1996 interview - Betty Buckley talks how she got 'Sunset Boulevard'

Based on her work in London, Garth Drabinsky wanted her for his production in Toronto. RUG caught wind of this and almost immediately offered Broadway when Close left the show in July. No brainer for Buckley given that she hadn’t been on Broadway I believe since Carrie and had been doing mostly recording work on the since defunct Sterling label and touring in concert.

Drabinsky went outside of the box and hired Carrol, who it’s worth noting got exceptionally good reviews.

Updated On: 4/20/20 at 11:16 PM

Unlike Glenn Close; Betty Buckley could sing the role.

qolbinau said: "The EP with her tracks are INCREDIBLE. In my opinion the best record of the show by far."

I always wanted a copy of that. I saw her in the show right after she started, but I can't remember if the EP was available yet, or just didn't think to pick one up, I was a broke college kid on summer break.

So according to Buckley's interview, her brother is the one who really pushed her for the role from the beginning stages (1991-92). At the party for the 10 year Anniversary of 'CATS' (1992) Buckley finally got up the nerve to approach ALW and let him know she was interested in the role of 'Norma Desmond' for his upcoming production of SB. ALW reminds her that he already has her in mind.

So why wasn't she part of Syndmonton ? Why didn't he cast her for LA ? Why did she have to wait for Lupone's departure in London ? It's interesting how it all transpired.

Glenn Close was a huge movie star in 1993. Huge. I'd argue at the same platform of prestige and fame as Meryl Streep at that time, so it is highly unlikely ALW would have dumped Close for Streep, had Streep shown interest. The tabloids at the time (particularly in the UK) had a field day with stories about Streep being desperate to play the role, especially after her appearance in the audience at Sydmonton. But I wager those stories were largely untrue. Streep was raising a family at that time and I suspect the truth is that she herself opted out of further consideration when the first production was being mounted.

But, again, it's worth reminding that in the early-mid 1990s, having Glenn Close interested in playing this part was a huge behmoth -- imagine today a show being developed and opening with Donna Murphy in the lead and having Donna Murphy dropped in favor of - say Cate Blanchett or Nicole Kidman and you have some idea of why, for the producers, bumping LuPone was a no-brainer for Broadway.

Betty Buckley has always had a reputation for being somewhat difficult and her latest appearance before Sunset Boulevard was CARRIE. LuPone at the time was on a fairly popular television series - if we are going based on which of them was more 'viable' in 1993, it would have been LuPone for sure.

In terms of Buckley / ALW, I was always curious if she was considered for the original production of EVITA. She was the right age, had already worked in London, and was one of (I would think) the few actresses at the time whose unique vocal talents would have been obviously right for the material. Maybe her 'Eight is Enough" schedule wouldn't have allowed it but she was always the 'Evita that could have been' in my mind.

ChgoTheatreGuy said: "Hearing the first two songs on Barbra Streisand's "Back to Broadway" CD, I felt that the lyrics perfectly described the "delusion" of the Norma Desmond character. I bought tickets to a performance shortly after the show opened and felt somewhat underwhelmed. The show seemed to be a live commercial for walking up and down the stairs and how often you can change your clothing and slowly go insane. I enjoyed most of the staging, but in the end, the show only made me wanna watch the movie again I would have loved to have seen Diahann Carroll tour in this show!"

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I’ m curious - which production did you see, and with which actress ? I finally saw Buckley in 1996 and loved it

Here she's singing Don't Cry for Me Argentina, and I once heard her sing Buenos Aires as well but can't find the clip

Well, gang, all I know is Betty is THE best Norma. I saw BB 4 times and she is always, "Norma"... I saw Close the 1st and 2nd times and while she is characteristically fun she's different; BB is definitely the truly best singer. Even in Hello Dolly, Buckley becomes "Dolly" in her own stunning ways. I really wish they had recorded the entire show and not just the EP with Betty too....There is a better than average b/l on youTube of both acts and I watch that over and over...