Betty Buckley's Animated Short Film Sets Film Festival Debut

Tony Award-winner Betty Buckley has created, wrote and narrated The Mayfly, an animated short film that will have its world debut at the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival in Palm Springs, Calif. on March 24, 2024. Tickets are available to the public HERE. 

Animated traditionally in 2D, The Mayfly is the story of Megalyn Mayfly, who goes against all expectations and dedicates her short life to music and dance. Her quest takes her from Central Park West to the Upper East Side's Carlyle Hotel where she dances her final opus at the elegant Cafe Carlyle. 

Inspired by a real event witnessed by Ms. Buckley at a Judy Collins concert at the Café Carlyle in New York City, The Mayfly is a love letter to music and New York City.  

Ms. Buckley said, “What I observed was so lovely —a mayfly, dancing as if part of the show itself. From this experience, the story of Megalyn emerged. It's a film that I hope encourages us to embrace our passions and break free from societal norms.”

The Mayfly is directed by four-time Emmy-nominee Sue Perrotto (Beavis and Butt-head Do America; Pooh's Heffalump Movie, Daria).  The music is composed by Grammy-nominated Christian Jacob (Clint Eastwood's Sully and The 15:17 to Paris). BluBlu Studios is the animation house.  

The creative team includes character designer Eugene Salandra, production designer Meryl Rosner and storyboard artist Viki Anderson. Produced by Melissa Coolidge and Bradford Coolidge. Buckley and Perrotto also serve as Executive Producers.

About Betty Buckley

Betty Buckley is a legendary, multi-award winning actress/singer whose career spans theater, film, television and concert halls around the world.  She is a 2012 Theatre Hall of Fame inductee and the 2017 recipient of the Julie Harris Awards from The Actor's Fund for Artistic Achievement and received The Lifetime Achievement Award from The American Songbook Association in 2023.

Ms. Buckley co-stars in the film Imaginary for Blumhouse Productions to be released by Lionsgate March 8, 2024.  She co-starred with James McAvoy in the M. Night Shyamalan hit film Split, one of the top international box office hits of 2017.  She received a Saturn Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress for her work in the film.

She won a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella, the Glamour Cat, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats and received her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a musical for her performance as Hesione in Triumph of Love.  She received an Olivier Award nomination for her critically acclaimed interpretation of Norma Desmond in the London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, which she repeated to more rave reviews on Broadway.

Her other films include her debut in Brian De Palma's screen version of Stephen King's Carrie, Bruce Beresford's Tender Mercies, Roman Polanski's Frantic, Woody Allen's Another Woman, Lawrence Kasden's Wyatt Earp and M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening.

Her other Broadway credits include 1776, Pippin, Song and Dance, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Carrie.  She headlined the first National Tour of the new Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! in 2018/2019.

Off-Broadway credits include the world premiere of Horton Foote's The Old Friends for which she received a Drama Desk Nomination in 2014, White Lies, Lincoln Center's Elegies, the original NYSF production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Eros Trilogy, Juno's Swans and I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road.  Regional credits include The Perfectionist, Gypsy, The Threepenny Opera, Camino Real, Buffalo Gal, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Old Friends at Houston's Alley Theatre and Grey Gardens at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, NY and The Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles in 2016 for which she received an Ovation Award Nomination.

In London, she starred in Promises, Promises for which she was nominated for An Evening Standard Award and in the 2013 British premiere of Dear World. 

On television, Buckley has a recurring role on “Law & Order SVU” for NBC and guest starred on the Fox/Warner Bros. TV show “The Cleaning Lady.”  She co-starred in the third season of AMC's hit series “Preacher” and has guest starred on The CW hit “Supergirl”, the NBC Series “Chicago Med” and ABC Family's “Pretty Little Liars.”  For HBO, she has appeared on “Getting On”, “The Leftovers”, “The Pacific” and for three seasons on OZ. 

She starred as Abby Bradford in the hit series “Eight is Enough.” She appeared twice on The Kennedy Center Honors and was a guest star in numerous television series, miniseries and films for television including Evergreen, Roses for the Rich and Without a Trace. She has been nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work on Taking a Stand, an After School special.

In 2022, she released the compilation recording Betty Buckley Sings Stephen Sondheim as a tribute to the late composer. The recording comprises 24 songs Buckley has recorded of Sondheim's music over the span of her career.  She has recorded 18 CD's: including Ghostlight, produced by T Bone Burnett released in 2014, Story Songs in 2017 and Hope in 2018.  Buckley tours in concert worldwide with her ensemble of musicians and in 2015 was featured in the Royal Albert Hall concert of Follies, in celebration of Stephen Sondheim's 85th birthday.                                                                                       

She received a Grammy Nomination for Stars and the Moon, Betty Buckley Live at the Donmar. She received her second Grammy Nomination for the audio book The Diaries of Adam and Eve.

For over forty years, Ms. Buckley has been a teacher of scene study and song interpretation, giving workshops in Manhattan and various universities and performing Arts Conservatories around the country.  She has been a faculty member in the theatre department of the University of Texas at Arlington and teaches regularly at the T. Schreiber Studio in New York City, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX and in Los Angeles, Denver and Oklahoma.

In 2009, Ms. Buckley received the Texas Medal of Arts Award for Theater and was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2007.  In 2015, she was awarded The Stephen Bruton Award by The Lone Star Film Festival for her work in film and music. In 2018, she received the Sarah Siddons Award for outstanding theatrical performance in a Chicago theatrical production. She has two honorary doctorates from The Boston Conservatory and Marymount College and has been honored with three Lifetime Achievement Awards for her contributions to theater from the New England Theater Conference, The Shubert Theater in New Haven and the Terry Schreiber School in NYC.