Performer Betty Buckley has songs with stories dear to the heart
She has starred in original Broadway productions, appeared on film and in television, earning a number of awards and salutes for her theater work.
But Betty Buckley says cardiologist is a more-apt description of what she does.
“We’re undercover heart surgeons,” Buckley, 69, said by phone from her ranch in Fort Worth, Texas. “We move things around so people are returned to that pure sense of self. It’s a high purpose and responsibility.”
And the doctor will see you in Costa Mesa Thursday through Saturday to perform her new show, “Story Songs,” at Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ Samueli Theatre.
She’ll share the stage with musicians Christian Jacob, her arranger and musical director on piano, Oz Noy, Ray Brinker and Trey Henry, and together, as her heart surgeon metaphor suggests, will help induce audience catharsis, she said.
Buckley, who is known for her eclectic taste for songs from all genres, will present a selection of numbers by English rock band Radiohead along with pieces by composers Stephen Schwartz and Jason Robert Brown.
The evening will also spotlight works by members of budding theater composers, including Joe Iconis.
It took six to eight months for Buckley and Jacob to choose the collection of about 13 “story songs,” as the concert title suggests, to feature during a performance.
There will be “Old Flame,” a funny song Iconis exclusively wrote for Buckley for his show at New York bar Feinstein’s/54 Below, a rendition of Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up,” “Cassandra” from Brown’s songbook and “Another Life” from “The Bridges of Madison County.”
Aaron Egigian, Segerstrom Center’s senior director of music programming, said Buckley opening the center’s Cabaret Series is a welcomed return as her new show is recognized as arguably the strongest cabaret of her career.
“We couldn’t think of anyone better and more loved to return to the center and open the series,” Egigian said. “Betty has been such an important performer who always has given the full measure of any song she’s ever sung.”
After a run of seven sold-out shows in New York, Buckley called “Story Songs” among her favorites as the show features a set by veteran and new Broadway composers along with current pop artists.
Jacob, whom she has worked with for nearly a decade, composed the score for Clint Eastwood-directed film, “Sully.”
“We want to take them on a journey,” Buckley said. “This show is very timely and has a healing and pleasant quality to it.”
Buckley has won a Tony Award for her performance in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” and received a second Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for “Triumph of Love,” as well as an Olivier Award nomination for her performance in Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard.”
She tours in concert worldwide with her ensemble of musicians and was recently featured in the Royal Albert Hall concert of Follies in celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 85th birthday.
Her recently acclaimed performance was as Big Edie in “Grey Gardens” at The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.
When not performing for stage, film or television, Buckley finds joy in spending time on her ranch and caring for her two cutting horses, which she rescued.
---------------------
FOR THE RECORD
10/24, 12:49 p.m.: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Buckley’s cutting horses were rescued. While she owns several rescued animals — including dogs, cats and a donkey — the horses are highly-trained performance horses.
10/24, 2:59 p.m.: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Buckley would be performing works by composers Joe Iconis and Ben Toth. She will not be performing works by Toth.
---------------------
The horses are trained to separate cattle from a herd.
But her love for her performing remains fervent, she said, as she finds it a responsible position to be a storyteller.
“We always hope the audience has an experience that allows them to relinquish stress and reconnect with their soul,” Buckley said. “We help them do it.”
*
IF YOU GO
What: Betty Buckley
When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27-29
Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
Cost: Tickets start at $79
Information: (714) 556-2787 or scfta.org
Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
