Hey, it's Alec. On September 30th, the Great White Way lost one of its brightest stars, the

legendary Ken Page. The actor, singer, and drama desk winner was known for his booming baritone and

commanding presence in shows like cats the whiz and ain't misbehaven

and no one can forget his iconic portrayal of Uggy Boogie in The Nightmare before Christmas.

I wanted to take a moment to remember, my dear friend Ken,

and the joy and charisma he brought to each and every performance. Ken, you are

deeply missed. Here's my 2021 conversation with two of my favorite musical theater performers, the late Ken Page and Betty Buckley.

I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here the Thing, from I Heart Radio.

My guests today are two of my all-time favorite musical theater actors, Ken Page and Betty Buckley.

And there are parallels to their stories.

Both grew up dreaming of performing on Broadway,

Ken in St. Louis, Betty in Fort Worth.

Both were cast in the original Broadway production of Cats,

Ken as old Deuteronomy and Betty as Guizabella for which she won a Tony.

Both became key figures in the vibrant community that transformed musical theater over the past several decades. Betty Buckley's acting chops earned her roles as the stepmom on the hit

TV series 8 is enough and in films including Carrie tender mercies and frantic.

But first I'm talking with Ken Page.

You may know him as the voice of Uggy Boogie in the nightmare before Christmas.

In his breakout role on Broadway, he played Nicely, Nicely Johnson in an all-black revival

of guys and dolls in 1976.

He went on to perform as The Lion in the Whiz, and in the original cast of Ain't Misbehaven.

Ken Page was drawn to musical theatre early.

...