By Andrew Gans
20 Oct 2007

Betty Buckley and the cover of "Betty Buckley 1967."
photo by Ben Strothmann

After selling out numerous Broadway theatres, Carnegie Hall and London's Donmar Warehouse, Tony Award winner Betty Buckley makes her solo Town Hall concert debut Oct. 20 in an evening that celebrates 40 years of her music-making.

The 8 PM concert is part of the Third Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival created and produced by Scott Siegel. The festival began Oct. 19 with A Tribute to Stephen Schwartz and continues Oct. 20 at 8 PM with An Evening with Betty Buckley.

Buckley's concert will include songs from "Betty Buckley 1967" — her never-before-released debut solo recording which is now available on the Playbill Records/Sony BMG Masterworks Broadway label — as well as the forthcoming "Quintessence" (due in February 2008, also on the Playbill label). Concertgoers can expect an eclectic repertoire that spans the worlds of pop, rock, folk, blues, standards and musical theatre.

The former star of Cats and Sunset Boulevard will be backed by Clifford Carter on piano, Tony Marino on bass, Dan Rieser on drums and Billy Drewes on reeds.

Betty Buckley offered acclaimed performances in Sunset Boulevard, Carrie, Song & Dance, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 1776 and Promises, Promises. She won a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella in the Broadway production of Cats, and she starred on the London stage in Promises, Promises and Sunset Boulevard, earning an Olivier Award nomination for her work in the latter. Also a TV ("Eight Is Enough") and film ("Tender Mercies") star, the actress-singer devotes much of her time to concert appearances around the world. Her solo CD, "Stars and the Moon: Betty Buckley Live at the Donmar Warehouse," was nominated for a Grammy Award and is available on the Concord Records label. The actress was also seen on the final three seasons of the acclaimed HBO series "Oz" as well as in the Lincoln Center revue, Elegies: A Song Cycle.

The annual Festival will conclude Oct. 21 at 3 PM with Broadway Originals!, which will feature "a dazzling array of Broadway performers reprising songs they introduced either in original Broadway productions or Broadway revivals." Those scheduled to re-create historic Broadway moments include Celeste Holm (Oklahoma!), Susan Bigelow (Working), Alan Campbell (Sunset Boulevard), Donna Lynne Champlin (Sweeney Todd), Catherine Cox (Baby), Andre de Shields (The Wiz), Jerry Dixon (Once on This Island), Willy Falk (Miss Saigon), Anita Gillette (Mr. President), George S. Irving (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Karen Mason (Mamma Mia!), David Miller (Baz Luhrman’s La Boheme), Jill O'Hara (Promises, Promises), Brad Oscar (The Producers), Martin Vidnovic (Brigadoon), Ken Jennings (Sweeney Todd) and Barbara Walsh (Big).

Tickets for the concerts are $50 each and are available by visiting www.ticketmaster.com. Town Hall is located in Manhattan at 123 West 43rd Street. For more information visit www.the-townhall-nyc.org.