Bernadette Peters Heads to Broadway

NEW YORK (AP) _ Tony award winner Bernadette Peters will be back on Broadway in 2003 as Mamma Rose in the musical Gypsy. <br><br>At 13, Peters joined the show's national touring company as Baby June's

Monday, April 15th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Tony award winner Bernadette Peters will be back on Broadway in 2003 as Mamma Rose in the musical Gypsy.

At 13, Peters joined the show's national touring company as Baby June's understudy. But she only got to perform on stage as one of the ``Hollywood Blondes,'' June's assistants.

Peters, 54, who won Tony awards for ``Annie Get Your Gun'' and Andrew Lloyd Webber's ``Song and Dance,'' has been unstoppable since then. She won a Golden Globe for the film ``Pennies from Heaven'' and Emmy nominations for her appearances on ``The Muppet Show'' and ``Ally McBeal.''

So far, her favorite role was in ``Annie Get Your Gun.''

``It was so much fun or I'd never have stayed with it for two years,'' she told Parade magazine. ``Even 5-year-olds loved that show, as well as the 80-year-olds.''

Stephen Sondheim is among her favorite composers.

``He's divine because he loves the singer so much,'' Peters said. ``And after you sing, he says 'I could never do what you do up there.'''