Betty Buckley is extraordinary. There is no version of "Memory" by no matter what other beautiful voice that tops Betty's performance. So moving!

I saw Betty in CATS in 1982 on Broadway and it is a highlight of my life. Every time I watch this clip I get the same goosebumps I got that night. My partner and I also got the chance to meet her after she did a concert at the Plush Room in SF. We talked for a couple of hours. She is down to earth and sweet and loves her cutting horses more than singing, I think. I LOVE Betty Buckley!

Betty is nearly impossible to beat with this one. She's IN the moment when she sings. THAT'S why she gives you goosebumps. She's an artist. Great singer. Amazing performance.

Barbra Streisand, eat your heart out. When Betty sang this one New year's Eve on Johnny Carson . . . she ripped my heart out. What a SUPER TALENT!!!

Betty Buckley struts out there in those heels and slays them all!

Can't believe everyone sat on their asses at the conclusion of that performance. Betty Buckley and Memory... very little in the history of Broadway is comparable to that combination.

When she hits that "TOUCH ME!" oh my!!! Goose bumps!!! Betty rocks..I have all of her albums! Got to see her in Sunset too...AMAZING!!!

when I saw this on Broadway, I had gone with my father. Soon after the show started, he slipped out of the theater to have a clandestine meeting with his mistress. On the subway home, he asked me what the music was like, presumably to have some answers ready in case my mom asked him how the show was. I explained the story and sang a few lines from the songs, and my dad looked at me and said "sounds like I missed a good show. I will have to see it one day."

NO ONE does it better than Betty ! NO ONE !

Betty Buckley's voice is absolutely fanomanal, she was born to sing this song.

What's amazing to me is how calm and in character she is. I know she's a professional, but I don't know if I could be that calm during my big Tony performance.

If there's any doubt that Betty owns this song....

Magical, just magical the way Betty sings Memory.

God bless Betty Buckley! Xxxooo

ONE DOES NOT HERE PERFORMANCES LIKE THIS OFTEN. IT IS A REMARKABLE READING OF AN FABULOUS PIECE OF MUSIC !

This is absolutely amazing. No wonder it was the second longest running musicals in history (recently beaten by Les Miserables).

Thank you SOOO much for posting this...I've never seen the entire play before...but I 've seen excerpts of the different versions...and I am a Betty fan...and I've always liked her rendition of Memory...and I wish they would put this original version of the play on dvd.

Growing up in NYC..I'm so glad my mom took me in the 80's to see CATS...never been to Broadway show so lively...they would dance in the aisles of audience...very lively. Love this.

I lovvvvvve Betty Buckley! Just saw her for the first time in Hello Dolly and she’s still got it!

OMG.... has the best story line ever. You can't help but love a story about an old cat that everyone loves that gets to go to heaven. BEST STORY EVER!!!!!

Gosh, doing the makeup for this play EVERY day must've been a nightmare!

Ahh... Betty Buckley is unbelievable here. Thanks for posting this!

I love this musical. I've seen it once on broadway and twice at theaters that I can't remember.

Betty is the BEST!!!! Saw this with her in it..Absolutley incredible!!!!

I agree. I saw Cats in London in 1985 and it is the most memorable musical I have ever seen. Although I recently saw The Lion King and I have to say that it was the most creative, visually stunning and moving musical production since Cats. The Lion King is a must-see. I would ask people to please not be put-off by the fact that it was originally an animated film for children. You will not be disappointed.

If this looks like community theatre to you, then I want to live in YOUR community!

OH. MY. GOD. What a find!!!

OMFG I always that that too. Two of the best notes ever!

i also prefer elaine page but i felt it, that 'touch me, it's so easy to leave me...' that was... wow!

I'm still stuck on Barbra, as hers was the version you always heard on the radio, and I've never seen the play. Streisand just has the best voice for the song. But man oh man, Betty Buckley is CRAZZZZY good singing it! And watching her sing it in dress just makes it that much more personal and amazing.

Wow they're all so talented

Dat belting!

@BWoppy123 first part was taped in cat's theater, the wintergarden, and only from betty's entrance on was actually live. same thing was done for starlight express a few years later...part taped in other theater, part performed live

oh i agree...betty is unmatched. and by long lost footage, i meant of the stuff i had. forgot i ever recorded it.

I looked up the definition of 'Grande Dame' on the web, and up came a picture of Betty.....

5:16 *OH* *SHIT*

is this Old Dueteronomy Ken page? He's very nice. I sent him a letter and he wrote back with a hand written personal letter and an autograph. It was very cool

bravo bravo

WOW!

Amen..

Betty, Betty.....

Taaaaaaaaaaaachhhhh meeeeeeee

Of course there is a story to cats!

I really like the man who played Skimbleshanks!

@highgranite none that i know of :( saw him do it live and he was AMAZING! he also was samuel in the orig pirates of penzance...on the cast recording with kevin klein, but when the movie version was filmed, while it is still his voice, it's not him in the film. maybe recorded the soundtrack then had scheduling conflict when they actually filmed? not sure...

Thumbed up you to cancel the thumbs down someone gave you! I like Elaine (its my daughter's name after all) but Betty, I dunno I connect with her better.

"Broadway's Lost Treasures: Part 1" has this number (and many others) in great DVD quality. By the way, Scott Wise isn't in this video. Though he replaced Ken Ard (as Macavity), it's Ken who is seen in this clip from the Tony Awards.

It was Betty Buckles who sang it and it was in 2000 ;)

how many awards did the Cats got from there?

Does anyone know if there exists a video of Stephen Hannan's performance as GrowlTiger available anywhere? His vocals were spectacular, and I would love to see his physical performance.... Thanks for any info

hahaha i almost screamed

Was her song rushed because they were at the Tony awards? or was it really like this with the show?

I've never been a huge fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber's work, but I feel Cats is stunning.

Does anyone have any footage of Timothy Scott as Mistoffelees (besides what's here)? I've been searching for ages and can't find anything, only a couple of pictures. I'm dying to see his version of Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer (and his own song if that were possible).

@ohioweatherguy i'm pretty sure it was a taped and edited piece. i saw the show in New York and that set was HUGE & way to complicated to remove & relocate for one evening now if they had had an inflatable set like the current U.S. Tour does then they could have done that live

Well the voice goes to Betty.

@chrissi2810 uh wait what? Betty Buckley was not in Cats in 2000,

What exactly makes "Cats" gay? Is there a make-out scene between two male cats? Because I've seen the show many times, and I'm sure there isn't. And please don't reply to this saying something along the lines of, "Oh, I meant gay as in stupid!"

2:16 AHHHHH!!! that was scary! lol

Which character does the guy at 0:30 with the epic mustache play?

@broadwayfan66 yes, that would be ken!

just to be sure, is that reed jones as skimbleshanks?

Probably rushed. They do this freguently at the Tony Awards so that they stay on time.

It seems that makeup is not the beautifulest that can be seen in all the tour, is it ?

I prefer the taped version mainly because the make-up and costumes seem cleaner and more efficient. I am not a fan of what they have here. It looks like what you would get from a third-rate community theatre's production of the show. The dancing, acting, and singing are still great though.

2:16 check out that feline's CRAZY EYES!

Jellicle Cats. Haha

2:16!!!

no i didn't mean gay as stupid, i meant gay as "glittery", not like Chicago or A Chorus Line, those are more "straight" more sexy, also the music, Cats is very childish or sissy-like, Young Frankenstein is very darkish- funny like.

Was that Richard Burton looking like hell?

last time i checked billy flynn and amos hart were not nude or dressed like sissy cats, and i was talking about the women in chicago, not the men.

this is so ridiculous you can't help but eat it up. You got to give it up to Lloyd Webber he sure can write some fun melodies, I'm going to go hum jellicle cats for an hour and a half...

not my fave

Are you serious... Chicago is one of the most "glittery" musicals ever... Bob Fosse practically used every sequined in the entire world when he did that show... And young Frankenstein is very naive-stupish

Booooo! Elaine doesn't stand a chance against our Betty.

@MillerMo10 Elaine is a heartless performer, with no power. I'm always shocked she is given so much credit. Her voice PALES in comparison

@smichelle65 Right? She's just not THAT good. She's always smiling. She's never IN her music. Singer yes, ARTIST? NO.

"Susan Boyle"? "greatest singers"? Sorry--I appreciate that her 'underdog' story has won the hearts of many, but she's not that great a singer. She can carry a tune, but no way can you put her in the same category as Streisand, Dion, Buckley, or Paige.

Yes Paiges acting is better but that last part no one can compare to this woman!

i like musicals but for me it seems that Cats is a very gay musical.... off course, except for Memory

Elaine Paige is the BEST GRIZABELLA! I feel as though Betty Buckley sings way too much vibrato and doesn't have the emotion that elaine has.