I saw her perform this on Broadway on a high school trip. The other show we saw was Ms. Saigon. No comparison. Betty stole my heart when she performed this.
as usual with Betty Buckley....the singing is effortless (so it seems), lyric interpretation and acting on point. A truly scary, sympathetic Norma...Always a thrill to hear and watch.
@@michael1967ize Betty's Norma is amazing and vocally unparalleled. But Glenn delivers a story with every line and facial expression. You don't have to be a great singer to dominate. Where Betty sings, Glenn performs.
A master lesson in how to negotiate the middle and top registers in a legit voice. She effortlessly blends into the head voice on the upper tessitura and comes back down without pressing. And keeps her resonance and formant throughout. Plus she's a great musician, knows when to push forward, sit back, when to lead, when to shape.
Beautiful Betty Buckley deserves even second of that applause, 100 times over! Watching the others who have played Norma, none are able to touch you as Betty can.
Simply the best to ever do it. The effortless, heady placement, the ringing and richly colored vowels, the unerring breath support. Unmatched! Thank you, Betty, for sharing your artistic gift with us all.
Her diction alone puts every Broadway performer to shame but to add that magnificent set of pipes...no peer. She is glorious ...and I am still swooning over a single note of hers from Drood in 1886. Incomparable.
I saw her doing Norma 9 times, She was the only one who made me cry. But it was funny because in "The perfect Year" she kept on changing the tempo and the orchestra was going crazy. After the show i talk to the conductor, and he said, "She loves to fuck with us that way, hahaha".
Betty Buckley is just astounding. At about 3:11 on the counter,when she turns and starts to walk up the stairs,just listen to her belt out "Silent music starts to play". It is so forceful and piercing. I saw her on Broadway in Edwin Drood" and believe,her recordings don't do justice to her voice on stage. It shook the rafters but was wonderful. Best voice I ever heard on Broadway and that includes Patti LuPone and an old time stage star,Ethel Merman.
I have seen, Betty, Patti, Elaine, Petula, Faith and Glenn play Norma and to be honest Betty was the best. We sat in the front row in London and she was electric.
Buckley owns this part. Her thrilling voice and superb acting bring the character to life and make ALW's merely okay songs sound better than they are. I wish they were making the movie with her rather than Glenn Close, Close is a fine actress in other roles but I saw her do this show in LA years ago and her Norma was a caricature, almost a cartoon. It was impossible to believe Joe would fall for this wicked old witch. Worse, the melodies of some songs had to be cheated to fit in her narrow range. I'm hoping Close's Norma is more human now than it was originally. Close's Norma is a nice 60 watt light bulb while Buckley's is a white hot arc lamp. If only it had been committed to film!
I saw Ms. B in this role on Broadway. The audience reaction that night (perhaps every night??) was exactly like this. It stopped the show. THE most amazing performance I've ever seen in the theatre!
Betty Buckley really was the greatest Norma Desmond and this from someone who saw Glenn Close perform the role twice (including at the Dress Rehearsal in Los Angeles), Petula Clark and Valerie Perri. All the aforementioned were excellent, though all quite different.
I've had the opportunity to say that to Betty, and her response was polite, lovely but unfortunate..." She is my friend (Glen), and if it wasn't for her i wouldn't be here now"...oooops!...Then we started chatting about Carrie. Fudge!...i mentioned the movie and forgot the show. She laughed and said, "Don't worry, nobody saw it, lol".
@@LouBrikanT Her "Margaret White" performance in "Carrie" the musical was simply breathtaking and beautiful. Her version of "When There's No One" is still the best version, although many have taken up the mantle over the years, with stunning performances. But, Betty just rips my heart out. And, it's hard to believe that she was only 27 when she made the movie. I purchased tickets to see her in her Chicago run of "Hello Dolly!". But, was unable to attend at the last minute, because I was supposed to receive a new heart. But, that didn't happen either, due to a clerical error in blood type. So, I missed out double there! Yes, Glenn was the first Norma Desmond. But, Betty was the best!
One performance I'm terribly sad to have missed. I'm not a big ALW fan, but I wouldn't have cared. The one time I did get to see Betty Lynn, she shook the rafters in MA as Pirate Jenny.
I saw this several times in London (also with Patti) with Betty and then Elaine. And also Glenn in New York. They were all breath taking in different ways. But Betty is by far my favourite Norma. Betty was sexy, classy and very elegant, before Norma went completely mad. She captures the sex appeal of silent stars in the 'I'll ignite a blaze' near the end of this song. I remember it so well. Thank you so much for this clip. It brings back many wonderful memories. I feel very fortunate to have seen Betty and the other actresses live.
I absolutely love her voice, at first I thought putting LaPone's voice with Glenn close would make the perfect Norma. But now I would put Bette Buckley's voice with Glenn's Closes acting of an interpretation of Norma, and that would have been the perfect Norma. I do love the way the Bette Buckley performs. Hands down no one could touch her in CATS. There was something about Glenn's acting that just hit a bit better, but voice wise no one can touch Buckley.
pretty much every song she sings gives me goosebumps, even if I don't like that particular song, she just has such talent I can't help but to appreciate her. Amazing!
I've just discovered this.... and of the various versions hers is so far easily the best.... the opening lines are awkwardly placed for most singers right in the middle of the passaggio (too high for comfortable chest too low for their head voice) even Lupone sounded like she was struggling a bit with them but she just sails through them.
What I would give to be able to go back in time and see this production! Thank heaven we have this video recording. You are BREATHTAKING in this role!! Thank you for posting.
4:31 is awesome. I don't know if she was laughing at the guy who did the very audible cheer or not, but she was clearly enjoying the awesome feedback from the crowd.
Magnificent performance! I was lucky to see 3 Normas: Patti, Elaine and Betty, but Betty topped all. Back in these days, she reminded me of someone, I thought that she had something "Marlene Dietrich-esque" now I know that she reminded me of Brigitte Horney, a much loved UFA star in Germany: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-orPt-dQUq7M.html
Aaaaaaaand, Miss Betty Lynn stops the show!!! I love how she has to motion to the audience to end the applause so the show can go on. Otherwise they would have cheered forever (and who could blame them?!?).
patti lupone who was the second best norma; got a bad rap; in that the reason she didnt work in the part was that for a long time; patty looked very young for her age; and when they put the norma makeup on her; it took out what little age she had; and she was 10 years too young when she tried it? so the dramatic action; of her dealing with being faded; didnt make sense; she looked 28; thats why it didnt work; not that she gave a bad performance or didnt sing beautifully
Betty Buckley is one of the greatest voices in the world and Broadway etc. But Glenn Close was better because she took me in with HER ACTING AND VOICE. Her acting as Norma Desmond was exquisite. LOVE BOTH LADIES.
Too good an actress and a singer for such a mediocre song. It's fundamentally ill-conceived to have an actress song for five minutes when her point is “I don't need words”.
