Betty Buckley in "The Writing on the Wall," the finale of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," Broadway 1985. The lyrics can be found here: genius.com/Rupert-holmes-fina...
Her technique is extraordinary. I’m Interested to know about her training if anyone knows anything because she sings with a technique that is generally used in training today but wasn’t common in that period. She really is extraordinary
This song always gets me, too. When I saw this show, I voted for Helena as the murderess, although she lost to Donna Murphy, who was subbing for Cleo Laine. Looks like this audience had also picked Helena. Helena was played by Jana Schneider, who was crazy wonderful in really a break-out role. She left show biz to become a war photojournalist.
I saw the revival of Drood with Stephanie J. Block in the role. It was such a fun production, and I loved it. You could tell that the cast was having fun, and it was wonderfully infectious. But, oh to have seen this original production. I love Stephanie J. Block. But the difference is that with her you could feel that it was a big note, requiring her to get herself firmly planted and supported to get there. Whereas with Betty Buckley, it feels almost effortless. Her voice flies up there not with effort but with a kind of joy. It’s absolutely thrilling. It’s so great to see this!
My first B'way show. It had been open only a few weeks, and I didn't know a thing about it. Was wandering through the theatre district, passed the Imperial, saw the cast names, and popped in to the box office. Terrific show! Went back the next day to see if the voting gimmick was real or scripted. Well, and also to hear Buckley belt that final high note in CHEST voice!
I saw this at the Delacorte theatre, Shakespeare in the park, NYC , before it went onto Broadway ..... what a fantastic experience, as many productions were ..... Central Park .......
Thank you, thank you for this! I was fortunate enough to see this performance at the Imperial in 1986 and this show has been a personal favorite ever since. Betty Buckley was spectacular and was just one part of a tremendous cast-Cleo Laine, George Rose, Howard McGillin, Patti Cohenour and many others. What a treat!
I had the great good fortune to see Betty in this musical in 1985. When you hear her in person,the beautiful resonance and power of her voice just seems to cut through the air like a knife. She is a wonderful performer. I just wish I could have seen her in the very short lived Carrie. I've heard a couple of the bootleg audio recordings people made of her in Carrie and her voice (in 1988)was even richer and more resonant than in "Drood', if that is even possible. What an absolute gem she is ! Thanks so much for posting this piece.
Thank you for this. I never thought I’d get see Betty sing this song; the other clips I’ve seen of this are almost incomprehensible because of white noise or shoddy video. You have no idea how quickly I click on your videos when I see them in my subscriptions. It’s always so great to see moments like this, and especially shows from before I was even alive.
Thank you so much for this. Does anyone know of a resource for whole copies of these classic shows. I'm a Drood fan and B'way fan and I'd love to revisit these wonderful shows.
Is that Donna Murphy on as Helena? And she was picked as the murderer that night. This might be from the bootleg I saw of Donna doing the Helena confession...which was amazing cause it was Donna Murphy!!!
I do believe this video features the complete original cast. Donna Murphy and Judy Kuhn are both there, as they were among the ensemble, while also covering leading roles.
@@auroraspiderwoman5886 I've always wished I could've seen Judy Kuhn singing the roles of Drood and Rosa, since she covered both parts (!). (I've never been clear if she covered both at the same time?!?) I've never heard that any recordings exist or her in the roles, though.
If this was just after Cats, I’m pretty sure a acquaintance/friend from Stephens College (Stephen Geoffrey) was in it. I remember him telling me he visited Betty Buckley during the cats run and she offered him a comp to see the show. New to New York, he thought comps were free, so showed up at the performance and they wanted 75 or $80. LOL
Stephen Geoffreys wasn't in Drood. But he was in Human Comedy at The Public. Betty Buckley did an early workshop or reading of it but was not in the actual production. That would have been when they worked together. That was right after Cats but before Drood.
@@auroraspiderwoman5886 Not surprised, I think she’s the most versatile actresses to have regularly done musical theatre. I don’t think anyone else could pull off Fosca, Phyllis, Anna and Dolly to the level that she did on each.
If I recall correctly, she was right out of NYU and landed the part as the understudy but EVERYONE in NYC at the time took notice of her talent the first time she "went on" in the roles she covered.
