PEOPLE
NEW YORK — Tony Award-winning actress Betty Buckley has been tapped to lead the national tour of the latest exuberant Broadway production of “Hello, Dolly!” a gig she calls “such a gift.”
“I’m just so happy to take such a happy show all around America. It’s like ‘Make America Happy Again,”’ Buckley told The Associated Press on Monday. “It’s like an antidote.”
Buckley will star as matchmaker and schemer Dolly Levi in the production that won four Tony Awards last year, including best revival on Broadway and best actress in a musical for Bette Midler, who also played Levi.
The tour kicks off Oct. 2 at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. It will have lengthy stops in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Full tour dates and cities will be announced shortly, as will the rest of the cast. Bernadette Peters has inherited the Broadway role of Levi.
The show is a musical version of Thornton Wilder’s play “The Matchmaker” with the songs “Put On Your Sunday Clothes,” `’Before the Parade Passes By” and “So Long Dearie.”
Buckley received an Olivier Award nomination in the London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard.” Her other Broadway credits include “1776,” “Pippin,” “Song and Dance” and “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” in which she died onstage eight times a week.
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Parkinson’s disease has forced legendary guitarist Glenn Tipton to drop out of the upcoming Judas Priest tour.
The British rockers say Tipton is stepping down from touring due to the ailment, which began to afflict him a decade ago. In a statement issued Monday, the band said Tipton can still play some of their less-challenging songs, but he insisted that a replacement be named for the tour.
Tipton will be replaced on the band’s “Firepower” tour by Andy Sneap, a veteran heavy metal producer, and the guitarist for the British band Hell.
The band’s tour begins March 13 in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County. Their biggest hits include “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming,’ “Living After Midnight” and “Breaking The Law.”
Tipton was the lone remaining original member of Judas Priest’s twin-lead guitar attack that powered solos on tracks including “Electric Eye” and “Hell Bent For Leather.” Guitarist Richie Faulkner replaced the other founding guitarist, K.K. Downing, in 2011.
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MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota has removed a plaque honoring humorist Garrison Keillor after he faced allegations of sexual misconduct.
Minnesota Daily reports that Keillor’s plaque is no longer displayed on the Scholars Walk, which honors outstanding university faculty and alumni. But some of Keillor’s song lyrics from an early radio show are still featured on campus.
Keillor graduated from the university in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in English.
The longtime Minnesota Public Radio personality is known for telling folksy stories about his fictional Minnesota hometown of Lake Wobegon on “A Prairie Home Companion.” He was fired last year after facing allegations of workplace sexual harassment.
Keillor has denied the allegations and says that the radio station fired him without a proper investigation.
