Bernadette Peters to Receive Harold Prince Award at Drama Desk Awards

The Drama Desk Awards has named three-time Drama Desk Award winner, and also multi-time Tony and Grammy Award winner, Bernadette Peters the recipient of the Harold Prince Award for the 2026-2027 season. The Drama Desk Awards will take place on Sunday, May 23, 2027 at The Shed [545 West 30th Street].

The ceremony will feature a special tribute to Bernadette Peters’ career. Bernadette Peters first made her mark at the Drama Desk Awards in 1968, as a nominee and winner for her acclaimed performance in Dames at Sea. A nine-time Drama Desk Award nominee, Peters also stands as the most nominated performer in Drama Desk history. 

“Bernadette Peters represents the absolute gold standard of American theater,” said Drama Desk co-presidents David Barbour and Charles Wright. “For decades, her incomparable talent, radiant stage presence, and deep devotion to the New York theatrical community have captivated audiences and inspired generations of artists. Harold Prince understood the transformative power of brilliant storytelling, and there is no artist who embodies that legacy with more grace, passion, and enduring artistry than Bernadette. We are thrilled to honor her with the 2027 Harold Prince Award.”

The Harold S. Prince Award is an annual lifetime achievement honor established to recognize an individual with a distinguished body of work and a lasting, transformational impact on the theater industry. Previous recipients include Tom Schumacher, Gavin Creel, Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Alice Childress and Harold S. Prince. 

The Drama Desk Awards are produced by Victoria Weinberg for Drama Desk Awards Productions, a Scene Partners venture, in partnership with The Season.

Sponsorships and tables are now available for the May 23, 2027 ceremony, featuring the presentation of the Prince Award to Bernadette Peters. For more information or to secure a sponsorship or table, contact [email protected].

About the Drama Desk Awards

For more than 70 years, the Drama Desk Awards have celebrated the outstanding artistry, innovation, and breadth of New York theater. Founded in 1955, the Drama Desk Awards are unique among major theater honors in recognizing extraordinary work across the full spectrum of New York’s theatrical landscape, making recognition accessible to all regardless of production size or venue.

Throughout their history, the Drama Desk Awards have honored generations of artists whose work has shaped the American stage, including Audra McDonald, Stephen Sondheim, August Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Viola Davis, Al Pacino, James Earl Jones, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Tony Kushner, Julie Taymor, George C. Wolfe, Suzan-Lori Parks, Glenn Close, Harvey Fierstein, Sutton Foster, Cherry Jones, André De Shields, and countless others.

From groundbreaking new voices and breakout performances to career-defining achievements by the theater’s most celebrated artists, the Drama Desk Awards have long championed the vitality and evolution of New York theater. By honoring excellence across disciplines and theatrical traditions, the Drama Desk Awards continue to celebrate the artists and productions expanding the possibilities of the stage and shaping the future of the American theater.

Throughout her illustrious career, Bernadette Peters has dazzled audiences and critics with her performances on stage, film and television, in concert, and on recordings. She has garnered numerous accolades including three Tony Awards, a Golden Globe, four Emmy and four Grammy Award nominations and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

One of Broadway’s most critically acclaimed performers, Bernadette recently starred in the highly successful run of Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, celebrating the life and work of Stephen Sondheim. The production first premiered in London where she made her West End debut before transferring to Los Angeles ahead of its extended Broadway run in Spring 2025.

Other Broadway credits include Hello, Dolly!; Follies; A Little Night Music and Gypsy where she garnered both Tony and Drama Desk Award Nominations. She also starred  in City Center’s Encores! Production, A Bed and a Chair: A New York Love Affair featuring the music of Stephen Sondheim and orchestrations by Wynton Marsalis. 

Peters garnered both the Tony and Drama Desk Award for her performance in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, Song and Dance. She also won a Tony for her performance in the revival of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun. She received Tony nominations for her outstanding performances on Broadway in Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl, Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George, the Jerry Herman/Gower Champion ode to the movies, Mack and Mabel, and the Leonard Bernstein/Comden and Green musical On The Town. Peters also earned a Drama Desk nomination for her unforgettable portrayal of the Witch in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

Bernadette also enjoys a career which boasts an impressive list of television credits, most recently “High Desert” and “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (Emmy nomination). The popular series was made into a made-for-TV holiday movie, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas” for The Roku Channel. Other TV appearances include, “Katy Keene”; “The Good Fight”; “Mozart in the Jungle”; “Smash”; “Grey’s Anatomy”; “Ugly Betty” and “Ally McBeal”(Emmy Nomination) to name a few. 

In addition to starring in the Lifetime TV movie Living Proof, Peters has lit up the silver screen in over 30 films throughout her distinguished career. She received a Golden Globe Award for her memorable performance in Pennies From Heaven. Other film credits include The Jerk, The Longest Yard, Silent Movie, Annie, Pink Cadillac, Slaves of New York, Woody Allen’s Alice, Impromptu, It Runs in the Family, Coming Up Roses, The Broken Hearts Gallery and a surprise appearance in the popular Jonathan Larson biopic, tick, tick…BOOM!

Later this year she will be seen in two feature films, Last Train to Fortune and The Debut, both of which will receive theatrical releases.  

Bernadette has recorded six solo albums, including the Grammy-nominated I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Sondheim, Etc.: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall, and Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers & Hammerstein, in addition to numerous original Broadway cast recordings.

Peters devotes her time and talents to numerous events that benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Her “pet project” Broadway Barks, co-founded with Mary Tyler Moore, is an annual, star-studded dog and cat adoption event that benefits shelter animals in the New York City and tri-state area. In 2023, while in London, Bernadette introduced West End Woofs, a sister to Broadway Barks. The event, co-hosted with Elaine Paige, is the first of its kind in the UK that fostered a spirit of community among animal shelters and rescue groups. 

The American Theater Wing honored her efforts and awarded her with the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award which recognizes an individual from the theatre community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations, regardless of whether such organizations relate to the theatre.

She is a New York Times best-selling author who has penned three children’s books: “Broadway Barks”, “Stella is a Star” accompanied by original songs and “Stella and Charlie: Friends Forever”. All her proceeds from the sale of these books benefit both animal charities.