A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC Bernadette Peters Performs Send In The Clowns 

Seriously guys? Bernadette Peters is well known to be one of Sondheim's greatest muses and one of the foremost interpreters of Sondheim's work. If she does it this way, then that's how it's meant to be done. This song was never meant to be belted. It was meant to be a plaintive musing with loads of emotion behind it.

Desiree has a real mix of emotions in this song, shes angry, hurt, heartbroken, confused, and its so difficult to convey all of those at once, most actresses just focus on one, but she has all of those and conveys them flawlessly

I will never forget it. I was in the audience watching her (in a cast that included Elaine Stritch ..) I had heard this some a million times over and always loved it but never understood its meaning . Watching her sing this that night, in the context of the show I almost forgot to breathe ... I finally got it . It was unreal. She is beyond.

Sondheim wrote "send in the clowns" to be acted more than sung; the original role of Desiree was envisioned as a speaking only (no singing) role, but just before the first tryouts Sondheim added this song to maximize the singing talents of the first actress to play Desiree. It was written to employ short phrases; belting it out was the last thing on Sondheim's mind.

This musical always makes me cry. I'm such a romantic. Bernadette delivers the goods so beautifully.

I just saw this live, and I must say, BP deserves high honors. Her Send in the Clowns was so natural. It's all there--the sadness, tenderness, bitterness, self-awareness. Breathtaking. And she brought something original to the part. I loved how her fatigue of life on the road showed in Glamorous Life, foreshadowing what was to come. A touch melodramatic at times, but hey, the character is an actress. Brava!

Oh. My. God. If I have one dying wish, it is to have Bernadette Peters sing this song at my funeral.

What a difference! Cubic Zirconium Jones was all "Look! I'm giving a Joan Crawford simulation of emotions I don't feel at all." But with Bernadette it's, "I am feeling more than I dare reveal" -- but Desiree's facade collapses and we see it all.

Saw this yesterday from 5th row center - a transcendent experience. I was never a big fan of Bernadette Peters, but this convinced me of her Broadway greatness. She and Elaine Stritch together are iconic.

Saw this Sunday August 15th; and I sobbed. Bernadette Peters was AMAZING! No regrets at all for picking this show on my student budget.

I saw this today. 3rd row. And it was truly one of the most magical experiences I've ever had. I love Peters to death, but even I wasn't prepared for a performance this EXTRAORDINARY from her. She was hilarious, tender, and heartbreaking. Elaine Stritch was truly excellent as well; so funny but endearing. Peters' "Clowns" brought tears to my eyes, and the theatre practically shook from applause. She's really great in this video, but it doesn't do her justice. SEE IT NOW!

Bernadette Peters is AMAZING!!!! I LOVE HER!!!!!

I saw this a week ago and I didn't realize how breathtaking it was until now. From now on, it will never cease to bring me to tears.

Well, Zeta Jones was just - who she Is; A Super ego that has been told she is Beautiful all her life, social climbing and gliding through to collect her award. Bernadette is a true talent, a real and focused actress and a fine singer.

I saw this production with Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones and absolutely loved it. It's my great regret that it I wasn't able to see Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch since I'm sure it they were also wonderful.

BRB CRYING MY EYES OUT. Bernadette is flawless.

Bernadette Peters ALL THE WAY!!!! A true Broadway Baby will always stick close to home and Bernadette is home to me!!!! She's one of the greats!

Oh Bernadette, How I love you!!! This song is so intricate in it's meanings and subtleties. When I heard she was coming into this role, I was so excited! Can't wait to hear the whole thing!!

I'm so happy to have been able to watch this show with Peters! The rest of the cast was amazing too!

I had the pleasure of seeing this last night....and all I can say is that Ms Peters is a real treasure.....her emotional transparency and sorrow while singing this song moved me tremendously......this is what theater (when it's good) is meant to do... many may prefer a more bitter tone but I definitely agree the song is much more powerful with all the raw emotions here........

I just came from NYC where I saw this show TWICE in one week. Bernadette IS Desiree and the BEST of all the Desirees I've ever heard (on CD) or seen (on stage). This video does not do justice to the outstanding and hearfelt interpretation of Send in the Clowns that Bernadette sang on the live stage. I loved Elaine in her role as well. There's nothing like watching and experiencing these true PROS at their craft. LOVED LOVED LOVED the show.

@VRNProductions I do see subtlety here, and sadness is certainly a valid approach. She's saying goodbye. Grief involves sorrow and rage. That the character can see the irony in the situation, too, adds to the mix. This is a challenge for any actress. Can't wait to see it.

@TheatreFanatic4eva TOTALLY AGREE! Saw the show a couple weeks ago, and she brought me to tears. I love her and this song, and she just did it her way. She was choked up, the audience was...it was amazing.

I was in tears when I saw this live.

Saw this last week and cried. All the emotion and melodrama she displays fits perfectly into her interpretation of Desiree. It's been running through my head ever since.

I miss this show so much!

Amazing. She is so great in this. Seeing this show last month, w/Bernadette and Elaine Strich was truly one the highlights of 10 years of Broadway shows for me. This caliber of acting and singing is so rare and wonderful.

What a wonderful beautiful woman. Pretty face, beautiful voice and personality.. What more can anyone ask for? I never realized how great Bernadette is when i was younger, we get to appreciate great talents as we get older. I guess we get wiser.. lol Thanks for posting this.

OMFG I'm dying.... *books flights to New York*

Bernadette Peters is still wonderful, she is a nightingale that flies into your heart

How can you talk of her "replacing Catherine Zeta -Jones"? Bernadette is absolutely the best!

I agree when i see her cry it makes me cry

omgomgomgomgomgomg.... now my favorite rendition

Awesome emotions in this.

I did this show in my hometown about seven years ago

I saw her in "A Little Night Music" recently, and her + Elain Stritch were AMAZING. And I don't recall our Petra's name, but she was absolutely brilliant.

@MrMproft I just saw the performance last night...Frederick actually gets up and stands with his back facing her, in a way of somewhat shame for past behaviors, right after the song cuts off in the video. I also agree that Bernadette put her own stamp, because her emotion reflected in the song was very unique and makes you view the entire scene very differently.

@truelori ditto. CZJ didn't move me with her live performance of this song. But I've seen the show twice with Bernadette. Absolutely amazing.

I saw this Thursday. The scene was heartbreaking and magnificent. Definitely one of the best performances of this song I've ever seen. Also, her "Glamorous Life" was totally different than I have ever seen it played--she played the irony. It was great and really worked with what she did the rest of the evening, and made "SITC" so much more poignant because we realize that she is READY to stop the merry go round and be with him.

BEST VERSION. I wish it was full

Peters is one of best Send in the Clown

I am going on September 12. Judy Dench's version was very sad also, but this looks like it is going to make the hair on the skin stand when it comes at its proper place within the story. I can't wait.

@TheatreFanatic4eva - agreed. I saw this over the summer. Not a dry eye in the house. There was a collective sigh when she got done singing, an appreciation for the beauty we just heard. Well done, and a Broadway moment that is in my top tier!

Dang! She looks great! And she's in her sixties!

I really wish we coulda afforded to go see this show. money sucks.

This is beautiful. Absolute perfection imo. Catherine, take a leaf out of this one's book!!! :-) If Bernadette originated this role in the revival, she would have won the Tony, and would have deserved it more than Ms Zeta-Jones. It would have been lovely to have a decent recording with Peters as Desirée

i wish i could go see it

This show had potential to be made as a film I think.

I love how Bernadette Peters is old enough to be Catherine Zeta-Jones' mother, and yet she can still believably replace her in a role.

@iRebekah31 But there's affection in it, too. She still loves him--deeply, perhaps more than ever. (In Dench's concert version, he walks away, and her hand is suspended in the air for a moment, suggesting both the relationship and its loss). There's a whole stew of mixed emotions here, which makes it so rich and so open to a variety of interpretations.

Desiree--an over-the-hill seductress--faces her age and the reality of her empty life in this song. Ms Peters is superb in this role. BRAVO!! BRAVO!! BRAVO!!

bernadette... is.... amazing! end of sroy, shes a genius, get over it

the only reason to dislike this is that it doesn't have the full song. I really wish it did, Bernadette Peters is amazing!

Someone needs to post a full video of her singing this live..........she needs to do it on like The View or something!!!!!

@sacredlunatic Trevor Nunn went on record saying that the entire cast (with the exception of Lansbury, obviously), was younger than any previous production of the show. It was intended.

This year the my choir is doing this song

It's amazing because if Bernadette played this role originally she would have won the Tony with more votes than Catherine. By a mile!

I saw it yesterday, and I have never thought of the song as bitter....resigned, rueful, yes but bitter, no.

So she is 65 now? wow, I wouldn't give her more than 49 years, she looks and sounds amazing

Gran actuación de Bernadette Peters. He escuchado varias y siento que ésta es la mejor. Las hay muy buenas como la original de Glynis Johns o la de Judi Dench. Incluso la de Catherine Z. Jones , aunque se salta parte de la letra, está bien concebida (aunque ella la interpreta más como enfado que como arrepentimiento)...pero la que más me gusta es esta de Bernadette.

@Selendomono They did the show from December to the end of June...a decent amount of time. I know Catherine has other commitments and such, but wanted to do the show as long as she could. As for Lansbury, I think it's only practical of her at her age to only do shows for a few months, health-wise...probably the same for Stritch.

@VRNProductions It comes down to personal taste to an extent. But if bitterness dominates, then their reunion--and the reprise--make no sense. One might wonder, "Why doesn't she leave the old fool?" It has to be because there's a deep bond. Then, she can take him back, open arms, without rancor (and since she knows she's a fool, too). When Dame Dench--as bitter as they come--says "Sorry, my *dear*" so tenderly, struggling to maintain self control to spare him pain, the love is palpable.

A true class act.

No wires. No flying. No stunts. No effects. Just one incredible actress singing a beautiful song. This is Broadway theater. Everything else is Vegas.

You expected her to belt "Send In The Clowns"? Oh dear...I can't even begin to respond to that.

lmbo i found this HILARIOUS!

word thats a great idea!

That’s how you do it.

Fantastic Bernadette - As Always! CZJones did not meld into the cast as a team member at all and instead appeared as 'in a bubble' of her own egotism also her voice was substandard

I was lucky enough to have seen this last night -- There was not a dry eye in the audience when the song ended. Bernadette interpreted it beautifully. She has a deep understanding of the role -- far better than CZJ, it appears. Her Desiree was both hilarious and heartbreaking.

@JETsop2 It's not about the pitch. Bernadette *could* sing this song perfectly on pitch, absolutely beautifully (as evidenced by her incredible resume), but she said that she and Sondheim did choose a lower key, to be less sung. Moreover, at this point in the show, she's soooo emotional and caught up in the scene, she's choking on her own tears. Although, for what it's worth, I saw her in the show twice, and she was on pitch during both performances, so who knows, lol.

Bernadette just extended till January 9, 2011!

she is 63???!!! OMG, I thought she was so much younger!

Where's the rest of this beautiful song?

@pumpkinheadedmf said "I love how Bernadette Peters is old enough to be Catherine Zeta-Jones' mother, and yet she can still believably replace her in a role." Actually, Catherine Zeta-Jones is a little too young for this role if you ask me.

@johnblacklovesmar Oh, but it is. Sondheim is a genius of ambivalence. In many of his songs, there are 2 or 3 emotions, and in this one, there are at least 4 or 5, some at odds with each other: lingering affection (it's in there); self-mockery; regret; anger (at herself and at Fredrik); loss; loneliness. Bitterness, because she realizes too late he's her true love, and at her age, there will not be another. Have you ever felt searing pain, yet at the same time saw humor in the situation?

Only thing that sucks about this video is the fact they didn't use the entire song. :( But Bernadette was, is, and always will be - the fabulous Lady of Broadway!

@LiverandOnions55 The both did the role: Ms Peters replaced Ms Jones in the role on Broadway. This kind of thing happens from time to time, it's just a cast change. :)

@pumpkinheadedmf you would never guess from looking at her 63/64 years old and still hot and her hair

I love her interpratation! I prefer an actrice that makes the part her own while respecting the material (like Bernadette Peters or Judy Dench) than a actrice who over acts without puting real feelings into it.

@pumpkinheadedmf And thank god she did! can you believe Zeta-Jones won a tony for that?

@pumpkinheadedmf Believe it or not, Cathrine played an INCREADIBLY young Dessere. Most time, She's portayed older than Bernadette.

@michaelh242 Yes, it is a matter of taste. For me, Dame Dench's version is definitive. If only she could laugh it off. But this time, she can't, not quite. Now that it matters, now that she knows herself, now that flirtation isn't enough, it's beyond her grasp. It's a symbolic death--of a "coherent" life--echoing the other deaths in the play. That's why, without just the right amount of bitterness here, the whole play would be little more than farce.

Gracias por todo el apoyo a mi suegra

I went to go see this show last week, and I can honestly say that her performance of this song is the most moving thing I've ever seen on Broadway. This video doesn't come close to doing it justice. Catherine Zeta-Jones who?

I am sure Sondheim himself coached Catherine and probably Bernadette as well. Bernadette wanted to put her "stamp" on it and it sounds like she did just that. Did Frederick sit on the bed the whole time? I remember him standing. I thought Alex did a great job, and I was happy Catherine gave him some recognition in her Tony acceptance. My friend saw it and says that we relate to the actress playing Desiree based on our own ages, he is Catherine's age and I am Bernadette's. Await cooler daze..

@Garmct it was amazing, i saw it! waited on line tkts to get tickets for it but it was well worth it!

@fountainchain126 I know there's a petition to get a new recording done with Peters and Stritch (I know it'll never happen, but isn't it pretty to think so? lol)...I can't find it, though! =/ But yes, even though I'm a fan of Zeta-Jones, I'm a Bernadette fanatic, and would've loved to see her get another Tony...especially after being robbed of one in '03.

@noahsdad61 Well, yeah, you're right that there are many emotions in the song, just as in most Sondheim songs. However, I think the prevailing emotion should be bitterness and regret, rather than sorrow and affection. All of them are present, but some, I feel, should be stronger than others.

I was so stunned by this. I had never heard this kind of interpretation of this song. Is this out on DVD? Will it ever be? God, I hope so!

@ellishadow That's what I thought too. Here they are in two different places, there out in the open, and where are the clowns to "distract" "ease the tension."

@DavidDSR01 Her Tony performance sucked, but I thought her reaction to winning and her acceptance speech was adorable. I love Zeta-Jones and all the animosity directed by fans at her has been totally unjustified.

I love Catherine Zeta-Jones to death, but Bernadette is my woman until the end of time.

@Garmct Do it! She was incredible!

Where's the rest?

She needs to play Mrs. Lovett now.

@settings99 I loved her in Animaniacs

OMG! There is no way Bernadette Peters can look that good at 63 without a lot of help. She has no lines on her face.... at all. Oh not to mention she has a birthday coming up in Feb.

@TheatreFanatic4eva You seem to be forgetting that we all have certain opinions and certain thoughts on how the song should be performed. And we are entitled to them.

@noahsdad61 I'm not saying that bitterness should completely dominate the song, it's just that I feel it should be stronger than feelings like sorrow. Someone else described the song as Desiree trying to mask the emotions, so the song (I think) kind of loses it when done with such over-the-top sorrow as seen here. I always viewed the song as being bitter and full of regret, and while it should have sorrow, I really don't think it should be as laden as it is here.