Signature Theatre to Host BETTY BUCKLEY: SIGNATURE SONGS Today

Signature Theatre presents an evening of cocktails and a special one-night-only concert starring one of Broadway's living legends, Betty Buckley, tonight, September 30 in The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W. 42nd Street) to support the Legacy Program in honor of Horton Foote.

Betty Buckley: Signature Songs begins with cocktails at 6:30PM followed by the performance beginning at 7:30PM. The Pershing Square Signature Center is located at 480 West 42nd Street. Tickets start at $150. To purchase your tickets and for more information, please call 646-388-8118 or email tcorren@signaturetheatre.org.

Betty Buckley is performing this fall in Signature's World Premiere production of Horton Foote's The Old Friends. The production is directed by Michael Wilson, who helmed The Orphans' Home Cycle at Signature during the 2009-10 Season, and also features HAllie Foote (The Orphans' Home Cycle) and Lois Smith (Heartless, The Illusion, The Trip to Bountiful). In The Old Friends, members of two Texas farming families are forced to confront generations of disloyalty and disappointment when one of them returns after a 20-year absence. Performances of The Old Friends will begin on August 20, 2013 in The Irene Diamond Stage. Tickets go on sale July 16, 2013.

The Legacy Program was introduced in Signature's 10th Anniversary Season to honor the lifetime achievement of playwrights who have previously been in residence at Signature by premiering new works or revisiting existing plays. Past Legacy Program productions include works by Edward Albee, Sam Shepard and last season's productions of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson and Bill Irwin and David Shiner's Old Hats.

Signature has a long history with Horton Foote, who was the theatre's fourth Playwright-in-Residence during its 1994-95 Season. Signature also produced the World Premiere of The Last of the Thorntons in its 2000-01 Season and The Trip to Bountiful, featuring Lois Smith in an award-winning performance, in the 2005-06 Season. During the 2009-10 Season, Signature co-produced the world premiere of the three-part The Orphans' Home Cycle with Hartford Stage, directed by Michael Wilson. Signature remains committed to celebrating Horton's significant contributions and is thrilled that this season's production of The Old Friends reunites Signature with longtime collaborators HAllie Foote, Lois Smith and Michael Wilson.

Betty Buckley, who has been called "The Voice of Broadway," is one of theater's most respected and legendary leading ladies. She is an actress/singer whose career spans theater, film, television and concert halls around the world. She most recently was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame for 2012.

Betty Buckley 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 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 Broadway credits include 1776, Pippin, Song and Dance, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Carrie. Off-Broadway credits include White's Lies, Lincoln Center's Elegies, the original NYSF production of Edwin Drood, The Eros Trilogy and Juno Swans. Regional credits include Gypsy, Threepenny Opera, Camino Real,Buffalo Gal and Arsenic and Old Lace. She starred in the London production of Dear World in 2013 and Promises, Promises.

She co-starred in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening released in June 2008. Other films include her debut in Brian de Palma's screen version of Stephen King'sCarrie, Bruce Beresford's Tender Mercies, Roman Polanski's Frantic, Woody Allen's Another Woman and Lawrence Kasden's Wyatt Earp.

On television, Buckley appeared in "The Pacific" for HBO and on the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006 and 1983. She also starred for three seasons in the HBO series "Oz" and as Abby Bradford in the hit series "Eight is Enough". She has appeared as a guest star in numerous television series, miniseries and films for television including "Evergreen," "Roses for the Rich," the CBS series "Without a Trace," "Law & Order: SVU" for NBC, and ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars."

Buckley has recorded 15 CD's, among them Bootleg: Boardmixes From The Road, Quintessence and Betty Buckley 1967 and the Grammy Nominated Stars and the Moon, Betty Buckley Live at the Donmar. Her newest CD Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway was released by Palmetto Records in August 2012. The CD Ghostlightproduced by T Bone Burnett will be released in 2014 also on Palmetto Records.

She received her second Grammy Nomination for the audio book The Diaries of Adam and Eve.

Founded in 1991 by James Houghton, Signature Theatre exists to honor and celebrate the playwright. Signature makes an extended commitment to a playwright's body of work, and during this journey, the writer is engaged in every aspect of the creative process. Signature is the first theatre company to devote an entire season to the work of a single playwright, including re-examinations of past writings as well as New York and world premieres. By championing in-depth explorations of a living playwright's body of work, the Company delivers an intimate and immersive journey into the playwright's singular vision.

Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, Maria Irene Fornes, Athol Fugard, John Guare, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, the Negro Ensemble Company, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, August Wilson and Lanford Wilson. At The Pershing Square Signature Center, the Company's expanded programming includes: Residency One, the continuation of Signature's core program which provides audiences with an immersive exploration of the work of a singular playwright; Residency Five, which provides five-year residencies for multiple playwrights, guaranteeing three full productions of new work over the course of each playwright's residency; and the Legacy Program, which honors the lifetime achievement of playwrights who have previously been in residence at Signature through the production of a premiere or earlier play.

Signature, its productions and its resident writers have been recognized with a Pulitzer Prize, fourteen Lucille Lortel Awards, sixteen Obie Awards, six Drama Desk Awards and twenty-two AUDELCO Awards, among many other distinctions. The National Theatre Conference recognized the company as the 2003 Outstanding National Theatre of the Year. For more information on Signature please visit us on-line at signaturetheatre.org.

The Pershing Square Signature Center is the new, permanent home of Signature Theatre. Spanning an entire city block at 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenue, the Frank Gehry-designed Pershing Square Signature Center features three intimate theatres, a Studio Theatre, rehearsal studio, and a public café, bar and bookstore and serves as both a theatre community hub and neighborhood destination. Working hand-in-hand with Signature leadership and architect of record H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture LLC, Gehry's design is carefully calibrated to foster interaction among playwrights, artistic collaborators and the public. The Pershing Square Signature Center has allowed the Company to expand and enhance its programming, introduce new initiatives, and build audiences. The Center serves as the artistic home for as many as 9 playwrights at any one time, fostering a dynamic creative community where playwrights engage directly with audiences and one another.