be performed from November 13 through November 17 at New York City Center.
Peters will join Cyrille Aimee, Meg Gillentine, Tyler Hanes and as-yet-unannounced cast members in the show, presented by City Center’s Encores! and Jazz at Lincoln Center. The show celebrates love of and in New York City, featuring more than two dozen Sondheim compositions re-imagined under the direction of Marsalis and performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
The piece is conceived by Peter Gethers, Jack Viertel and Tony winner John Doyle, who will direct the special event; Parker Esse will choreograph.
Peters appeared in the original casts of Sondheim's Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George and headlined Broadway revivals of A Little Night Music, Follies and Gypsy. She won Best Actress Tonys for Annie Get Your Gun and Song and Dance, as well as the 2013 Isabelle Stevenson Award.
Gillentine’s Broadway credits include The Frogs and Fosse; Hanes’ include A Chorus Line, Sweet Charity, The Boy From Oz and Hairspray. Aimee is an acclaimed jazz singer whose major label debut It’s a Good Day will hit stores in spring 2014.