Everybody's being re-born this Christmas. Broadway Cares has unveiled the 17th ornament in their Broadway legends series: Betty Buckley in her Tony-winning role as Grizabella the Glamour Cat in Cats.
The six-inch ornament features Buckley in her tattered dress and fur coat (based on John Napier's Tony-winning original costume design), contemplating her "Memory" and poised to make her journey past the Russell Hotel to the Heaviside Layer. Order now at PlaybillStore.com.
Buckley's Grizabella joins a stellar cast of notable Broadway women, which already includes Chita Rivera, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, Glenn Close, Harvey Fierstein (as Hairspray's Edna Turnblad), Angela Lansbury, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Barbra Streisand, and Gwen Verdon.
“Playing Grizabella the Glamor Cat is one of the most cherished memories of my career, and it’s an honor to have this moment memorialized for all the passionate fans of Cats,” says Buckley in a statement. “What a special privilege it is to have Grizabella live on in such a dazzling way.”
Buckley won a Tony Award for her performance in Cats, with her character's anthem "Memory" becoming one of her signature songs. Buckley made her Broadway debut singing "He Plays the Violin" in the original company of 1776, and has gone on to play such stage roles as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, Fran Kubelik in Promises, Promises, Mama Rose in Gypsy, and Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!. Buckley is also a two-time Emmy and Grammy Award winner, and has an Olivier Award.
Broadway Cares is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.