 In The New York Times review of the 1986 Broadway cast recording of Song and Dance ( titled Bernadette Peters in Andrew Lloyd Webber 's ' Song & Dance ' ) , Stephen Holden wrote that the recording was " a personal triumph for a singer and actress who is rapidly establishing herself as the first lady of the Broadway musical . Performing material whose music borders on kitsch and whose lyrics and story suggest a verbose soap opera , Miss Peters nevertheless projects an astounding emotional generosity and conviction . Almost singlehandedly she turns the inconsequential erotic misadventures of Emma ... into a touching romantic fable about love and its defenses and the loss of innocence . ... Miss Peters has always oozed a <unk> Shirley Temple @-@ like sweetness and vulnerability . This quality , which used to seem more like an adorable child @-@ star affectation than a deep @-@ seated trait , has proved to be an essential ingredient of Miss Peters 's personality . A delivery that once seemed coy and cutesy has deepened and ripened into an honesty and compassion that pour out in singing that is childlike but also resilient . " 
