CELEBRITIES

Bernadette Peters lives a doggy-dog life

BY STEVE ROTHAUS

srothaus@MiamiHerald.com

We're not being catty reporting that Bernadette Peters' illustrious career has gone to the dogs.

Peters -- ''the great Broadway musical star,'' according to no less an authority than Hello, Dolly! composer Jerry Herman -- devotes herself these days to her pets, Kramer and Stella, and all the abandoned animals of New York.

''What I wanted to do was help shelter animals, to figure out how to solve this problem,'' said Peters, who performs in concert Saturday at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.

Peters, the winner of two Tony Awards and nominated for five others, last starred on Broadway in 2003's revival of Gypsy.

''She has done every kind of role. And all of them done with consummate style,'' said Herman, who composed Peters' 1974 starring vehicle, Mack & Mabel. ``She's capable of playing a tough Momma Rose and an adorable Mabel Normand. All coming out of the same woman. That is kind of miraculous. I don't know anyone with the range she has.''

After Mack & Mabel (in which Peters first sang Time Heals Everything), the star spent 10 years in Hollywood making movies, including The Jerk and Pennies From Heaven with then-boyfriend Steve Martin. Broadway, specifically writer-director James Lapine, called in 1984 and Peters returned to star in Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George. More hits followed, including Song & Dance and Into the Woods.

For years, Peters has contributed to children's causes and AIDS charities. A decade ago while starring in Annie Get Your Gun, she and pal Mary Tyler Moore began an annual event called Broadway Barks, which raises money for New York-area shelters. Broadway Barks 10 will be performed July 12 in the theater district's Shubert Alley.

Recently, Peters was approached about writing a children's book, her first. She agreed. Then her editor said the book needed a song.

''I never wrote a song in my life,'' Peters said. ``I was in an airplane and I needed a lullaby. Suddenly, the music and lyrics came to me.''

Peters' book, Broadway Barks (Blue Apple, $18), about a homeless pooch named Douglas, will be published in April. It is illustrated by Liz Murphy and dedicated to investment advisor Michael Wittenberg, Peters' husband who died at 43 in a 2005 helicopter crash.

Inside the Broadway Barks jacket will be a CD of Peters reading the book and singing her lullaby, Kramer's Song.

Songwriting intimidated Peters, 60, who began performing as a child in the Queens, N.Y, neighborhood of Ozone Park. 'I said to Steve Sondheim, `I wrote a little song.' He said, 'I'd love to hear it.' ''

The Miami audience will hear Kramer's Song first, however. ''It's lovely,'' said Peters, obviously satisfied. ``I'm going to sing it at the end of the show.''

Kramer's Song is named for Peters' older pet, an 11-year-old ''shaggy dog, Heinz 57 variety,'' she said.

Peters' other pooch, Stella, is a 10-year-old pit bull.

Several years ago, Peters had a home in northern Miami Beach. Then she discovered a big problem: Pit bulls are illegal in Miami-Dade County.

''That's why we moved [to Vero Beach],'' Peters said. ``We were worried about Stella . . . We were afraid they'd take her.''

The pit bull law infuriates Peters. 'You can take any breed and wreck it if you say `Fight, fight, fight.' They're lap dogs. They're very loving.''

While Peters lived in Miami Beach, a neighbor was Richard Jay-Alexander, her good friend and longtime concert director.

Jay-Alexander said that when Peters first sang Kramer's Song for him over the telephone, ``my jaw dropped.''

Peters spends much of her time caring for animals, he said.

''When I talk to her, and lately it's a lot, she's saving dogs every day,'' said Jay-Alexander, who directed Saturday night's concert.

''Bernadette is enjoying life a lot. Her days are filled with animal shelters and placing dogs. She's really out there,'' he said. 'I'll call and say, `Where are you?' 'I'm in the car and just delivered a cockapoo.' ''