Academy Award winner Joel Grey will be on hand to induct fellow performer and long-time friend Bernadette Peters into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame on June 28. Kathleen Battle, Randy Newman and the late George Harrison will also be inducted that evening; Battle will be inducted by Janet Jackson, Newman by director John Lasseter and Harrison by Billy Preston.
The third annual Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame Concert Gala, which opens the 81st season at the famed outdoor theatre, will include performances by the three living honorees as well as appearances by other celebrity artists and a dazzling display of fireworks. Director Esa-Pekka Salonen will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the entire evening will benefit "Music Matters," the children's music education programs of the L.A. Philharmonic Association.
Previous inductees into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of fame — established to pay tribute to artists whose achievements "embody the spirit of the world Hollywood Bowl" — include John Williams, Garth Brooks, Marilyn Horne, Monty Python, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt and John Raitt. Bernadette Peters, who hosted this season's Tony Awards broadcast, recently commented, "I am so honored to be inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. The Bowl is considered to be one of the most distinguished venues in the world, with such a rich cultural history, and I am flattered to be included in that tradition."
Actress-singer Peters won Tony Awards for her performances in Song & Dance and Annie Get Your Gun. She has also starred on Broadway in Mack & Mabel, On the Town, Sunday in the Park with George, The Goodbye Girl and the original production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. Peters made her solo Radio City Music Hall concert debut on June 19 where she performed songs from her newest CD, which celebrates the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein. At the Bowl ceremony, she will offer two R&H tunes, "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Nothing Like a Dame."
Soprano Kathleen Battle has performed at the world's leading opera houses and major concert halls. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Battle was inducted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame in 1999. Singer songwriter-composer Randy Newman won his first Oscar — after garnering 16 nominations — this year for his work on "Monsters, Inc." He also received Grammy Awards for his work on "The Natural," "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2," and his many popular albums include "Sail Away" and "I Love L.A." Best known as one of the legendary pop group The Beatles, George Harrison was born in Liverpool, England in 1943. Also an actor, producer, composer and director, Harrison died of cancer in Nov. 2001. Tickets for the concert only ($15 - $75), which begins at 8:30 PM, are available by calling (213) 480-3232. Tickets for the gala and concert ($500 - $1,250), including a pre-concert reception and dinner (at 5 PM) are available by calling (213) 972-3051.The Hollywood Bowl is located at 2301 Highland Avenue in Hollywood, CA; for more information, go to www.hollywoodbowl.org.
—By Andrew Gans
