arts & entertainment

The 'Mayor' Of Broadway

When it comes to the Great White Way, Seth Rudetsky does it all.

Alice Burdick Schweiger
Special to the Jewish News

S

eth Rudetsky is one busy guy.
He is host or co-host of three
shows on Sirius XM Satellite
Radio's On Broadway channel; he writes
a column for Playbill.com ; he tours
performing a one-man show called
Deconstructing Broadway; he stars in
concerts as pianist for the likes of Tony
winners Audra McDonald and Sutton
Foster; he oversees his website, SethTV,
where he conducts interviews, airs his
reality show and promotes theater; he
writes books — about Broadway, as
well as a new series for young adults,
including this year's My Awesome/Awful
Popularity Plan; leads Broadway-themed
cruises, joined by other theater greats;
and is one of the producers of the new
Off-Broadway show Unbroken Circle.
How does this nice Jewish actor/writ-
er/pianist/author/performer/broadcaster
balance so many projects simultane-
ously?
"I have Attention Deficit Disorder, and
it's much easier for me when I am mul-
titasking and running from one thing
to another," says Rudetsky, who also
teaches classes about how to prepare for
an audition. "I over-schedule my days
but find I am most productive when I
have many things going on."
It's safe to say that Rudetsky is pas-
sionate about the theater, and almost
all of his endeavors relate to the Great
White Way. Whether it's interview-
ing Broadway stars, writing about new
shows or performing some of musical
theater's classic songs, he is a wealth
of information and shares it with his
devoted audiences.
Earlier this year in the New York
Times, Audra McDonald dubbed
Rudetsky "the mayor of Broadway."
His love of theater traces back to
his childhood, when he was just 5 and
his mother took him to see Hair on
Broadway.
"I absolutely loved it even if I didn't
understand it:' says Rudetsky, who was
raised on Long Island. His parents were
both educators.
His first theatrical role was at age 9
at a Hillel summer day camp; he played
the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.
Throughout his junior high and high
school years, he directed, sang and acted

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in plays and became an accomplished
pianist. He graduated from Ohio's
Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1988,
majoring in piano performance.
Although Rudetsky studied mostly
classical music, he gravitated toward
musical theater.
Rick Sperling, founder and artistic
director of Mosaic Youth Theatre of
Detroit, attended college with Rudetsky,
and says: "Seth is a force of nature — he
has a joy connected to musical theater
like I have never seen. It's my dream to
someday soon bring him to Detroit. I
want young people to be exposed to his
infectious passion for theater."
Right out of college, Rudetsky landed
a job at the not-for-profit and now-
defunct Musical Theatre Works in New
York City, where he worked as an assis-
tant musical director in the develop-
ment of new projects. From there, his
career blossomed: He played piano for
the European tour of A Chorus Line and
went on to play for more than a dozen
shows, including Ragtime, Les Miserables
and Phantom of the Opera.
In the late 1990s, he worked as a com-
edy writer for the Rosie O'Donnell Show,
earning three Emmy nominations.
"I loved working with Rosie — it was
weird on some levels and great on oth-
ers:' he says. "It was great because she
loves Broadway and hired me to write a
funny musical opening number for two
of the Tony Award shows [she hosted].
But her TV show wasn't scripted, so we
had to be there for long hours and there
wasn't much to do.
"After a while, it got boring. I would
write parody songs for her, and that
would take an hour or so, yet it was an
eight-hour workday and for someone
with ADD, that's difficult. I have to say,
though, it was an exciting two years."
In 2002, Rudetsky wrote and starred
in the Off-Off-Broadway one-man
multimedia musical comedy Rhapsody
in Seth, and, in 2007, he made his
Broadway acting debut in The Ritz.
Ten years ago, Sirius XM Satellite
Radio asked him to be a host for their
On Broadway channel. Today, he hosts
Seth Speaks, an hour interview show
with celebs (there is always at least one
performance, where the guest sings and
he plays piano). His other shows, the
daily six-hour Seth's Big Fat Broadway
and Saturday's Dueling Divas (with co-

Seth Rudetsky

host Christine Pedi) feature Broadway
show tunes and commentary.
"I love that I can spread the love of
Broadway across the country," he says.
When it comes to Broadway, Rudetsky
admits to two pet peeves.
The first is creating shows just for
kids. "I find it insulting that they think
children can't appreciate regular shows:'
he says. When I was a kid, I saw shows
like The Pajama Game and just loved
them. But now it seems there have to be
shows specifically for children. When
you bring kids to New York, just take
them to a Broadway show, period!"
Secondly, he resents the lack of musi-
cians in Broadway orchestras. "It really
bothers me that there is a reduction of
musicians," he says. "They barely have
a string section anymore. Prices for a
Broadway show are so expensive, so why
can't they pay for a full orchestra?"
In his personal life, Rudetsky married
partner James Wesley in October 2012.
The couple have a daughter, Juli, now
12, whom Wesley adopted when she was
6, before meeting Rudetsky.
The couple didn't know that Wesley
had any Jewish relatives until they
had been dating for two years. "James
found out that his grandmother on his
mother's side was Jewish — he had
never known," says Rudetsky, who had
a bar mitzvah and celebrates the Jewish
holidays. "I was excited, and we were
all obsessed to find out more about it.
Apparently, it was back in Ireland, and

they covered it up. We are still trying to
learn the details:'
One of Rudetsky's latest endeavors is
co-producing the Off-Broadway show
Unbroken Circle, currently playing,
about a family in Texas whose members
haven't seen each other in years and
reunite for their father's funeral. His
husband James is both the playwright
and an actor in the show, co-starring
with their daughter, Juli. "It's a real fam-
ily affair:' says Rudetsky.
When asked if there is anything peo-
ple would be surprised to know about
him, Rudetsky quickly replies that he
doesn't enjoy musical movies — on the
big screen or on TV.
"I hate lip syncing, so I don't like
watching a musical movie because [the
performers] aren't singing live, even if
[you're] hearing their real voice," says
Rudetsky.
What's not surprising about the hard-
working, talented Rudetsky is that he's
happiest when multitasking — and it
looks like he has no intention of slowing
down anytime soon.

❑

To check times for Seth Rudetsky's
On Broadway radio broadcasts, go
to www.siriusxm.com . For more on
his Off-Broadway show, go to www.
unbrokencircletheplay.com . For
cruise info and more, go to SethTV.
com .