For the Love of Buckley

I would know that belt anywhere. Its distinctive timbre and resonance is the trademark of a voice that has wowed audiences with its agility for over forty years. Its possessor has always been noted for her ability to sing seemingly unattainable high notes with considerable ease. But up until last Saturday night, I had never had the privilege of seeing Betty Buckley live in performance. I've heard such great things from SarahB and Kari over the past few years, as they turn Betty's annual gigs at Feinstein's into the event of the season. One year they went twice in the same evening when the Tony-winning legend was performing two different shows. Much to my delight, the ladies asked me to tag along this year, as Betty returned with a brand new show of all material she had never sung before in public titled For the Love of Broadway.

The venue has fast become one of my favorite places to be in the last couple of months, with memorable evenings spent hearing Kate Baldwin and Tyne Daly. Last Saturday night I hit a trifecta with Ms. Buckley, who was once again working with her trio led by her long-time musical director Kenny Werner. Buckley's new show is all Broadway music (as most people never want to hear her sing anything else), with an eclectic range from standards to cult favorites to a few contemporary numbers thrown into the mix. Aside from a brand new specialty written for her by John McDaniel and Erik Kornfield called, fittingly, "Belting", I had heard almost every other song she sang before.

A magnanimous presence, she took the stage and launched into a medley of Rodgers and Hart tunes. It was clear to me instantly why my friends have been raving so rapturously. Betty picks up the microphone and immediately radiates warmth. She goes out of her way to include everyone in the venue including those on her periphery, like a hostess making sure every one of her guests is comfortable. Then she lets the music take over. Her patter was spare and concise - she was there to sing and did she ever. The song takes over her body, whether she is dancing along during an instrumental break or she is holding the microphone away from her to rip into a high note.

Betty loves jazz, and alluded tongue in cheek to those folks who want her to sing Broadway and only Broadway. Her response was the aforementioned specialty "When I Belt" which incorporated that full-throttled voice, with references to the many songs that have become her trademarks - and even a nod to that famed Cats gesture. But she got the last laugh as her entire evening was infused with jazz arrangements by Werner (who plays piano; the other two players were Billy Drewes on reeds/percussion and Tony Marino on bass). So she's giving us Broadway, but on her terms. Now that's a star.

I fell under her spell the moment she locked eyes with me during this opening set. The song was "This Can't Be Love" and the lyric was "But still I love to look in your eyes." I was sitting to her left right by the stage area, and she stood there and just gazed down with a big smile. I was hers for the next hour.

She jumped from Rodgers and Hart to Rodgers and Hammerstein singing a combination of "We Kiss in the Shadow" and "I Have Dreamed" from The King and I. There were many similar combinations from Golden Age shows. Here she paired "Bewitched" from Pal Joey with "Hey There" from The Pajama Game. While she sang the former, I couldn't help but wonder why she didn't play the role in the recent revival. I don't think I've ever thought of anyone putting Come to Me, Bend to Me from Brigadoon with "This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific, but there it was in seamless combination.

However, there were some contemporary pieces tossed in for good measure. She did quite well by "I've Been Here Before" from Closer Than Ever, but it was her funny and sincere rendition of "There's a Fine, Fine Line" from Avenue Q that stood out.

She paid homage to Elaine Stritch with the eleven o'clock number from the forgotten Goldilocks, "I Never Know When to Say When," an introspective bluesy ballad that allowed Buckley to channel many Stritchisms (and also to celebrate Stritch's recent 85th birthday). For a novelty, she brought up an audience member to be Clark Kent to her Sydney in "You've Got Possibilities" from It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman. The night I attended, she chose her pal Michael Buckley (no relation), an online personality, whose eagerness to ham it up distracted from the set rather than contributed to it. On a side note, her younger brother Norman Buckley, a Hollywood director, was on hand and she deservedly gushed over his achievements.

The dramatic apex of the set appears in "If You Go Away" from Jacques Brel, with a heart-tugging reading that could well be definitive. It was the culmination of the lyrical color she had provided in her interpretations all evening - there was something warm but hard-edge. When she sings one of these songs, she will rip your heart out with her uncompromising honesty, but avoids becoming either overly sentimental or maudlin in doing so. It's the balance that she finds that transforms Betty into a cabaret superstar.

The last number in the set was "Home" from The Wiz, which was unexpectedly moving. I don't think that I had ever paid attention to the lyric, or perhaps I have never heard a rendition that highlighted the words quite like hers. For an encore she dipped into West Side Story for an understated rendition of "One Hand, One Heart" from West Side Story. On her way out to sing it, she clutched our Sarah on the top of her head with affection. It was a sight beyond compare; a diva so much in love with her audience.

Betty's For the Love of Broadway runs until February 27 at Feinstein's at the Regency. After that, I can only hope her next stop will be Broadway. Strike that, I hope the next stop is the recording studio because she needs to lay down these tracks as soon as possible. Then Broadway. (How about it, Betty Lynn?)

"Stars and the Moon"

It's a song that I've heard often enough, whether on solo CDs or live in performance or even in acting classes. And it's a song I've grown to despise as a result of all of those encounters. It doesn't help that I'm not particularly sold on the show it's from either. However, when traveling with Kari, Roxie and Sarah two months ago to Val-Kill and New Paltz, this rendition of that song popped on the iPod and I found myself rather impressed. Here is Betty Buckley singing "Stars and the Moon" from Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World. This time, the song had the credence of someone who made it seem as though she actually lived every word. I haven't changed my mind on the song itself, but whenever Buckles is singing it, I will gladly listen.

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood"

I read The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 8th grade for a book report and the only thing I remembered about it was that Charles Dickens died before he could finish it. Then a few years later in high school I discovered The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the musical and suddenly I became much more interested. With its book and score by Rupert Holmes, the musical was styled after the conventions of the British music hall. With no record as to who (spoiler alert) killed Edwin Drood, it was left to the audience to decide each performance. Then came out Betty Buckley in a pants role (meaning an actress playing a man) as Drood to belt the living daylights out of "The Writing on the Wall," which ends with the famous E note. The sad news is the cast album has been out of print for years (there are two editions that go for monstrous amounts on amazon and e-bay), but if you ever get the chance, you need to hear Ms. B blast that song to high heaven. (Will someone reissue this... please?) The musical first played in Central Park as part of the Public's summer lineup, presented by Joe Papp with direction by Wilford Leach and choreography from Graciela Daniele. As for the casting, the show starred Buckles, as well as George Rose (who won the Best Actor Tony), the sublime Cleo Laine as the Princess Puffer, Howard McGillin, Patti Cohenour with Donna Murphy and Judy Kuhn in the ensemble. (Murphy replaced Buckley later in the run). Here is the original cast on the 1986 Tony awards.