Tony Award winner Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley talks about DEAR WORLD in London
Betty Buckley night in London
 |
| With Betty Buckley and Michael at The Ivy in London |
First night in London, and we saw the fantastic Betty Buckley in the UK premiere of Jerry Herman’s DEAR WORLD at the Charing Cross Theatre. The show AND Betty were terrific! Seeing this beautiful gem of a show on stage finally was worth the wait. And Betty knocked it out of the park with each scene and song. Highlights were her tender readings of “I Was Beautiful,” “Kiss Her Now” and of course “I Don’t Want To Know.” Betty’s “Madwoman” was both hilarious and touchingly vulnerable.
Plus – you travel around the world to run into friends 🙂
Walking out of the theater we realized our friend Billy Stritch saw the same performance. He’s in town as music director for Liza’s sold-out concert tonight here in town. So he joined us for late dinner with Betty and friends at The Ivy.
Ah, The Ivy! Great London atmosphere and the staff was so kind to endure all of the picture taking and seat-switching as the conversations went on. I can’t repeat anything said at the dinner because apparently membership to the club means nothing you hear there can be passed on later. Some rule Betty explained to us. Oops – I think I just passed something on…. Erase, erase, erase…
Great night.
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| Michael and I with Billy Stritch after DEAR WORLD |
|
| Our London friend and host (and “Mr. Knows-Everyone”) Michael Valdes |
 |
| The group at the Ivy. We closed the place down 🙂 |
London adventure 2013
The adventure begins!
Michael and I are heading to London for some business on his part, and pleasure on mine 🙂
Olivia Newton-John will be performing her first UK concerts in 30 years and Michael will be there to handle her press appearances. The reaction has been amazing from the European fans and can’t wait to see the TV and radio appearances. The UK rocks!
I’m tagging along, AND we have plans to see the brilliant Tony Award winner Betty Buckley in the UK premiere production of Jerry Herman’s DEAR WORLD at Charing Cross Theatre directed by Gillian Lynne. The production and Betty have received terrific reviews. I can’t wait to hear Jerry’s gorgeous score live!
I’ll be blogging along the way and will share anything interesting or funny (at least to me). So thanks for staying tuned in everyone.
As Cornelius says to his sidekick in another Jerry Herman show, “It’s an adventure, Barnaby!”
Reviews for Charing Cross Theater’s DEAR WORLD starring Betty Buckley
Review Round up for the new production of Jerry Herman’s “Dear World” at Charing Cross Theatre in the UK:
Michael Billington from the Guardian writes: Betty Buckley, whom I last saw in Promises, Promises half a lifetime ago, lends the heroine the right air of dreamy dottiness, as if still inhabiting the Paris of the Belle Epoque. There is good support from Paul Nicholas as a benevolent sewerman, Peter Land as a leanly rapacious capitalist and Annabel Leventon as a park-bench habitue who hears more voices than Joan of Arc. It is not one of those Broadway failures like Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle that quickly acquires cult status, but Lynne stylishly evokes a fantasy Paris, and it’s hard not to warm to a show that suggests corporate greed and environmental destruction can be actively resisted.
Fourthwall Magazine writes: The score is stupendous from the get-go though. I’d never heard a note of it and could hum you great swathes and that’s before I downloaded the original Broadway cast recording this morning; Angela Lansbury stars, bonus! Betty Buckley stars here (double bonus) as a warm and wonderful, cookie Countess Aurelia. There’s a moment in Act 2 when the Julian of Stuart Matthew Price (top of his game, again) descends the stars holding a feather boa before role-playing Emile, the lost love of the Countess. I turned to the woman next to me and said, “Wow, what a scene!” I wonder who she was? We’re all going mad. She did agree, though.
Giles Cole from whatsonstage.com says: The remarkable Betty Buckley, as Countess Aurelia, presides over the stage with grace, aplomb and sheer Broadway presence, but it is only in the scenes with her fellow ‘madwomen’ that the show fuses into a true delight. Annabel Leventon and Rebecca Lock are glorious as sisters Constance and Gabrielle, and when these three ladies are onstage, one sits back happily and drinks in the wit, silliness and charm of the piece.
David Nice from theartsdesk.com states: Where it only took Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along 11 years to progress from flop to classic, Dear World has taken 44. Its time has finally come underneath the arches of Charing Cross in the intimate setting Herman always wanted, crowned this time by the supreme grace of Betty Buckley.
Visit charingcrosstheatre.co.uk for ticket information.
 |
| Photo by Dominic Maxwell |
Betty Buckley to be inducted in Theater Hall of Fame
|
| Michael and I with Betty Buckley during her 2012 concerts in Las Vegas |
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel (“How I Learned to Drive”) and the Tony-winning actress Betty Buckley (“Cats”) will be among the annual inductees to the Theater Hall of Fame at a ceremony on Jan. 28.
The organization, which recognizes lifetime achievement in American theater, is also honoring Trevor Nunn, the Tony-winning director of “Cats,” “Les Misérables” and several other musicals; as well as the actor Sam Waterston (“Law & Order”); the playwright Christopher Durang (“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”); the Lincoln Center Theater artistic director Andre Bishop; the director Michael Kahn, who also leads the Shakespeare Theater Company of Washington, D.C.; and, posthumously, the costume designer Martin Pakledinaz.
The Tony-winning actress Tyne Daly will be the emcee of the 42nd annual ceremony, which will be held at Broadway’s Gershwin Theater, where the plaques with the names of each year’s honorees are hung.
(via NYTimes)
Vote for the fab Betty Buckley in the BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards
Please take a minute and vote for Betty Buckley for the BroadwayWorld.com Awards as Best Female Celebrity Vocalist!
She is nominated for her recent show “The Other Woman: The Vixens of Broadway.” The New York Times called the show “master classes in how a singer arrives at the right balance of the self, the personality of a song and the character who sings it.”
Only takes a minute and, and her show was FAB!
Betty Buckley and the men of Chippendales
|
| Photo Credit: Scott Harrison – L to R (Jon Howes, Sami Eskelin, Betty Buckley and Nathan Minor, three of the world famous Chippendales at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. |
Tony Award winner Betty Buckley brought her acclaimed show, Ah Men – The Boys of Broadway to The Smith Center in Las Vegas this weekend.
Keeping with the “Men” theme, Betty enjoyed a night at Chippendales at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. What better than to combine her show “Ah Men” with Vegas’ own men, The Chippendales – the Las Vegas Strip’s answer to “Broadway with Beef.”
The Chippendales can be seen nightly at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Betty’s new CD of her fab show is available on Amazon.com.
Betty Buckley at The Smith Center: “Ah Men – the Boys of Broadway”
Betty Buckley made her Smith Center debut Thursday in Las Vegas with her fabulous show Ah Men – the Boys of Broadway.
Singing songs originally sung by male characters in the Broadway canon, she proves that when it comes to singing men’s songs – as the “tom boy” Annie Oakley would say – “anything you can do, I can do better.”
Buckley doesn’t pretend to BE men while performing these songs. She merely takes the songs and claims them for her own. And in doing so, she brings to bear the essence of the songs.
I’ll preface this post by saying I’ve admired Betty Buckley’s work for a long, long time. From CATS, to DROOD, to TRIUMPH OF LOVE, to SUNSET BOULEVARD, to GYPSY, to Carnegie Hall – I was there, and I appreciate the talent that is Betty Buckley.
Here are a few of my thoughts seeing this legend again live:
• With Buckley, you never get the sense that the song is there to be sung. It’s there to be lived. A song is never a vocalise, it’s a moment in time.
• Her magnificent voice is untouched by age, demonstrating the range and power that’s been a hallmark of her career. At one point in performance, she pulls the microphone feet away from her mouth, filling the 300+ theater with her voice unaided by amplification. Few performers are equally famous for both the big and the intimate moments. Buckley is of that rare breed.
• Taking the stage with bright, almost athletic power, she launches into “I Can See It” from THE FANTASTICKS with enviable ease. By the middle of the song she’s singing “I can hear it; sirens singing.” And with that it’s clear she is our siren and we, the audience, are spellbound.
• One of the evening’s highlights (and this is a show with nothing but highlights), is her interpretation of “Hey There” from THE PAJAMA GAME. Set to a gorgeous, almost hypnotic rolling motif by music director Christian Jacob, Buckley at the same time questions & consoles her inner self in musical gorgeousness.
• If you have to pick THE showstopper of the night, it is the one piece of “specialty” material written for the evening: “A Hymn to Her,” a clever rewrite by Eric Stern and Eric Kornfeld of “A Hymn to Him,” Henry Higgins’s from “My Fair Lady.” Invoking the voices of great male roles throughout Broadway, Buckley makes clear, in hysterical fashion, that men are put on notice – I. Can. Do. This. And she does.
• As she begins GUYS AND DOLLS’s “Luck Be A Lady Tonight” she notes that it is a perfect song for Las Vegas. And it is.
• Buckley shares one song from her newest show, The Other Woman: The Vixens of Broadway. “Another Suitcase In Another Hall” was gorgeous in it’s vulnerability and musicality.
• In a medley of three songs from “Sweeney Todd,” each written for a different male character, Buckley sang each in character. “Not While I’m Around” is delivered with earnest purity and truth; “Johanna” becomes an anthem of nearly unbridled desire; her chilling rendition of “My Friends,” in which Sweeney affectionately sings to his razors, makes it apparent that Buckley could easily be a most dangerous Sweeney Todd.
• While some artists retain the spotlight all evening, Buckley is generous to highlight her musical collaborators throughout the night. Ample credit is due to pianist, arranger & musical director Christian Jacob of the Tierney Sutton Band, drummer Matt Betton and bassist Peter Barshay, who provide superb support and sensitive musicianship throughout the evening.
• Many, many more great moments to speak of: “Come Back To Me” – love me some Burton Lane; WEST SIDE STORY’s “Maria” – a master class in intimacy; “Corner of the Sky” from PIPPIN – brought the evening full circle with full voiced vocals and optimistic ideals.
If you don’t have the opportunity to see Betty Buckley live, you can enjoy this suite of songs on her CD of the same name. Check it out on Amazon.
Tweet of the day: Betty Buckley
Yes. She’s talking about me! Me!
How cool is that? Had an amazing time with the fab Ms. B rocking Las Vegas.
Don’t miss Betty’s run at The Smith Center starting tonight. I’ll be there 🙂
Listen: Betty Buckley on The Candi & Randy Show
Betty Buckley joined us on The Candi & Randy Show last night to talk about her fab new CD “Ah Men – the Boys of Broadway” & her upcoming starring role in the United Kingdom premiere of Jerry Herman’s DEAR WORLD.
We also shared several tracks from the brand new CD. Great show!
For more info on Betty, go to www.BettyBuckley.com
If you missed the show, hit play on the player below and enjoy what many have named “The Voice of Broadway.”