Betty Buckley Begins 4 Week 'Broadway by Request' Tonight at Feinstein's

Betty Buckley's "Broadway By Request" opens tonight for a four-week run at Feinstein's at Loew's Regency.

Yesterday afternoon, Buckley sang at the memorial service for Gerry Schoenfeld before being whisked to rehearsal for the standing room only dress rehearsal. The star and creative team had a "test drive" as there are video and other elements for the show. BroadwayWorld was there and let us be the first to say it was THRILLING! Ms. Buckley is a true master of melody and lyric, each song was brought to new and glorious life. A must see.

Seth Rudetsky is featured in the show and will be doing some of his famous "deconstructions," all pointed at the Broadway legend and the show was devised and directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, with Buckley and Rudetsky.

These shows are driven by 'request forms' that will be handed to patrons when they arrive and check in with the maitre'd to be shown to their tables. The forms ask your name, where you're from and what song you would like to request of Ms. Buckley and any questions that you might have for the diva. It sounds spirited and informal and fun and Buckley has been quoted as saying that "I've been rehearsing everything I know - keep your fingers crossed!"

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY, the nightclub proclaimed "Best of New York" by New York Magazine, and "an invaluable New York institution" by The New York Post, continues its 10th Anniversary season with the return engagement of Tony Award winning singer and actress Betty Buckley. In an exclusive four week run of the new show "Broadway By Request" Ms. Buckley will perform selections picked by the audience from her illustrious Broadway career in landmark musicals such as Cats, Sunset Boulevard, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Song And Dance and more. This unique evening of music, which will be different every night, will offer rare video footage and occasional special guests. "Broadway By Request" - featuring Seth Rudetsky and directed by Richard Jay-Alexander - runs from February 10 to March 7 at the Regency Hotel (540 Park Avenue at 61st Street).

"The idea of ‘Broadway By Request' was born at Feinstein's almost a year ago, during Buckley's last engagement," says Jay-Alexander. "During the run, the idea of doing something special for the late shows came up, and how the audiences had been expressing their desire for an all-Broadway program. So, we tried it and people came." Last summer, under the guidance of Jay-Alexander - who has helped create shows for Barbra Streisand, Bernadette Peters, Bette Midler among many others - the concept of "Broadway By Request" continued, with an invitation to Ms. Buckley by the Irving Arts Center's Dupree Theater Lyric Stage in her native Texas. 

Betty Buckley won a Tony Award for her performance as "Grizabella" in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, a Tony Award nomination for her performance as "Hesione" in Triumph of Love, and an Olivier nomination for her interpretation of "Norma Desmond" in Sunset Boulevard. Her latest CD, Quintessence, is a tribute to Buckley's eighteen year working relationship with jazz great Kenny Werner. This album is the pair's ninth album together and is a perfect bookend to the recently released Betty Buckley 1967.

Ms. Buckley added to her critically acclaimed work the role of "Mama Rose" in the great American musical Gypsy for the renowned Papermill Playhouse. Her other Broadway credits include Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance and the role of "Margaret White" in the cult musical Carrie, for which she was nominated as Best Actress in a Musical by the Outer Critics Circle. She made her Broadway debut creating the role of "Martha Jefferson" in the musical 1776, then performed the roles of "Catherine" in Bob Fosse's Pippin and "Edwin Drood" in the New York Shakespeare Festival's The Mystery of Edwin Drood. In London she starred as "Fran Kubelik" in Promises, Promises, for which she received a nomination from The Evening Standard for Best Actress in a Musical.

She also starred Off-Broadway in A.R. Gurney's new play, Buffalo Gal, Nicky Silver's The Eros Trilogy and Second Stage's Juno's Swans. She has performed the role of "Pirate Jenny" in Three Penny Opera and starred as "Marguerite Gautier" in Tennessee Williams' Camino Real.

Her film appearances include her debut in Brian de Palma's screen version of Stephen King's Carrie, Bruce Beresford's Tender Mercies, Roman Polanski's Frantic, Wood Allen's Another Woman, and Lawrence Kasden's Wyatt Earp. On television, she recently finished the film Vinegar Hill for CBS. For three seasons she played the role of "Suzanne Fitzgerald" in the HBO Cable series Oz. She was featured on the Fox series "The Jury," the USA Network series "Monk" and starred for four seasons as "Abby Bradford" in the hit series "Eight is Enough." Buckley had starring roles in the mini-series "Roses for the Rich" and "Evergreen."

Ms. Buckley's CD Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar, released by Concord Records, received a Grammy Award nomination. She received two Emmy Award nominations for the After-School Specials "Bobby and Sarah" and "Taking a Stand". She hosted the PBS special "The Women of Tin Pan Alley" and starred in the American Movie Classics' Emmy Award-winning series "Remember WENN." The Bravo network has aired a documentary about her life entitled "Betty Buckley In Concert and In Person." She recently starred in the M. Night Shyamalan film The Happening.

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY will play the following schedule: Tuesday through Thursday at 8:30 PM. The weekend schedule presents shows on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM. All shows have a $60.00 cover with $75.00 premium seats, both with a $40.00 food and beverage minimum. Jackets are suggested but not required. FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY is located at 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street in New York City. For ticket reservations and club information, please call (212) 339-4095 or visit us online at feinsteinsatloewsregency.com and TicketWeb.com.

Photo Credits: Walter McBride / Peter James Zielinski/ Richard Jay-Alexander