Why did Bernadette Peters win the Tony for Annie Get Your Gun?

I was trawling through the Best Actress in a Musical Tony winners, and wondered why voters decided on Bernadette Peters as the 1999 winner for the revival of Annie Get Your Gun? As far as I'm aware that revival was not widely well received, although Peters was a Broadway treasure by that point. Looking at the other nominees, I'm surprised Carolee Carmello didn't get her due that year for Parade. Peters had won already for Song and Dance over ten years prior. Can anyone chime in and offer any discourse as to why Peters prevailed?

Ah, thanks!

Have we ever got the information on this Tony snub for Into the Woods for Bernadette? Why wasn't she nominated?

Musicaldudepeter said: "Have we ever got the information on this Tony snub for Into the Woods for Bernadette? Why wasn't she nominated?"

I personally think she got lost in the orgasmic adoration of Joanna Gleason's Baker's wife, which was so over the top that it was ridiculous. Gleason was lovely in the not-huge role, but the reviewers got carried away. Gleason beat Patti Lupone for her incredible performance in Anything Goes. Never a Lupone-zealot, I have always felt that her performance in AG was one of the 'all-time' great performances I have seen in a musical.

It's very hard for actors from a closed musical to win. Granted it did happen that same year in 99 with Martin Short for Little Me but I believe that's the most recent time it happened.

Musicaldudepeter said: "Have we ever got the information on this Tony snub for Into the Woods for Bernadette? Why wasn't she nominated?"

I always thought the reason she missed out for Into the Woods was because she opened the show but had left fairly early into the run for a film commitment. Someone with more knowledge than me can probably confirm that

Slightly off-topic, but when are we going to get a memoir/autobiography from Ms. Peters?! She's 78 -- it's about time she wrote about her amazing life.

spicemonkey said: "TheatreMonkey said: "Slightly off-topic, but when are we going to get a memoir/autobiography from Ms. Peters?! She's 78 -- it's about time she wrote about her amazing life."

Been wondering about the same thing for few years.

Hopefully she writes one eventually . But I also think Bernadette is kind of a shy and low key person, so a memoir may not be her top focus (happy to be wrong about this)"

Great (monkey)minds think alike. ;-)

You're right -- she seems to be a private person, and we aren't owed anything; but it would be such an interesting read to, at the very least, get her insight on the remarkable roles and productions she's been involved with. Even without the gossipy aspect, it would be a fascinating read.

Sutton Foster blew Patti out of the water in Anything Goes. She will be reprising her Tony Award winning performance in a Roundabout remount of the production in the coming years.

SidebySidebyLogan said: "Musicaldudepeter said: "Have we ever got the information on this Tony snub for Into the Woods for Bernadette? Why wasn't she nominated?"

I always thought the reason she missed out for Into the Woods was because she opened the show but had left fairly early into the run for a film commitment. Someone with more knowledge than me can probably confirm that"

I believe she took herself out of the competition. Or at least I have read that in several places. I also didn’t think she was very good in ITTW unlike her stunning performance in SITPWG.

binau said: "I think there is a bit of revisionist history surrounding Bernadette in Annie Get Your Gun, especially after her replacement seemed like a much greater fit. If you find a way to watch the show (eg lincoln archive or bootlegs), you can see that she was at the peak of her physical and musical performance, with incredible stage presence. Audiences fell in love with her in the role (I mean that almost literally and this is not something that people like Reba or Patti did). It was very much a star vehicle for Bernadette and not a typical reading of the show, obviously. It is easy for me to see why she won a Tony, and it’s amazing that in just 4 years when she did Gypsy she already sounded and looked much older.

For some reason now people seem to think she has something to be embarrassed about. I don’t think she has anything to be embarrassed about, and it’s an important part of her legacy."

Reading my post, I realize that it sounded like I was dissing her performance. That was not my intention. I thought she did a very good job and, despite her age, was very successful in conveying Annie's innocence at the beginning of the show. This was a role introduced by Ethel Merman, who was a larger than life performer. Peters gave a different performance, which a lot of people did not love (her reviews WERE mixed). Reba gave a larger than life performance as well. That is what people wanted.

BP should have won for SITPWG and NOT Annie Get Your Gun; it was such a bad year that she had no competition and she won, also partially to acknowledge her SITPWG and ITW performances.

It always felt somewhat ironic that Bernadette Peters, despite winning a Tony for Annie Get Your Gun, was overshadowed by her replacement. About a decade later, she was the replacement who overshadowed the original star in A Little Night Music.

There are many wonderful versions of ‘Send in the Clowns’ but Peters’ version is my personal favorite. That’s one reason I wanted to see Old Friends last year, just to watch her sing it. I wasn’t disappointed.

In the end, Peters will be best remembered, thanks to the quality of the shows and the fact that there are proshots of them, for Sunday in the Park With George and Into the Woods.

Her performance as the witch always makes me laugh during the first act, which makes her jarring transition to truth-teller all the more striking. And Sunday in the Park With George is her masterpiece. Who cares about Tony Awards?

Musicaldudepeter said: "Just going back to the mysterious lack of nomination for BP for ITW - is it possible that voters just didn't think she deserved the nom, the same way they snubbed her for Follies in 2012 (albeit it was the same year she was getting her special Tony so maybe that explains the Follies snub)? Joanna Gleason won the Featured Actress Drama Desk, and LuPone won the Lead Actress DD for Anything Goes. Then by Tony time, Gleason had been bumped up to Lead, upsetting the Patti train (she was guaranteed that Tony), and it made way for Judy Kaye to win the Featured Tony for Phantom."



No. She did not put herself forward for consideration. She missed the San Diego try-outs, and only stepped into the role last minute as a personal favor to Sondheim. The Witch was a supporting role, and she (rightfully) regarded herself as Leading material. Seems ridiculous now, and with hindsight maybe she would have acted differently, but she only saw herself as a “placeholder" until a regular Witch was cast.