Video: Betty Buckley Gets Ready for Her Return to Cafe Carlyle

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Legendary Tony Award-winning actress and singer Betty Buckley is returning to the famed Cafe Carlisle for five live performances

from September 27th through October 1st, and I caught up with Betty here at Carroll Studios during a break in rehearsal

I'm wild again, beguiled again, a simpering, women

I ampering child again. Bewitched, watered and bewildered

I am so excited to be sitting with you here in your rehearsal room here at Carol

Yeah, it's great. It's great. So happy to. I can't wait to see my band today

So thank you. It's good to see you. Always a pleasure. How excited are you to be returning to the Carlisle

Because you were the last performer there before the... The last performer

I had a two-week engagement, and the first week, the city ordinance went down that we could only do 50% of the room

So they had to limit our ticket sales. And then they canceled the second week, and the city just closed down

Airports were closed. Fortunately, my wonderful assistant, Kathy, had the presence of mine to rent a van because we couldn't get a car

Before that happened. So we had a van. and then the second was canceled, and we drove home

It took us three days, and by the time we got home, we were both really sick

And then my lung doctor called to say that he exposed us to COVID

Can you believe it? I mean, the irony that a lung doctor exposed me to COVID

but I'm really happy to be back because it's such a pleasure. I love the room

I love the murals. I love the whole intimate thing. And, you know, when all the people come in, I feel like I get to see all my old friends

And it's like I throw my own little party there five times this week

So it'll be a blast. I can't wait to see everybody. Because there's such a history in that room

Yeah, for sure. And plus the fact to stay at the hotel, the Carlisle Hotel is like super posh

It's very nice. I really enjoy it. Tell me what you love the most about that room, like playing it

Because you play symphonies, you play theaters. This is like a living room

Yeah, it's like a living room. That's what I mean. It like just a little it like I get up on stage with my little band and we share our music with people that are right there Yeah So it fun Let talk about this trio Who in your trio Who come back Christian Jacob who flew in who came to Erie to play for me and then came straight here

to New York and then Jamie Haddad, who played for me for many years until Paul Simon stole

him away. And then Tony Marino, who's been the cornerstone of my band, my bass player for, kind of been working with him for

I've been working with him for 30 years, if not more. It's like he's the best

So I'm just delighted to get to see them. Now, what will the evening consist of

Because what I love about your shows are, you have new composers, you have these beautiful arrangements

Thank you. What will this show consist of? Same thing. You know, songs from my, they're for the most part story songs or character songs

and they come from standards, classic standards, to Broadway to contemporary composers

and I think part of what I enjoy doing in putting together these groupings of songs

it's like putting together a little puzzle to see how one thing fits musically to the next thing

And in terms of the story of an evening, how that goes together

That's always interesting to me. And it almost has its own life. So I'm always curious to see what I'm drawn to next

See, I love that because every time you see a Betty Buckley concert, they're all different

Yeah. And I love that because a lot of people don't do that. They do their regular songs

They add one or two others. But you take us on a whole new journey every time we see you

Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for saying that. It means a lot to me

Yes, some people, like my friend wrote, and they're coming with some friends, and she wrote me an email

so you'll be singing memory. And I said, actually, I won't. And she was like, what do you mean

That's your, you have to sing memory. And she said, why? And she was really upset about it

And so I wrote back and said, because I've sung it enough

But if I feel inspired to when you're there, I maybe will. So it's funny

Yeah, I don't feel compelled to seeing everything I've done before. So there's too many, there's too much beautiful music and many beautiful stories to, you know, I don't, I want to just keep learning

Yeah. You know, the last time I saw you in concert, which was just a short while ago, there were all these tables

of young kids, like youngers. And I was like, they were like, oh, we fell in love

with Betty Buckley from her new films. And then we're like, we found out she was a singer

And now we've fallen in love with her. What that means to you to bring a whole new audience to watch you sing I grateful I really grateful Yeah It was fun working with those college kids at Mercy Hersey University this week

And then they all came to the concert on Saturday night. There were 22 of them

And I get a little, like, especially when I teach, I'm like, oh, God

it better, it better appear that I'm doing what I teach. So it's a little extra level of awareness that I have to be precise

Yeah, I love young people who love theater and love musical theater and who love music

It's really inspiring. You have been an inspiration to so many people because of your teaching

I was asking you, what is the most artistic, what do you get out of teaching the most

Well, every good thing that I know how to do, I learned from great teachers

So I feel like it's my responsibility and my obligation to pass along the tools that, because I couldn't have done any of

the stuff that I've done without my remarkable teachers, especially Paul Gabbert, who I've said with for 19 and a half years

But since then, I've had some amazing teachers. So yeah, I just think it's my responsibility

to pass the tools along because I want performers, especially in the musical theater, to be as good as they can be

And these tools saved my life. So why not help other people save their lives

Yeah. I want to talk about law and order. SvU. Right. I said that right, right

I know. I didn't know. I was like, is it SUV or SVU

Lorraine Maxwell. Yeah. You love playing her. Because the last time I saw you, you were getting ready

Your costume is on her. Came backstage to see you and you were all excited about going to the set again

How much fun is she to play? I love, well, I just love being on the set because the crew is fantastic

There's super people. And the cast is just out of this world, headed by, of course

the incredible Mariska Hargate, who's she's like a queen. And but apart from that, she's like a warrior queen

I mean, she's just, her life is so big. You know, she has three kids and this beautiful husband

And she works so hard. I mean, she's there day in and day out for the, you know

the months that they're shooting. And Mariska created the Joyful Heart Foundation

And she's just a real inspiration. It's so lovely to be around her

And to have her call you a friend, you know, it just she an incredible being She like otherworldy She not like a normal person in my experience Although she very very down to earth Don get me wrong but she knows everyone in that

crew and, you know, has worked with them, what, for 23 seasons or 24? Maybe I think this is season 24

It's pretty remarkable. So I feel pretty in awe when, you know, whenever I'm around her

I'm just like, who can do that? You know, plus she's been in our living rooms on television

for all those years, and we feel like we know all of these people, and Kelly Giddish and Peter

Scannavino and Ice Tea and Octavio. They're just amazing. And Warren Light, who created the role

for me out of the pandemic, which was just unbelievably kind of him. And then he retired after last

season, and we have a new showrunner named David Gratziano, who's coming actually to my

Carlisle show tomorrow night to celebrate his birthday, with his fiance. So I mean, he's just got this new show

and this massive job. He just got engaged and moved to New York

all the same at the same time. So I mean, the guys, that's amazing

So when I heard it was his birthday, I said, come to the Carlisle

We'll entertain you on your birthday. So he's coming. So I was going to ask you, you know

it's going to be like a family affair for these five performances. I mean, you're going to see all these people

that you know and work with. And people who slept to hear you're saying

I mean, I was going to ask you, what are you looking for? the most about this engagement. Just mainly, you know, getting to work with my musicians again

but also seeing all these friends like Roger and Betty has. Roger Hess was my first agent who signed me to Ashley Famous Agency

which is now I see him when I was like, you know, 17, no, I was 18

I was a junior in college. And then he got me my audition for 1776

So he'll be there with his family. My friend Gigi and Harry Benson are coming

my friend Evan Sacks, all these friends that I don't get a chance to see very often

So thank God I'm a concert artist and they want to come here to sing

because I get to hang out with him for a second. It's really nice. Have the best time

I'll see you at the Carlisle Island. Thank you. Thank you, darling. It's good to see it. Thank you