Sunset Boulevard: Articles & Reviews
A Night in the Day of Betty Buckley
By Andrew Gans
By the time Betty Buckley asks, "You there, why are you so late?," her first spoken words in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, she has already completed a series of rituals as complicated as Norma Desmond's personality. And, this is only the beginning: By the time Buckley finishes a night's performance, she has literally been through an Olympian event -- running up and down staircases, changing into multiple 30 and 40 pound costumes, donning wigs, turbans, feathers, headdresses. . .All of this happens backstage; her incredible performance onstage is a completely separate event in itself.
A week before Buckley's final performance on the Boulevard, I was fortunate enough to witness an entire evening backstage at the mansion. Arriving at the Minskoff Theatre at 7:20 p.m., I am asked to wait in Betty's sitting room, which is adjacent to her dressing room. The sitting room includes a floral coach and two chairs plus a large coffee table, which this evening has a beautiful arrangement of fresh flowers. Some of the items that adorn the walls of the room include a 1776 poster from that show's out-of town tryout as well as a framed sketch of Betty.
Betty greets me with a big hug, her Texas smile and half of her Norma make-up (since it was a Saturday evening, she has already given one performance as the silent screen legend). Betty then invites me into her dressing room, where I sit on the couch that faces her dressing table, chair and mirror. Also in the dressing room are her dresser, the effervescent James Nadeaux (who also designed Betty's glorious Carnegie Hall gown); her wig dresser, Dianne St. James; and Betty's three shihtzus, Bridget, Jessie and Gemma (her London acquisition). Roaming around the room as well is James's new dog, a partypom named Louie, a recent closing-night gift from Betty. What impresses me most so far is the sense of family among Betty, James and Dianne. It's clear that all three have a mutual respect for each other's work, and are all united in the joint project of creating Norma Desmond. There is an easy, light-hearted manner among them, and Betty even jokes that James and Dianne are members of MENSA, and they "rub it in my face all the time."
(At this evening's performance Alan Campbell, who usually portrays the aspiring screenwriter Joe Gillis, is away filming a movie, so John Scherer will assume his role. An understudy is also needed for the role of Artie Green, and the actor now portraying Green will require another actor to play his chorus roles. Thus, an announcement is made over the intercom for a "put in rehearsal" for the opening number, "Let's Have Lunch.")
Betty's evening preparation begins around 7:30 when she continues the transformation from Fort Worth Betty Lynn into Hollywood Norma D, finishing the make up to perfect the look that has been designed for her glamorous Norma Desmond; with Betty's Norma you can easily see how she would have been a silent screen star, which was not always apparent in Glenn Close's over-the-top Kabuki getup. While we're talking, Betty jokes that maybe she will return as Joe Gillis opposite Elaine Paige's Norma. Betty figures she could don her Drood (she played a man in this Rupert Holmes musical) outfit, but she does worry that if she makes any comments to Elaine about portraying Norma, Paige might counter, "Betty, you're playing Joe now!"
After applying her make-up, it is now time to walk to the stage for the nightly microphone check. It is a quick venture to and from the stage, but it is a crucial test for this highly-technical production. Both Betty and the actor playing Joe Gillis have a main microphone and a back-up microphone should something go wrong with the former.
When Betty, James and I return to her dressing room, there is incense burning, and through the intercom in Betty's ceiling that echoes what is happening onstage, you can already hear that the show has begun. At this time Betty is dressed in a black body suit over black biker shorts. There is a microphone pack attached to the inner thigh of the shorts, and the wire goes from her back around to the top of her forehead. A pro-sport knee supporter covers each knee in an effort to reduce the strain from climbing multiple staircases in high heels each night.
At 8:12 Betty begins her vocal warm-ups, a series of sounds and syllables that she performs along with a recorded tape from an earlier voice session. She begins with some "oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh" and then a few "mini, mini, mini, mini, me" and, of course, the ever popular "mee, eeh oh, mee, eeh eeh oh." Betty then throws a few Ricola drops into her mouth while she puts on her black high heels. James laces her left shoe while Betty laces the right, patting one of her dogs at the same time.
Betty's first costume consists of black silk pants, a black top, the gold and black robe, two bracelets, a necklace, some large rings and, of course, the infamous turban. And voila! it's Norma Desmond, folks.
At this time, Betty asks me to sit in her waiting room while she begins her moments of concentration to fully become Norma. Betty doesn't seem to be nervous at all; she's very calm and centered, but my heart is racing. As I wait, I can hear that the opening "Let's Have Lunch" number is almost finished, and Betty's entrance is quickly approaching. When her meditation is complete, Betty, James and I begin our quick walk to her first entrance. Betty asks me to follow them closely, so I won't be hurt by any moving scenery. We quickly arrive at our destination and climb a set of dark, narrow stairs. I'm only able to climb up part of the way because there is not room enough for us all, but as I peer up, Betty checks her make-up, and suddenly she leaves my view. Then I hear her announce in Norma's imperious manner, "You there, why are you so late?" After she makes her entrance to a tumultuous applause, I sit off stage right and peer through an opening in the set to watch her performance. Betty delivers a moving "Surrender," and then begins her first big aria, "With One Look." She is in great voice this evening, even drawing applause during the middle of the song. After the "Salome" sequence, where Norma describes the film she is writing, Betty climbs the staircase of the mansion and makes her exit. At this time she giddily announces, "Great crowd tonight," and sits in Norma's large throne-like chair for a moment's rest before her next entrance. She drinks a mixture of Gatorade and water and tosses another sugarless Riccola drop into her mouth.
I then follow James in the darkness to the other side of the stage to await Betty's exit (she will cross behind the onstage scrim to bury her dead monkey). Betty is escorted off the stage by George Hearn, who portrays Norma's butler, Max.
Now it's time for Betty's first costume change into a medieval-style dress that Betty and entourage have nicknamed the "Maid Marian" outfit. It is a hand painted silk velvet costume, based on an original Fortuny print -- a very detailed design, which includes a few cupid brooches (the cupids look like they are wearing goggles because of the rhinestones). James said that he thinks the outfit is from one of Norma's films, and Betty chimes in, "her Morgan LeFay costume." At this time Dianne removes the turban, and in its place over Betty's wig cap is Norma's red wig. Betty wears this outfit very briefly, just long enough to tell Joe Gillis to put back a scene he has removed from her "Salome" film script.
After she's in her costume, Betty tells me, "Here is the best part. We get to watch E.T.'s spaceship land," as we gaze at the immense, 16-ton set descend from the heavens, the heaviest piece of machinery flown in theatrical history.
A few moments later Betty walks onstage and then, not too much later, off again. While sipping some ginger herbal tea and taking a few deep breaths, she changes costume for the "New Ways to Dream" number. An exceedingly heavy costume, weighing over 40 lbs., it took 400 man hours of hand sewing to affix the thousands of beads. James informs me that Norma's wardrobe alone is worth approximately $350,000! After Betty makes her entrance for this scene, James and I switch sides of the stage to await Betty's return.
This next costume, which Betty wears when she tells Joe Gillis that the script is ready to be delivered to Paramount, consists of 20 yards of 54 inch-wide fabric. It is made of artificial fur from Germany and inside is a hooped petticoat to give it its shape. Something gets twisted as Betty is putting on the costume, but the matter is quickly fixed.
The costume change that follows is one of the quicker of the evening, when Betty removes the large fake-fur outfit to put on the pants, red jacket and turban for "The Lady's Paying" sequence. (One painful mishap had occurred at a performance early in Betty's run. When the red jacket was completed, all the pins had not been removed and when Betty put the jacket on, the pins dug into her arm. But, like the theatre professional she is, Betty went on and finished the scene, "with blood dripping down my arm.") At this time Dianne tells me to squeeze into the corner so I'm not hit by the huge props that are brought on by the other actors in this scene.
Once Betty exits again, it's a quick sprint to the other side of the stage, so she can re-enter the scene from the opposite side. Betty and James seem to be running a marathon at this point, and I try to keep up. Betty then tells me, "All of our other visitors -- we lose them on that last change." James then shows us the backstage monitor of the orchestra and the conductor. We all laugh as we notice that someone has drawn a mustache on the monitor so that it lines up with the conductor's face.
Now it's a quick run up the stairs to await Betty's return, where she will change into the New Year's Eve outfit. "Now, this is a change you'll find interesting," Betty laughs, as she quickly puts on her stunning gown plus a feather on her head. During Norma and Joe's tango, Joe tells Norma that the feather in her hair is tickling him, so she removes it. James relates to me that during one evening's performance, the feather had disappeared, and he and Betty were forced to improvise. There was a piece of black fabric in the area where Betty changes, and the two wrapped it around her head so that Joe's line to Norma would make sense.
At this time I am able to peak through the black fabric and have a view of Norma and Joe doing the tango as well as a view of the audience. And, without even knowing it, the platform we're standing on has risen: the New Year's scene employs a split-level stage -- Norma wanders her mansion in solitude while the festivities at Artie Green's party take place below her.
When the first-act curtain lowers, James and I walk onto the stage to retrieve Ms. B, and Betty makes a point to show me the many photos on Norma's table on the gargantuan set. The photos are all silent-screen stars with Betty's face morphed onto the bodies. The only star without a "Betty face" is Garbo because Betty wanted to honor her. Now, it's back to Betty's dressing room for a few minutes rest before the second act begins.
Act II
I return to the sitting room for awhile. "Orchestra to the pit, please" is heard over the intercom, and then I am invited back into Betty's dressing room, where she touches up her make-up for the second act. Betty points to a terrycloth chair cover that Alicia Aballi-Eprigert, the caretaker of Betty's costumes, had given her that sports a hand painted Betty Boop dressed in one of Norma's outlandish costumes. Betty's first entrance in the second act immediately follows Joe Gillis's "Sunset Boulevard" title song. Dressed in a china silk poolside robe, she must walk down a fairly treacherous staircase. She and James have nicknamed the outfit the "killer kimona" because it's difficult to maneuver down the stairs in this outfit and platform shoes.
We lead Betty into a small room off stage right where she meditates during the opening number of Act II. I go back to my seat right off the stage to watch the first song. After the title song, Betty climbs a small set of stairs to make her first entrance... "There's been a call. What did I say? They want to see me right away..." When Betty comes offstage it's time for the speediest costume stage of the evening, and there are four people ready to assist her. . .she must change into her Paramount outfit quickly because she has to get into the car that takes her and Joe to the Paramount lot.
Now it's time to watch a master actor at work...Onstage, Hog Eye, the light man at Paramount Studios, turns his spotlight on Norma and announces, "Let's get a look at you." I suddenly realize there is no trace of Betty Buckley -- she has completely become the Norma Desmond who believes she has made her long awaited return. As the other actors crowd around the former star, I can see Betty as Norma say to one of the men, "Of course I remember you." And then she launches into her show-stopping rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye." When Norma announces "I've come home at last," the audience erupts into a burst of applause, only to erupt into a larger ovation at the end of the song.
After the Paramount scenes, Betty walks offstage and returns to the small room where she must change into the towel and turban for the comical "Eternal Youth is Worth a Little Suffering."
After this scene, our group crosses behind the stage into another room where Betty removes her turban and tosses it across the room onto its stand. She then jokes that there should be a turban-throwing contest among all the Normas -- "We'll have Glenn Close, Patti LuPone, Elaine Paige, Diahann Carroll, Petula Clark and all the understudies" -- to decide who is the definitive one!" All the stair climbing has taken its toll on Betty's feet, and her podiatrist has given her "jelly fish" to tape to her feet to protect them. Betty also points out the lava lamp that James had given her for the room. Betty had been saying that the room needed a lava lamp, and one day when Betty was a little down, James surprised her with the gift. We dim the lights to observe the lamp and have a few moments of rest before Betty makes her next entrance, which begins the climactic scenes of the musical.
Betty next appears backstage to grab the prop gun, and when we see her again, it is right before her final mad descent down Norma Desmond's staircase. James and Dianne place the "Salome" headdress on her and she leaves for her last scene. After Betty sings, "This time I'm staying for good. I'll be back where I was born to be. With one look, I'll be me," there is a thunderous ovation from the audience, and when Betty takes her curtain call, the audience rises to its feet in one quick leap.
While walking back to the dressing room, Betty announces "Eight more times!" and over the intercom it's announced, "Thank you folks. Please enjoy your day off, and we'll see you here at 7:30 on Monday."
As we return to Betty's dressing room, she pops in a cool-down tape of vocal exercises and removes her make-up. It's been a long day for Betty, but she happily greets the influx of adoring fans who have come to meet their greatest star of all.