Betty Buckley’s Star Shines Brightly in Durham

Betty Buckley, Broadway diva, television star, and Tony Award-winning actress put on a spectacular concert last week at The Carolina Theatre in Durham. Buckley's voice was in top-notch form and she commanded the stage with confidence and ease. Watching this remarkable artist perform was an unforgettable treat. Betty Buckley has true star quality and it shone brightly on stage in Durham last week.

Buckley took her audience on a personal journey, sharing stories and songs from her career with great honesty and emotion. Her concert, titled Betty Buckley: Broadway by Request, even includes some audience participation. Buckley often mentioned the names of audience members from stage and even brought one lucky, and somewhat terrified, man on stage. Ms. Buckley seems to truly appreciate and love her fans, and she makes it clear that she's happy to be sharing a personal and revealing evening with friends.

The evening began with a true diva classic from Sunset Boulevard "As If We Never Said Goodbye" followed by a song from 1776 in which she made her Broadway debut, "He Plays the Violin." Ms. Buckley then moved to more contemporary fair with a song from Avenue Q, "There's a Fine, Fine Line." This song may have been one of the most touching, and unexpected, of the evening. While there were no puppets on stage with Ms. Buckley, she did give a nod to the irreverence of the show with some simple and funny gestures. Ms. Buckley then moved back to more traditional songs including: "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" from Pal Joey, "Hey, There (You with the Stars in Your Eyes)" from The Pajama Game, "You've Got Possibilities, from It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman,  and two songs from The King and I, "We Kissed in a Shadow" and "I Have Dreamed".

Ms. Buckley then told a touching, and hysterical, story about the song "The Meadowlark Song" from The Baker's Wife. As fans of Patti LuPone will know, this song has long belonged to Ms. LuPone, but not after last weekend. Ms. Buckley sang this song with such elegance and passion that, at least in my mind, "Meadowlark" will now always belong to Betty.

The concert concluded with an eclectic mix of songs including: Paul Simon's "Train in the Distance," "It Might as Well Be Spring" from State Fair, "No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods and, of course "Memory" from Cats. There would have been a riot in the theatre had Ms. Buckley not performed this classic song. No one can pull this song off quite like Betty Buckley. She subtly and elegantly transformed into a feline right before our eyes. A simple hand gesture, the tilt of the head, a slight stoop in the shoulders, and we were suddenly watching that old cat Grizabella. It's a remarkable, spectacular sight to see this artist in action.

Ms. Buckley gave the audience a choice between two different songs for an encore, but the audience, filled with die-hard fans would accept nothing less than both numbers, Mary-Chapin Carpenter's "Come On Come On" and "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music. It was a perfect ending to a perfect night.

Ms. Buckley, who was expertly accompanied by Christian Jacob on piano and Tony Marino on bass, obviously loves her fans a great deal. She is well known for her interactions with fans on Twitter and she made time after her performance to meet with audience members in the lobby. It's rare that a star of her caliber would take the time and effort to interact so meaningfully with fans, but Betty Buckley is exactly that, the rarest of stars.

 

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