Tony Winner Betty Buckley to Star in Dear World in London

Tony winner Betty Buckley will star as Countess Aurelia in the British premiere of Dear World, at London’s Charing Cross Theatre. The musical, which features music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and a book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, will be directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne (Cats, The Phantom of the Opera). The show will begin performances February 4, 2013 and run through March 30,

Set in post-war Paris in 1945, Dear World is a musical fable of good versus evil, based on Jean Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot. A corporation has discovered oil under the streets of Paris, and a madwoman, Aurelia, and her odd collection of acquaintances must save the city from corporate greed. Dear World premiered on Broadway in 1969 starring Milo O’Shea and Angela Lansbury in a Tony-winning turn as Aurelia.

Buckley won a Tony Award for Cats, and earned a nomination for Triumph of Love. Her additional Broadway credits include Sunset Boulevard, Carrie, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Song and Dance, Pippin and 1776.