See Tony Winner Betty Buckley Revisit Roles in Cats, Sunset Boulevard & More

Broadway legend Betty Buckley recently released the album Betty Buckley Sings Stephen Sondheim, which honors the late musical theater titan. Buckley is currently wowing audiences at Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco through April 2. On a recent episode of The Broadway Show, the Tony winner joined Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek in the heart of New York City for a walk through her resume, reminiscing in front of the theaters that were home to shows like Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Carrie, 1776 and more. 

On playing Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard at the Minskoff Theatre: "That opening night was one of the greatest nights of my life. The place was packed, and from the moment I started, the audience gave me so much love. I had done the show for a year in London. I felt literally like I was swimming through love. The love in the audience was completely palpable."

On playing Catherine in Pippin at the Imperial Theatre: "I wanted to be in Pippin so badly because Bob Fosse was directing it. Fosse was my life when I was a teenager. I studied with two of his acolytes, who had done a lot of his shows. They were my teachers in Fort Worth, Texas, and so I knew everything Fosse. He came back and directed me into the show. He was great. He always had this cigarette attached to his lower lip, and the ash would burn all the way down to the center—but it stayed balanced."

On playing Margaret White in Carrie at the August Wilson Theatre (formerly the Virginia Theatre): "I was Margaret, the cruel and sadistic religious fanatic mother. I played the gym teacher [in the movie]. It was an event. It was schizophrenic—the response to the show. It was just wild. People would come in costume. They would yell at us from the audience. I remember one day I was at the top of the stairs, and they were like, 'Betty Buckley, come on down!' It was so crazy. I just thought, 'This is going to be an event where people come and speak the lines with us like Rocky Horror.'"

On playing Grizabella in Cats at the Winter Garden Theatre: "As soon as I hear the opening chords [of 'Memory'], I immediately just go into this place. I immediately see everything in my imagination that I saw then. People say, 'Well, what's the difference in your interpretation and everybody else on the planet who has sung 'Memory'?' The difference is that I actually was a cat."

Watch the video below, and head here to check your local listings for The Broadway Show. Hosted by Emmy-winning anchor Tamsen Fadal, it is the only nationally syndicated weekly theater news program.