Can Anya, a brave young woman with no memory of her past, be the sole survivor of the doomed
Romanov family? That’s one of the mysteries in Anastasia, an epic romantic adventure that sweeps
audiences from Imperial Russia to Paris in the 1920s.
82 artsLife | FALL 2018
PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY
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mously took on a role originally written for
Ethel Merman and then turned down by
both Merman and Mary Martin. They were
followed by Pearl Bailey, Bette Midler and
Bernadette Peters, among others, who
headlined tours and revivals.
Midler and Peters, in fact, have both recently
starred in a smash Hello, Dolly revival
that NPR called “the best show of the year.”
In 2017 it won four Tonys, including Best Revival
of a Musical and Best Actress in a Leading
Role in a Musical for the Divine Miss M.
of Channing, Bailey, Peters or Barbra Strei-
Buckley.
Buckley, who has been called “The Voice
of Broadway” by New York magazine, may
be best known to general audiences for
her three-year stint on the ABC series Eight
Is Enough, playing Sandra Sue “Abby” Abbott
Bradford from 1977–1981.
But Broadway audiences know her from
her role as Grizabella in the original Broadway
production of Cats, which won her a
Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
in 1983.
Buckley went on to portray the scenerychewing
Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd
Sunset
Boulevard, winning raves in both New
York and London, where her performance
an Olivier Award nomination.
Her other Broadway credits include 1776
(1969), Pippin (1973), The Mystery of Edwin
Drood (1985) and Triumph of Love (1997).
She also boasts an array of television and
Tender Mercies,
starring Robert Duvall.
Buckley, a 2012 American Theater Hall of
Fame inductee, is also a Grammy-nominated
recording artist, releasing 16 solo albums
of mostly original songs as well as appearing
on the original cast recordings of several
hit Broadway shows.
Hello, Dolly!, with lyrics and music by Jerry
Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, is