Seth Rudetsky and Stephanie J. Block will appear as part of “Seth’s Broadway Concert Series” at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Harris Concert Hall. Rudetsky is the afternoon host on Sirius XM’s “On Broadway” channel. Block starred on Broadway in “Wicked” and won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her lead performance in “The Cher Show.”
Courtesy photo
Theatre Aspen will present Seth’s Broadway Concert Series with Tony Award winner Stephanie J. Block at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Harris Concert Hall.
The Seth in the title is Seth Rudetsky, a virtuosic pianist with a wealth of knowledge and insight into Broadway and the creative process. He is the afternoon host on Sirius XM’s “On Broadway” show. He is the author of a number of books on Broadway, the most recent being “Broadway for Dummies.”
Critics have called Block “the current reigning queen of American musical theater.” She is a three-time Tony Award nominee and six-time Drama Desk Award nominee. She won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her lead performance in “The Cher Show.”
In 2023, she played the role of Norma Desmond for the Kennedy Center’s production of “Sunset Boulevard,”for which she won the 2024 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical.
In Saturday’s show, Rudetsky will accompany Block on the piano as they recreate performances from her Broadway career and discuss tales from her years as an actress.
A radio host, piano player, author, producer and stand-up comic, Rudetsky chooses a much broader term when asked how he sees himself. “I say, ‘entertainer,’ because I feel like I’m in the arts and I cover a lot of different aspects,” Rudetsky said. “I’m a musician first. The first thing that I did was music. But now I feel like it’s about entertaining in different aspects.”
Rudetsky grew up in Long Island and started playing the piano at the age of 5. The young Rudetsky hinted at what a talent he was when he was assigned to play the song “Coming ’Round the Mountain” as a duet with another child and he played both parts at the same time by himself.
“That was very typical of me, breaking rules,” Rudetsky said. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna play both parts.’ I’m scandalous. By the age of 6, I knew that I was a very good piano player.”
Instead of saving their money for vacations, Rudetsky’s parents saved up so the family could go see shows on Broadway.
“The first show I ever saw on Broadway was ‘Hair,’” Rudetsky said. “I was 4. Then I saw ‘Grease,’ ‘Pippin’ and ‘The Pajama Game.’ That was the show that got me completely obsessed with Broadway.”
Rudetsky went to college at Oberlin where he got a degree in classical piano.
“I spent all my extra time doing all the things I love,” he said. “ I hosted a radio show. I was writing a comedy. I was starring in musicals, and that’s kind of how I’ve done my career, which is just a lot of different things at once. My mother was always like, ‘You need to focus on one thing,’ but I never enjoyed that. I always enjoyed doing all kinds of different things.”
When asked how to describe “Seth’s Broadway Concert Series,” he responded that it’s like a live version of his radio show.
“My favorite thing is inside Broadway stories. I think they’re always hilarious, just knowing what really happens in a show. On my radio show, I’m always telling these inside stories. And I also love introducing music to people, like saying, ‘You’re gonna die when you hear Stephanie sing this.’ So it’s me introducing the audience to Stephanie, and her singing from ‘Wicked’ and having her tell these great stories. We always do the hit songs, but there’s a lot of stuff that’s off the cuff. It’s like a spontaneous comedy show with great music.”
Rudetsky said he hopes the audience’s take on the show is that Broadway people are funny and the music is diverse.
“I want people to be impressed by Stephanie’s diversity. Everything that happens is Broadway-caliber. Stephanie is one of the biggest stars on Broadway in the last decade,” he said.