Broadway legend Betty Buckley performs tonight at Aycock Auditorium on the University of North Carolina - Greensboro (UNCG) campus.
Best known to many TV viewers as Abby Bradford in the series Eight is Enough, Betty Buckley has also mesmerized audiences on the Broadway stage for more than 35 years. She won a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella, the Glamour Cat, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. She received her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a musical for her performance as Hesione in Triumph of Love, and an Olivier Award nomination for her interpretation of Norma Desmond in the London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard. Her performance at UNCG will feature musical highlights from throughout her career.
I'm going!
omg i have to go.
I want to go!
I saw her "recently" in the DC Metro area. You won't be disappointed. Overall, it was a delightful evening.
Entralling. Powerful. Magnificent.
I expected the night to be nearly all showtunes and to include the highlights of her career - "Memory," "Rose's Turn," "With One Look," etc. However, I was wrong. And I don't give a damn.
Not in the least bit disappointing and more moved than I thought I would be, Buckley performed an exhilirating selection of songs. Each one beautifully interpreted. She had a hand towel on stage to dry her tears after crying after nearly almost every number.
One of the most moving moments of the night was "Memory." She said she was going to close the evening with a different song, however after she sang it, all the lights went out, the pianist, celloist, and drummer turned off their lights, and then the famous chords began to play as dim mistic lights barely lit the stage. The spotlights came back on.
Now, I had a feeling I wouldn't be leaving the theatre that night without hearing her belt that song. What happened again was not what I expected. A more connected and personal interpretation of the song had me crying. Instead of "listen to me belt this song I made famous" it was a mellowed cry for love.
Other highlights included "A Coat of Paint," "Fire & Rain," "Hallejuhah," "With One Look," "The Water Is Wide," "Come Rain Or Come Shine," "On The Street Where You Live/I Could Have Danced All Night."
She sang a few songs from a contemporary composer she kept cheering: Mary Chaplin Carprenter (sp?).
What was QUITE disappointing was the number of audience members. Only a portion of the balcony and half the auditorium were filled. WHAT?! This is BETTY BUCKLEY. How is it that I paid only $9 to see a legendary Broadway actress provide such a charming evening to only a few hundred people? Granted, the promotion for the concert was awful. I found out about it from a friend THE DAY BEFORE! My God!!! If a Tony winner were in your neighborhood, especially in a large city with a huge theatre population of aspiring singers and actors, you'd think it'd be SOLD OUT!!
Understudy Joined: 9/12/04
I was there last night as well, and I too was disappointed with the lack of audience.
I thought she was FABULOUS and in absolutely amazing voice. Never have I ever seen a performer connect with their work in the way that she did. I quite litereally had to hang on to my seat when she started into the "Touch me... it's so easy to leave me" part of "Memory."
She closed the first act with "With One Look" and definitely had me rolling when she said, "It's an aria from Sunset Boulevard... we call Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs 'arias' ever since he became a Lord."
Very gracious and sweet after the show, as well. :)
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