Broadway diva Betty Buckley, in one of her rare non-singing stage performances, is heading north to the Long Wharf Theatre to star in Sinan Unel's Pera Palas, Jan. 16-Feb. 17, 2002. Steven Williford directs.
A Tony winner for Cats, Buckley's many leading roles on Broadway include Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, the title character in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Hesione in Triumph of Love, Emma, the singing half of Song and Dance and her Broadway debut, as Martha Jefferson in the original 1776. Her straight roles include Off-Broadway's Eros Trilogy and the recent Hartford Stage Company revival of Camino Real, which featured two songs especially penned for Buckley's character.
Joining her in Pera Palas are Jeremy Webb, Jonathan Hadary (Gypsy, Assassins, As Is), Anne Bobby (The Real Thing), Brandon Demery, Kathleen Early (The Play About the Baby), Glenn Fleshler (Dollhouse), Andrea Gabriel, Christina Rouner and Paul Anthony Stewart.
Set in Istanbul's legendary Pera Palas Hotel, which inspired both Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and the bar in Casablanca, this epic play traces 70 years of Turkish history through three generations of a family living in Istanbul. Unel's works include Single Lives and the award-winning screenplay "Race Point."
Tickets are $45-$15. For reservations, call (203) 787-4282. The Long Wharf Theatre is on the web at http://www.longwharf.org. — By Christine Ehren