Men Are On Betty Buckley's Mind

In elementary school, All City Chorus wasn’t the place for Betty Buckley. Her teachers stuck the young girl in the back row, hoping she would blend in with the crowd.

But that has never been the native Texan’s style.

At age 11, Ms. Buckley discovered she had a unique voice, she recalled during a telephone interview last week from Los Angeles, where she was shooting the new season premiere of ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars,” which is scheduled to air in January.

“My mentors convinced me that my voice had a home in musical theater,” she said. “That I didn’t have to blend in.”

She never has since. It was her destiny to become a leading lady.

At the age of 21, Ms. Buckley landed her first Broadway role, as Martha Jefferson in the musical “1776,” on her first day in Manhattan, she recalled fondly. Later, she won a Tony Award for her performance in “Cats,” and nods for her work in “Triumph of Love” and “Sunset Boulevard.” She is also famously known for her role as Abby Bradford on the television series, “Eight Is Enough.”

Now, the singer has reached a new chapter, one that she is bringing to Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor on Saturday, August 4: men.

“I started thinking about all these great parts in musical theater written for men and how it would be fun to be able to play them,” she said. “I thought I could do a show and sing the songs I always wanted to sing.”

This past spring, she recorded a collection of songs, “Ah Men! The Boys of Broadway,” which will be released on Tuesday, August 28, and double as the banner for her show, which will also feature a comedy piece written specifically for Ms. Buckley.

The selections, which she said she plans to sing from a universal point of view, include works from “West Side Story,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Pippin” and a medley of three songs from “Sweeney Todd.”

“I love the score of ‘Sweeney Todd,’” she said. “I think it’s some of the most passionate music I’ve ever heard.”

She paused and, without missing a beat, added, “I could make a pretty decent Sweeney Todd.”

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etty Buckley will return to Bay Street Theatre with “Ah Men! The Boys of Broadway” on Saturday, August 4, at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $45 to $65. For more information, call 725-9500 or visit baystreet.org.