Broadway Barks is coming back to Shubert Alley on July 11, and Bernadette Peters will host the 28th Annual dog and cat adoption event with Andrew Rannells. The free gathering begins at 3 p.m. and brings adoptable animals from Empire State area rescue groups into the heart of Broadway.
The date matters because this is not just another summer appearance for Peters. She co-founded Broadway Barks in 1998 with Mary Tyler Moore, and the event has become a fixed point on the Broadway calendar, the kind of day when theater names and animal adopters meet in the same public space. This year’s lineup includes Laurie Metcalf, Eva Noblezada, Ana Gasteyer, Frankie Grande, J. Harrison Ghee, Nikki M. James, and Caissie Levy and Junior LaBeija, signaling that the event still draws a broad mix of performers behind a simple pitch: adopt, don’t shop.
Rannells’ role fits that pitch. He is joining Peters as co-host after she has long been the face of Broadway Barks, and the pairing gives the event a newer current without changing what it is. His own description of Peters as a “stage goddess and self-proclaimed doganizer” lands like a wink, but it also explains the handoff: this is a host who knows the event’s tone, not a guest being dropped in for show.
That matters because Broadway Barks is built on momentum, not novelty. The event’s power comes from repetition, from the same setting, the same cause and the same public invitation returning each year with enough star support to keep people looking. On July 11, Peters is not just fronting a benefit; she is keeping alive a tradition she helped start 26 years ago, and the question is less whether the event will draw attention than how many animals from those rescue groups will leave Shubert Alley with a path to a home.
