Betty Buckley Works Hard to Make “Hello, Dolly!” Joyous

Touring in a show is tough work. No matter how enjoyable the show, it is a lot of work. Just ask Betty Buckley who has been touring since September in the Jerry Herman/Michael Stewart musical Hello, Dolly! Buckley, who won a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats, takes on a role made famous by the late Carol Channing  and most recently, Bette Midler.

Hello, Dolly makes its first stop in Southern California starting today at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa. After a week there the show moves to the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood where the musical will run until February 17th. The show will continue on to San Francisco where it will be at the Golden Gate Theatre from February 19th to March 17th.

I recently spoke by phone with Buckley about the joys and challenges of performing in this utterly joyous musical.

How much work is involved in performing a show that is as joyful as Hello, Dolly!?

Well, good question. Every day is about maintenance to do the eight shows a week. I work out for 1-2 hours a day and vocalize for 30-45 minutes and you have to time your dinner early enough so you aren’t burping through the show. Basically I live like a monk or a nun. I don’t do anything at night and take an epsom salt bath and ice my knees before I go to bed and get up the next day. It’s not easy doing eight shows a week. I’ve lost 38 pounds so far. They just took in all these costumes. It’s pretty challenging even trying to work in a life – like reading a book is a privilege. You don’t get to keep up with your favorite tv shows.

You are known for playing darker characters like Grizabella, Norma Desmond and Mama Rose. what makes playing a more optimistic character both interesting and satisfying for you?

It’s more challenging actually because it is necessary to keep your own frame of mind in a really positive place and to bring your best self to the experience of that character. That’s challenging when you are tired and going through whatever you are going through. You have to process that quickly and lend yourself to the instrument of joy that is Dolly Levi.

It would seem that both Dolly’s 2^nd act entrance and the title song are enormous gifts for anyone lucky enough to play the part. What was that first night response like for you and what does that kind of unbridled enthusiasm and affection mean to you night after night?

The whole show is. Well it is amazing to experience – that is a remarkable thing. But it really is the show. I don’t tend to take it very personally. I’m grateful to be the quarterback of this team. It’s the production, the character and the show they are responding to. I’m just the actor. This production of the show is the best I’ve ever seen and Jerry Zaks’s direction is very amazing and illuminating. And the design by Santo Loquasto and the costumes and Natasha Katz’s lighting, the ensemble, the singers and dancers. It’s a remarkable team.

You told me when you were at the Wallis with “Ghostlight” that you “wanted to be a very natural, realistic actor who could paint portraits.” Now that you’ve been doing the show for a several months how has your portrayal of Dolly Levi evolved and met that criteria?

I wouldn’t know how to answer that. I don’t know how to evaluate my work. I guess I feel more grounded in the part. We’ve done over 100 performances at this point. In terms of what I experience I feel more grounded. Just evolved. Doing a run your own work evolves. I keep trying to make certain choices better, sing it better. I keep reviewing the story elements every night before I go on. I study the lines and run the show every day. Reading the script every day can give you new insights.

You also said when we spoke that “At each point of sincere readiness it appers to me that the opportunity comes.” Now that the Hello, Dolly! opportunity has not only arrived, but been launched, why do you think this opportunity came at this point in your career?

I think I’m more mature and know better how to tell the story now than I would have years earlier. One remarkable thing I can observe is that a part or character and story come when I have the information and experience to tell it and I’m grateful to experience that synchronicity of the spiritual. That is still my raison d’etre.

I was listening to “Hope” this morning (Buckley’s most recent album and in particular the title song) and it occurred to me that if Hello, Dolly! were less overtly joyful, that song could fit right in and serve Dolly well. Do you agree?  

Well I think she is the manifestation of hope. All human beings are a combination of light and dark. Dolly for the past 10 years as a widow has retired from life from when she lived it – fully with her husband while he was living. She’s reached a point where she’ss tired of living alone and shess on a mission to come back to the world of the living and participate at this moment of life.

This year marks 50 years since your Broadway debut in 1776. Does it seem like just yesterday and how have those 50 years overall been to you?

I‘m keenly aware of that and I became a performer when I was 11. I have been doing this consistently for 60 years. From my Broadway debut, in that sense it’s like a 50-year history. I thnk they’ve been very good to me. I’m very grateful for my career and the eclectic nature of it and the fact I’m still out there. That I was invited to helm this production is a huge honor. I’m exceedingly grateful.

Production photos of Hello, Dolly! by Julieta Cervantes