BroadwayWorld recently caught up with stage legend and screen star Betty Buckley, who is preparing to open the world premiere of Ben Andron's debut play, WHITE'S LIES, at New World Stages on Thursday, May 6, 2010.
In WHITE'S LIES, some guys are scared stiff at the prospect of settling down, getting married, having kids & Joe White is no exception. He's a divorce lawyer, representing one of his many ex-girlfriends & above all else, he's a bachelor who wouldn't have it any other way. So when his mother, played by Buckley, desperately wants him to start a family, he'll do the next best thing: make one up! What could go wrong?
Betty Buckley is a Tony award winner who has thrilled audiences for years with acclaimed performances in such Broadway shows as Sunset Boulevard, Cats, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and 1776. Recently her highly praised starring role in the M. Night Shyamalan feature film The Happening, joins her other memorable film performances which include Tender Mercies, Frantic, and Carrie. She also has an extensive concert career, and recently received rave reviews for For The Love of Broadway at New York City's prestigious Feinstein's at Loew's Regency nightclub. In 2009, Ms. Buckley was honored with the Texas Medal of Arts Award for Theater and was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2007.
Buckley has been a teacher for 37 years and has taught numerous singers, actors and professionals including investment bankers, athletic coaches and persons who want to perfect their ability to effectively communicate in their work and in relationships. The class also welcomes auditors who participate in all aspects of the class except the individual singing coached by Buckley.
She is also an Emmy-nominated television (Eight Is Enough, Law and Order:SVU and HBO's Oz) and film star (Tender Mercies, Carrie, Frantic, Another Woman and The Happening).
The Actor-Singer works regularly in concert with her ensemble of musicians. Her solo CD, Stars and the Moon: Betty Buckley Live at the Donmar Warehouse, received a Grammy nomination. In 2007, she released a new CD Betty Buckley 1967, which hit the Billboard charts. Her newest recording Quintessence, with long-time collaborator Kenny Werner and her quintet was released by Playbill and Sony BMG Broadway Masterworks in Spring 2008.
In the interview, Buckley chatted about all things LIES, her favorite on stage moments, and what it's like to (really) raise cutting horses.
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Tell us about White's Lies.
Whites Lies is a new Off-Broadway play by Ben Andron. We play at New World Stages. This is Ben's first play. It is a very funny comedy With a 7 person ensemble that stars Tuc Watkins, Peter Scolari, Christy Carlson Romano, Jimmy Ray Bennett, Andrea Grano, Rena Strober and me and is about a guy, Joe White, who is a bit of a womanizer and won't settle down because he is kind of commitment-phobic. Mrs. White is really tired of her son's womanizing ways & really wants him to settle down & get married.
How'd you personally get involved with the project?
The producers contacted me via my agent and sent me the script to read. They had done a reading previously with Elaine Stritch, but Elaine wasn't available this spring for the production. The producers wanted to move quickly, so they offered it to me. It was kind of off-again, on-again, but we're here, and we're previewing now!
Many of our readers have written in to ask what it's like working with Tuc Watkins.
It's a very pleasurable experience. Tuc is a beautiful man. He is great to look at, as everyone knows, but he's also a real sweetheart and a lovely human being. He's a wonderful wonderful actor - it's effortless, a pleasure.
What tricks or techniques do you use for learning your lines?
It's just torture! It's just repetition, you know. It's always just practice, practice, repeat, repeat. I'm a very visually oriented person, so I have to know where I am in space and what I'm experiencing as the character for the lines to really take root.
