FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LESLIE UGGAMS TO STAR IN READING OF “BLITHE SPIRIT”
ON “STARS IN THE HOUSE”
Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley to Co-Host Special “Plays In The House” Edition May 9th
in Support of The Actors Fund
NEW YORK (May 7, 2020) – Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley announced today that as part of “Stars In The House’s” “Plays In The House” series, Leslie Uggams will star as Madame Arcati in a reading of BLITHE SPIRIT, presented in support of The Actors Fund with special permission from the Noël Coward Foundation. Renee Elise Goldsberry (Elvira), Thom Sesma (Dr. Bradman), Angel Desai (Violet Bradman), Montego Glover (Ruth), Kendyl Ito (Edith), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Narrator), and William Jackson Harper (Charles Condomine) will join Ms. Uggams for this not-to-be-missed séance on Saturday, May 9th at 2 PM ET. Schele Williams will direct; Tara Rubin Casting assembled the all-star lineup. Fans can watch live on the Stars In The House YouTube channel and on starsinthehouse.com, and will be able to donate to The Actors Fund during the performance. Those who can’t join the live audience will still be able to enjoy the show online until 2 PM ET on Wednesday, May 13th.
“When James told me that Leslie Uggams would like to play the role of Madame Arcati in Noël Coward’s BLITHE SPIRIT for the Plays In The House series, it seemed a great opportunity to explore BLITHE SPIRIT with a diverse cast,” said Tara Rubin. “The Noël Coward Foundation is committed to making sure Coward’s work stays alive and relevant in our world so I knew they would love the idea. With Schele Williams directing and this amazing cast, I think we are all in for a great Saturday afternoon.”
“We are thrilled to be able to grant special permission for this reading of Blithe Spirit and very excited by the extraordinary cast brought together under the direction of Schele Williams,” said Alan Brodie, Chair of the Noël Coward Foundation. “In his lifetime Noël Coward supported many theatrical charities in the UK and the US. He was President of the Actors Orphanage in London from 1935 – 1956 and in that capacity organized and supported numerous children coming to North America to avoid the Blitz in the Second World War. Many of these children still live in the country that took them in. He would, therefore, be extremely proud that the charitable foundation established in his name is working with Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley to collaborate with The Actors Fund to raise money for those so badly affected by COVID-19. How appropriate that the play chosen is Blithe Spirit, which opened at the height of the Blitz in 1941. As Coward said in his opening night speech that despite the extremely difficult circumstances – ‘our actors can still play lightly and gaily, and our audiences can still laugh and applaud and enjoy themselves. How proud I am to make even the small contribution of this play towards our universal valiant determination to get on with the job.’ The audience may be virtual and spread far and wide but the sentiments are exactly the same.”
Legendary casting director and Noël Coward Foundation trustee Geoffrey Johnson shed some light on the play’s storied history: “The original production opened in London in 1941 with fabulous Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati at the Picadilly Theatre and ran for 1,997 performances as World War II was hitting England. Noel wrote later ‘with distaining archness and no false modesty, I finished it in six days and knew it would be a hit!’ It then opened in NY with Clifton Webb as Charles and was a hit again. Most recently Angela Lansbury played Arcati in NY and L.A. She was a brilliant Arcati in yet another revival.”
BLITHE SPIRIT is the latest must-see to be included in the “Plays In The House” series, in which luminaries of stage and screen read classics and new works on “Stars In The House” to raise money for The Actors Fund to help entertainment professionals in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Past performances include TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS, written by and starring Nia Vardalos; THE HEIDI CHRONICLES starring Cynthia Nixon, Joan Allen, and Boyd Gaines; and MOTHERHOOD OUT LOUD featuring Andréa Burns and Justin Guarini, among others. On “Stars In The House,” Seth and James bring together celebrity guests to sing and share stories: Jason Alexander, Sean Hayes, Chita Rivera, Kristin Chenoweth, Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond, Jeremy Jordan, Randy Rainbow, Judith Light, Audra McDonald and Will Swenson, Peyton List, Patrick Wilson, Billy Porter and Annette Bening are just some of the stars who have joined since the first show on March 16th. And often Seth and James remind their guests how important it is to keep in touch with loved ones during this social distancing and suddenly a surprise guest will pop up like Jon Hamm, Erik McCormack, John Lithgow, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Jessie Mueller, Iain Armitage, Rosie O’Donnell and Andrew Lloyd Webber!
As the creators and executive producers of “Stars In The House,” Seth and James bring a masterful combination of music, storytelling 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 and follow @StarsInTheHouse, Seth (@SethRudetsky) and James (@JamesWesleyNYC) on Twitter and Instagram.
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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 or performing plays live (from home!) to promote support for The Actors 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 $275,300 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 is 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 and his brand-new podcast “Seth Rudetsky’s Back To School” where he interviews celebrities like Tina Fey and Allison Janney to find out hilarious and moving stories from their high school years. “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.
The Actors Fund COVID-19 Emergency Financial Assistance program has been able to distribute crucial financial help to more than 7,900 professionals in the performing arts and entertainment community who have been impacted by the coronavirus. This has helped people in financial crisis pay for basic living expenses such as essential medications, rent, food, utilities and other needs.
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 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, 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 2009 Nothing Like A Dame concert with 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
