Valentine's Memories

My loving husband knew that I had always wanted to see Betty Buckley in a cabaret appearance and so this was our Valentine's (Eve) celebration. Greg and I first heard Buckley in the great Robert Duvall movie Tender Mercies in 1983. But of course, my most "memorable" prior experience was when I saw Buckley as Grizabella in 1987 in Cats when I took Beth to the performance for Beth's 10th birthday (and my wonderful brother-in-law Pat ensured that we had wonderful seats on the center aisle).

We had a stylish evening, taking a car service to Feinstein's at the Regency on Park Avenue. It seems to me that the intimate nightclub experience is losing its appeal, although I haven't gone to any shows in places like Las Vegas so perhaps I'm wrong. This was one of those evenings where we enjoyed the experience but won't rush to duplicate it (however I may now be committed to a Moody Blues or Rolling Stones concert). We were seated at a small front and center table and served a less than intimate dinner prior to the performance. It's hard to carry on a conversation with strangers at your elbows and a noisy room preventing one from speaking discretely. The menu choice was prix fixe with a limited list of entrees: better than we anticipated but then again you wouldn't go to Feinstein's for the meal.

Buckley is a supreme song stylist and her show was titled For The Love of Broadway. She was backed by 3 excellent musicians who have been with her for 20 years and her accompanist/arranger was particularly impressive. I especially enjoyed her medley of Some Come to Me-Bend to Me (from Brigadoon) and This Nearly Was Mine (from South Pacific). She brought tears to my eyes, and to hers (!) when she sang Jacques Brel's beautiful "If You Go Away". We were amused by the table in front of us (luckily to the side) that included a stoned woman who waved her arms overhead the entire show and the rude, cynical "connected" bad-fellow who chewed his toothpick sullenly when Buckley ignored his "request" for Sunset Boulevard. We were treated at the end to an encore of her most famous song which she told us she had only sung once before in this series (4 weeks of 2 shows a night). So I leave you with an older, wiser Memory which allows me to share our experience with you.