Generations: Liz Callaway and Betty Buckley, cats

"It was the most exciting thing to hit New York," says Buckley (right), who remained a cat for 18 months.

If a cat has nine lives, then the fallen feline in Broadway's longest running show has only two left. Oddly, the first Grizabella - Betty Buckley - and the seventh - Liz Callaway - both auditioned for the role back in 1982. Buckley, 46, who won the Best Actress Tony the following year, had an auspicious feeling even though "I was the picture of health, and they wanted an actress who radiated death." Callaway, 32, was only mildly disappointed. "I knew I was too young," she says.

Since then, both actresses have learned that Cats is indeed now and forever. "Grizabella has been everything to my career," says Buckley, previously in TV's Eight Is Enough. "One time, I took 'Memory' out of my cabaret act, and people asked for their money back." Callaway, who joined the cast last year, understands. "When Betty was in Cats, I was a singing waitress," she says. "When I performed that song, I got my best tips."