Bernadette Peters explores Broadway and beyond in terrific form

Bernadette Peters performs at the Power Center on Saturday.

Andrew Kuhn | For AnnArbor.com

Starting July 13, Bernadette Peters will be back singing on Broadway, as she replaces Catherine Zeta-Jones in "A Little Night Music."

Saturday night, she sang for an enthusiastic, appreciative Ann Arbor Summer Festival audience at the Power Center — and demonstrated just how powerful a good musical-theater song can be, in the right hands (or the right throat).

The concert was flawless. Perfect song selection; Peters' polished, winning stage presence; a sharp nine-piece band; and, of course, the singing combined for a very memorable event.

Peters even managed to work in a bit of local color, mentioning that her "A Little Night Music" costar Elaine Stritch —Â a Detroit native who attended the University of Michigan —Â "told me all about the Pretzel Bell." (I couldn't tell if she knew the onetime downtown landmark has been gone for ages.)

Starting off with a zippy "Let Me Entertain You," Peters dove into a set that leaned heavily on the songs of Stephen Sondheim, for whom she seems to have a special affinity. She showcased a number of his songs in the course of the evening, including a hearfelt "No One is Alone," from "Into the Woods"; an affecting "In Buddy's Eyes," from "Follies"; a comic "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," from "Company"; "With So Little To Be Sure Of," from "Anyone Can Whistle"; and "Children Will Listen," the hit she initially introduced in "Into the Woods."

As good as every one of those was, several of the songs I enjoyed most came when Peters wandered a bit afield: She did a slinky "Fever" and a fresh, inspiring take on the folk song "Shenandoah." And after hearing her caress the Disney chestnut "When You Wish Upon a Star," I don't think I'll ever again consider it a kids' song.

Peters teaming up again with Sondheim, though, created the biggest peaks of the evening. "Not a Day Goes By," a heartbreaker from the underappreciated "Merrily We Roll Along," became the emotional center of the show. And she closed the main set with "Being Alive," finding all the honest power and heart in a song that sometimes suffers from a cocktail-lounge treatment.

Throughout the show, Peters used her voice — which I think has become richer over the years —Â brilliantly. She walks that rare line of putting her own stamp on the material while always maintaining ultimate respect for the song. What a pro.

In a couple of weeks, Broadway will be, again, lucky to have her around. Tonight, so was Ann Arbor.

Setlist Let Me Entertain You No One is Alone There is Nothing Like a Dame Fever Mr. Snow Some Enchanted Evening Shenandoah Not a Day Goes By When You Wish Upon a Star My Romance The Way You Look Tonight In Buddy's Eyes You Could Drive a Person Crazy With So Little To Be Sure Of Children Will Listen Being Alive Encore: Stella's Song

Bob Needham is entertainment director of AnnArbor.com