Betty Buckley on Bway — Page 2

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#26

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/11/12 at 1:58pm

That clip is great, morosco, particularly at the point you mention. I saw Betty on Broadway in both Cats and Edwin Drood, and she was electrifying in both. Her renditions of Memory and Writing on the Wall will never be beat, IMO.

Her energy "live on stage" is something I will never forget.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#27

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/11/12 at 2:00pm

Buckley was also a regular or semi-regular on OZ from 2001 to 2003. She's been on more than one LAW AND ORDER show. So add concerts to the mix (she's appeared various times even out here in Palm Springs) and maybe she works as much as she wants.

I've only known people who auditioned her and they, too, described her as eccentric, but certainly not mean. Her behavior had nothing to do with why they didn't happen to cast her.

#28

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/11/12 at 2:19pm

She also appeared in the pilot of BROTHERS AND SISTERS, in the role Sally Field eventually played. Well, not THE role exactly--I've seen the pilot episode with Buckley and the character was changed quite a bit when Field replaced Buckley.

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#29

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/11/12 at 3:34pm

A few years back she also performed in the world premiere of AR Gurney's "Buffalo Gal" at Studio Arena, Buffalo's now defunct regional theatre.

She was scheduled to do a 4 week run but it extended to 6 weeks. The play was so-so but Betty was astonishing. She had some pretty emotional scenes and was able to muster primal emotions on a dime. I was in awe.

She also did a benefit for the theatre on her night off and performed in concert.

She's very compassionate and generous. She loves her fans and nuturing young people.

"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal "I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello

#30

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/11/12 at 5:59pm

Oh, I definitely heard some of the whoppers during her Cats run from folks who worked with her and it wasn't pretty. Not sure what she was like during Drood or Carrie, but apparently, she worked pretty hard to clean up her backstage reputation.

Saw her in Sunset Boulevard and she was perfection every moment on stage. As for Brothers and Sisters, I remember reading somewhere that she was the one who chose to back out of the series. Something about not connecting with the character or feeling the strong maternal qualities required for the role. Regardless, Fields was better casting, anyway.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

Updated On: 4/11/12 at 05:59 PM

#31

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 12:13am

It is startling to compare Buckley's IBDB page to LuPone's and Peters's (to take two examples).

Not that quantity trumps quality or anything, but still . . .

To be fair, LuPone's first nine Broadway credits were with The Acting Company. Even though Buckley and Peters made their Broadway debuts before her, neither one had that kind of rep experience.

When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

#32

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 1:04am

While the rumors of Buckley being difficult have run rampant her entire career, I've never heard that as having anything to do with her being replaced on BROTHERS & SISTERS.

As I've been told, the story is that the network wanted to order the show to series mostly because of the star wattage involved in the cast, but they had seriously issues with the tone and direction of the initial pilot. One of their primary concerns was that Buckley came off cold and harsh in the central role of the matriarch, and considering many of the siblings were already written as relatively unlikable, they wanted the character retooled to be much warmer and inviting. Accordingly, they replaced Buckley with Sally Field and a re-write of the role followed. As someone else mentioned, they also replaced Jonathan LaPaglia with Matthew Rhys as one of the brothers, so Buckley wasn't the only casualty of the creative overhaul before the show actually made it to air that subsequent fall.

Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

Updated On: 4/12/12 at 01:04 AM

#33

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 1:21am

I heard her given an interview a few years back where at one point she seemed to acknowledge and even have a bit of a sense of humor for her bad reputation. But I could have just been hearing things.

I did see the pilot of her on Brothers and Sisters and it's just okay. What Matt said about her not appearing "maternal" rings a bell. I think she's got something of a coldness about her in anything, and I just don't think she was a fit. Also, that show was a terrible show anyway. Not that it didn't run for five years and make the cast rich and stuff, but god, it was some of the worst written crap on tv!

#34

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 1:54am

Strange how this stuff about her being mean follows her. I took classes with her and she was a stunningly brillant teacher. Incisive, passionate, dedicated, and life changing. (and nice too!)

#35

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 5:39am

Oooh...Betty Buckley one of the many actresses whose name I would purposely change when I was a kid just for the hell of it.

Betty Buckley = Betty Buckwheat

Olivia Newton-John = Olivia Neutron-Bomb

Susan Sarandon = Susan Saran-Wrap

Ahh, the innocence of youth! Those were the days.

#36

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 12:21pm

That clip of ACTING CARRIE was so amazing I had to watch the entire documentary. Pretty incredible!

". . . POP . . ."

#37

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 2:22pm

He plays the violin..

"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter

#38

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 3:11pm

I loved Brothers and Sisters. (Sorry, Phyllis!)

Beyoncé is not an ally. Actions speak louder than words, Mrs. Carter. #Dubai #$$$

#39

Betty Buckley on Bway

Posted: 4/12/12 at 7:39pm

"When heaven calls to MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I died.

I like your imperturbable perspicacity.

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