FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHILD STARS FROM
“ONE DAY AT A TIME,” “THE FACTS OF LIFE,” AND “THE LOVE BOAT”
UNITE FOR THROWBACK THURSDAY ON
“STARS IN THE HOUSE”
Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley to Co-Host Live Stream on April 30th at 8:00 PM ET
in Support of The Actors Fund
NEW YORK (April 28, 2020) – Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley announced today that they’ll bring Throwback Thursday to another level on “Stars In The House” with a conversation featuring Mackenzie Phillips (Julie Cooper on “One Day At A Time”), Glenn Scarpelli (Alex Handris on “One Day At A Time”), Mindy Cohn (Natalie Green on “The Facts of Life”), and Jill Whelan (Vicki Stubing on “The Love Boat”),
airing Thursday, April 30th at 8 PM ET on the Stars In The House YouTube channel and on starsinthehouse.com. These stars will walk down memory lane with Seth and James, sharing their childhood memories and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from their cherished hit shows. Fans will have their own role to play throughout the evening; as they watch, they can ask questions, interact with the stars in real time, and make donations to The Actors Fund.
“Seth and I grew up obsessed with these child stars and their iconic TV classics–One Day at a Time, The Facts of Life, and The Love Boat!” said James Wesley. “We know so many other people watched these shows when they were first on…and there is a whole new generation who watches them now! ‘Comfort TV’ brings such happiness and that’s a feeling we need now more than ever.”
Mackenzie, Glenn, Mindy, and Jill join a long line of legendary guests that have stopped by “Stars In The House” to sing, share stories, and raise funds to help entertainment professionals in need during the COVID-19 pandemic; among them Chita Rivera, Kristin Chenoweth, Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond, Jeremy Jordan, Judith Light, Audra McDonald and Will Swenson, Patrick Wilson, Annette Bening, and many more. Seth and James have also reunited a who’s who of TV and stage favorites, including the casts of “Melrose Place,” “Frasier,” “Glee,” “Desperate Housewives,” “SCTV,” “Difficult People,” and “Taxi,” “Spring Awakening,” and “Les Misérables.” As the creators and executive producers of “Stars In The House,” Seth and James bring a masterful combination of music and community to each episode, ensuring that the show goes on in viewers’ homes even while performance venues across the world are closed.
“Stars In The House” airs new episodes daily at 2 PM and 8 PM on its YouTube channel and starsinthehouse.com. For more information and to see upcoming guests, please visit starsinthehouse.com or follow Seth (@SethRudetsky) and James (@JamesWesleyNYC) on Twitter and Instagram.
###
ABOUT STARS IN THE HOUSE
“Stars in the House,” which officially kicked off on March 16th, is a daily series that features stars of stage and screen singing and performing live (from home!) to promote support for The Fund’s services for those most vulnerable to the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Joining Seth and James for the shows is Dr. Jon LaPook, chief medical correspondent for CBS News. Visit starsinthehouse.com to donate to The Actors Fund, watch previous episodes, learn about upcoming guests and more.
Since the first show, “Stars in the House” has raised more than $240,150 to benefit The Actors Fund.
In addition to its regular twice-a-day streaming and ability for viewers to watch it on their own time, “Stars in the House” has teamed up with SiriusXM. SiriusXM will be the exclusive audio broadcasting partner delivering the show to listeners daily on Volume (channel 106) and On Broadway (channel 72). SiriusXM subscribers can catch “Stars in the House” weekday mornings at 9:00 a.m. ET on Volume channel 106, with favorite program excerpts airing throughout the day on SiriusXM’s On Broadway channel 72. Listeners can also follow Seth on Seth Speaks and Seth’s Big Fat Broadway, two regularly scheduled programs that air on SiriusXM’s On Broadway channel. “Stars in the House” will air commercial-free on SiriusXM. The program is available to subscribers nationwide on SiriusXM radios, and those with streaming access can listen on demand on the SiriusXM app, and at home on a variety of connected devices. For more info to activate your streaming access or to sign up for a trial subscription, go to www.SiriusXM.com/AtHome.
ABOUT THE ACTORS FUND
The Actors Fund is a national human services organization that fosters stability and resiliency and provides a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan. Through offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, The Fund serves everyone in film, theater, television, music, opera, radio and dance with programs including social services and emergency financial assistance, health care and insurance counseling, housing, and secondary employment and training services.
Since March 18th, The Actors Fund has provided more than $5,246,983 in emergency financial assistance to over 4,383 people who work in performing arts and entertainment. With shutdowns on Broadway and in film and television, theater, concerts, dance, music and many other areas of entertainment, the need is great and growing. This emergency financial assistance is helping our most vulnerable and those in financial crisis with assistance for basic living expenses such as essential medications, to help prevent evictions, and to pay for food or utilities.
As the situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, The Actors Fund has temporary transitioned to online and phone-based services, which remain available for everyone in the performing arts and entertainment community. These services include: Artists Health Insurance Resource Center, The Career Center,Housing Resources, Addiction & Recovery, HIV/AIDS and Senior Services, Counseling and Emergency Financial Assistance, as well as The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. To make a tax-deductible donation to The Actors Fund, visit http://www.actorsfund.org/Donate.
ABOUT SETH RUDETSKY
Seth moved to New York in 1988 and started volunteering for God’s Love We Deliver, which brings meals to people with AIDS all across the city. He is decidedly not skilled at cooking and soon decided his talents could be better used elsewhere. At a holiday party in 1992, he connected with Hearts and Voices, an organization that brings live weekly performances to hospitalized people with AIDS. He started volunteering for them and has been a mainstay at many hospitals since 1992: Rivington House, Roosevelt Island Hospital, the prison ward at St. Clare’s Hospital and since 2005, he’s been playing the piano/booking singers at the Cardinal Cooke AIDS ward. Broadway folks love volunteering to sing and Seth’s patients have been serenaded by the likes of Audra MacDonald, Tituss Burgess and Betty Buckley! In 1998, Seth was asked to write the opening number for The Easter Bonnet Competition, which is the big spring fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He did that for many years and then began hosting the Gypsy Of The Year Competition, which is the BC/EFA fall fundraiser (and resulted in him sharing a dressing room with Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman!).
In 2001, he produced and conducted DREAMGIRLS starring Heather Headley, Audra McDonald and Lillias White, the first fall concert for the Actors Fund of America, which was recorded on Nonesuch records and raised almost $1 million for the Fund. He then did Funny Girl with Idina Menzel and Jane Krakowski, Chess with Adam Pascal and Josh Groban, Hair with Jennifer Hudson (Ghostlight Records, Grammy nomination), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Terrence Mann and Jennifer Hudson and On The Twentieth Century with Marin Mazzie and Kathleen Turner. He also starred opposite Sutton Foster in The Actors Fund production of They’re Playing Our Song and hosted and played piano for an array of divas for their 2007 Nothing Like A Dame: Betty Buckley, Stephanie J. Block, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara and Bebe Neuwirth.
He is the afternoon Broadway host on SiriusXM Radio and recently co-wrote and co-starred in Disaster! on Broadway, which was co-produced by his husband, James. He was also a co-producer on the Broadway for Orlando recording of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and Voices for the Voiceless, he and his husband’s annual foster care event on Broadway.
As a writer, he was nominated for three Emmy awards for comedy writing on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and is the author of “My Awesome Awful Popularity Plan” and “The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek” (published by Random House), a young adult series about a teenaged gay kid named Justin Goldblatt, who’s obsessed with theater and sports a Jewfro.
In response to concerns that marginalized people would suffer after 2016’s presidential election, along with his husband James, Seth conceived and hosted a concert series called Concert for America. The first concert was held at The Town Hall in New York, New York January 20, 2017.
Concert For America features brilliant, inspiring performances by films stars like Rosie Perez, TV stars like Piper Perabo, comedians like Caroline Rhea, recording artists like Melissa Manchester, Broadway stars like Brian Stokes Mitchell and legendary icons like Chita Rivera and Barry Manilow.
ABOUT JAMES WESLEY
In 2015, after devastating cuts were imposed on the only two foster care organizations working with older children and youth in New York City, James conceived and co-produced Voices for the Voiceless on Broadway starring Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski, Megan Hilty, Antwone Fisher, Charlene Tilton, Caroline Rhea, Darren Criss, Alec Mapa, Kate Shindle, and Eden Espinosa. It shined a spotlight on foster care in a unique and entertaining way, combining celebrity, music, and everyday people sharing their stories. The concert raised $500,000 for You Gotta Believe! and the Council on Adoptable Children.
The following year, the concert returned to Broadway, starring Chita Rivera, Rosie Perez, Stephanie Mills, Gloria Gaynor, Liz Callaway, and Sherri Saum, among many others.
In response to concerns that marginalized people would suffer after 2016’s presidential election, James produced and hosted a concert series called Concert for America. The first concert was held at The Town Hall in New York, New York January 20, 2017. Over the course of the series, entertainment’s biggest stars generously lent their voices to raise money for national organizations dedicated to protecting civil rights, women’s health and environmental protection.
As a writer, he wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway play, Unbroken Circle, starring Eve Plumb and Tony nominees Anika Larsen and Jennifer Simard. He also wrote Art and Science, a comedy-drama dealing with the generational differences between two gay men. It starred Tony nominees Tony Sheldon and John Tartaglia.
James was also proud to be one of the lead producers on Broadway of his husband’s musical, Disaster!
James and Seth are the proud recipients of the National Leadership Award from the LGBTQ Task Force for their work on Broadway for Orlando’s What the World Needs Now is Love.
PRESS CONTACT:
Andy Gelb/ Shawn Purdy/ Elyse Weissman – SLATE PR
Phone: (212) 235-6813
Email: andy@slate-pr.com/ shawn@slate-pr.com / elyse@slate-pr.com
Yay!
Hide quoted text
On Tue, Apr 28, 2020, 12:00 PM Megan Choate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHILD STARS FROM
“ONE DAY AT A TIME,” “THE FACTS OF LIFE,” AND “THE LOVE BOAT”
UNITE FOR THROWBACK THURSDAY ON
“STARS IN THE HOUSE”
Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley to Co-Host Live Stream on April 30th at 8:00 PM ET
in Support of The Actors Fund
NEW YORK (April 28, 2020) – Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley announced today that they’ll bring Throwback Thursday to another level on “Stars In The House” with a conversation featuring Mackenzie Phillips (Julie Cooper on “One Day At A Time”), Glenn Scarpelli (Alex Handris on “One Day At A Time”), Mindy Cohn (Natalie Green on “The Facts of Life”), and Jill Whelan (Vicki Stubing on “The Love Boat”),
airing Thursday, April 30th at 8 PM ET on the Stars In The House YouTube channel and on starsinthehouse.com. These stars will walk down memory lane with Seth and James, sharing their childhood memories and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from their cherished hit shows. Fans will have their own role to play throughout the evening; as they watch, they can ask questions, interact with the stars in real time, and make donations to The Actors Fund.
“Seth and I grew up obsessed with these child stars and their iconic TV classics–One Day at a Time, The Facts of Life, and The Love Boat!” said James Wesley. “We know so many other people watched these shows when they were first on…and there is a whole new generation who watches them now! ‘Comfort TV’ brings such happiness and that’s a feeling we need now more than ever.”
Mackenzie, Glenn, Mindy, and Jill join a long line of legendary guests that have stopped by “Stars In The House” to sing, share stories, and raise funds to help entertainment professionals in need during the COVID-19 pandemic; among them Chita Rivera, Kristin Chenoweth, Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond, Jeremy Jordan, Judith Light, Audra McDonald and Will Swenson, Patrick Wilson, Annette Bening, and many more. Seth and James have also reunited a who’s who of TV and stage favorites, including the casts of “Melrose Place,” “Frasier,” “Glee,” “Desperate Housewives,” “SCTV,” “Difficult People,” and “Taxi,” “Spring Awakening,” and “Les Misérables.” As the creators and executive producers of “Stars In The House,” Seth and James bring a masterful combination of music and community to each episode, ensuring that the show goes on in viewers’ homes even while performance venues across the world are closed.
“Stars In The House” airs new episodes daily at 2 PM and 8 PM on its YouTube channel and starsinthehouse.com. For more information and to see upcoming guests, please visit starsinthehouse.com or follow Seth (@SethRudetsky) and James (@JamesWesleyNYC) on Twitter and Instagram.
ABOUT STARS IN THE HOUSE
“Stars in the House,” which officially kicked off on March 16th, is a daily series that features stars of stage and screen singing and performing live (from home!) to promote support for The Fund’s services for those most vulnerable to the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Joining Seth and James for the shows is Dr. Jon LaPook, chief medical correspondent for CBS News. Visit starsinthehouse.com to donate to The Actors Fund, watch previous episodes, learn about upcoming guests and more.
Since the first show, “Stars in the House” has raised more than $240,150 to benefit The Actors Fund.
In addition to its regular twice-a-day streaming and ability for viewers to watch it on their own time, “Stars in the House” has teamed up with SiriusXM. SiriusXM will be the exclusive audio broadcasting partner delivering the show to listeners daily on Volume (channel 106) and On Broadway (channel 72). SiriusXM subscribers can catch “Stars in the House” weekday mornings at 9:00 a.m. ET on Volume channel 106, with favorite program excerpts airing throughout the day on SiriusXM’s On Broadway channel 72. Listeners can also follow Seth on Seth Speaks and Seth’s Big Fat Broadway, two regularly scheduled programs that air on SiriusXM’s On Broadway channel. “Stars in the House” will air commercial-free on SiriusXM. The program is available to subscribers nationwide on SiriusXM radios, and those with streaming access can listen on demand on the SiriusXM app, and at home on a variety of connected devices. For more info to activate your streaming access or to sign up for a trial subscription, go to www.SiriusXM.com/AtHome.
ABOUT THE ACTORS FUND
The Actors Fund is a national human services organization that fosters stability and resiliency and provides a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan. Through offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, The Fund serves everyone in film, theater, television, music, opera, radio and dance with programs including social services and emergency financial assistance, health care and insurance counseling, housing, and secondary employment and training services.
Since March 18th, The Actors Fund has provided more than $5,246,983 in emergency financial assistance to over 4,383 people who work in performing arts and entertainment. With shutdowns on Broadway and in film and television, theater, concerts, dance, music and many other areas of entertainment, the need is great and growing. This emergency financial assistance is helping our most vulnerable and those in financial crisis with assistance for basic living expenses such as essential medications, to help prevent evictions, and to pay for food or utilities.
As the situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, The Actors Fund has temporary transitioned to online and phone-based services, which remain available for everyone in the performing arts and entertainment community. These services include: Artists Health Insurance Resource Center, The Career Center,Housing Resources, Addiction & Recovery, HIV/AIDS and Senior Services, Counseling and Emergency Financial Assistance, as well as The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. To make a tax-deductible donation to The Actors Fund, visit http://www.actorsfund.org/Donate.
ABOUT SETH RUDETSKY
Seth moved to New York in 1988 and started volunteering for God’s Love We Deliver, which brings meals to people with AIDS all across the city. He is decidedly not skilled at cooking and soon decided his talents could be better used elsewhere. At a holiday party in 1992, he connected with Hearts and Voices, an organization that brings live weekly performances to hospitalized people with AIDS. He started volunteering for them and has been a mainstay at many hospitals since 1992: Rivington House, Roosevelt Island Hospital, the prison ward at St. Clare’s Hospital and since 2005, he’s been playing the piano/booking singers at the Cardinal Cooke AIDS ward. Broadway folks love volunteering to sing and Seth’s patients have been serenaded by the likes of Audra MacDonald, Tituss Burgess and Betty Buckley! In 1998, Seth was asked to write the opening number for The Easter Bonnet Competition, which is the big spring fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He did that for many years and then began hosting the Gypsy Of The Year Competition, which is the BC/EFA fall fundraiser (and resulted in him sharing a dressing room with Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman!).
In 2001, he produced and conducted DREAMGIRLS starring Heather Headley, Audra McDonald and Lillias White, the first fall concert for the Actors Fund of America, which was recorded on Nonesuch records and raised almost $1 million for the Fund. He then did Funny Girl with Idina Menzel and Jane Krakowski, Chess with Adam Pascal and Josh Groban, Hair with Jennifer Hudson (Ghostlight Records, Grammy nomination), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Terrence Mann and Jennifer Hudson and On The Twentieth Century with Marin Mazzie and Kathleen Turner. He also starred opposite Sutton Foster in The Actors Fund production of They’re Playing Our Song and hosted and played piano for an array of divas for their 2007 Nothing Like A Dame: Betty Buckley, Stephanie J. Block, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara and Bebe Neuwirth.
He is the afternoon Broadway host on SiriusXM Radio and recently co-wrote and co-starred in Disaster! on Broadway, which was co-produced by his husband, James. He was also a co-producer on the Broadway for Orlando recording of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and Voices for the Voiceless, he and his husband’s annual foster care event on Broadway.
As a writer, he was nominated for three Emmy awards for comedy writing on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and is the author of “My Awesome Awful Popularity Plan” and “The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek” (published by Random House), a young adult series about a teenaged gay kid named Justin Goldblatt, who’s obsessed with theater and sports a Jewfro.
In response to concerns that marginalized people would suffer after 2016’s presidential election, along with his husband James, Seth conceived and hosted a concert series called Concert for America. The first concert was held at The Town Hall in New York, New York January 20, 2017.
Concert For America features brilliant, inspiring performances by films stars like Rosie Perez, TV stars like Piper Perabo, comedians like Caroline Rhea, recording artists like Melissa Manchester, Broadway stars like Brian Stokes Mitchell and legendary icons like Chita Rivera and Barry Manilow.
ABOUT JAMES WESLEY
In 2015, after devastating cuts were imposed on the only two foster care organizations working with older children and youth in New York City, James conceived and co-produced Voices for the Voiceless on Broadway starring Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski, Megan Hilty, Antwone Fisher, Charlene Tilton, Caroline Rhea, Darren Criss, Alec Mapa, Kate Shindle, and Eden Espinosa. It shined a spotlight on foster care in a unique and entertaining way, combining celebrity, music, and everyday people sharing their stories. The concert raised $500,000 for You Gotta Believe! and the Council on Adoptable Children.
The following year, the concert returned to Broadway, starring Chita Rivera, Rosie Perez, Stephanie Mills, Gloria Gaynor, Liz Callaway, and Sherri Saum, among many others.
In response to concerns that marginalized people would suffer after 2016’s presidential election, James produced and hosted a concert series called Concert for America. The first concert was held at The Town Hall in New York, New York January 20, 2017. Over the course of the series, entertainment’s biggest stars generously lent their voices to raise money for national organizations dedicated to protecting civil rights, women’s health and environmental protection.
As a writer, he wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway play, Unbroken Circle, starring Eve Plumb and Tony nominees Anika Larsen and Jennifer Simard. He also wrote Art and Science, a comedy-drama dealing with the generational differences between two gay men. It starred Tony nominees Tony Sheldon and John Tartaglia.
James was also proud to be one of the lead producers on Broadway of his husband’s musical, Disaster!
James and Seth are the proud recipients of the National Leadership Award from the LGBTQ Task Force for their work on Broadway for Orlando’s What the World Needs Now.
