I have had XM for some time now. The recent merger meant consolidation for many of the channels. We lost John Von Soosten from XM's Broadway but we gained Seth Rudetsky from Sirius. He's a-mah-zing! I like the Sirius song rotation better than XM. Now I don't have to hear constant rotations of The Lion King. (Best of luck to John Von Soosteen. I will miss the Downstage Center interviews.)
see, i didn't know there was a merger... so i turned it on one day, and BAM! it went to channel 75 instead of 28... i was like, wtf?! i must say though, i will miss John's voice he had such a good radio voice
You and I have very different takes on this. I miss John Von Soosten. He knew theatre, he was a professional, and the song rotation was much wider. Apparently, XM had a more complete collection (which Seth refuses to use. He ought to just call his broadcast The Broadway Top 40, or at least HIS top 40.) I have also found Seth snarky d self-absorbed.
I miss the Daily Special Feature, whcih was one thing they should have continued, and Bill Rudman's On the Aisle.
I do like Sirius XM playing complete show albums. Otherwise, I'ev been very disappointed with the station. Updated On: 6/11/09 at 05:46 PM
Seth is utterly self-absorbed and so over the top it makes you want to scream. I'm cancelling due to him.
I do want to give the station credit for brigning back Bill Rudman's "On teh Aisle", however. (Saturday, 3 PM Eastern. Or "Broadway time" as John used to call it.) That's an entertaining, informative show.
This is one step forward. Now if they would just bring back John Von Soosten and the Daily Special Feature, I might consider keeping or renewing the service.
I really enjoy Seth when he's interviewing other Broadway stars. I wish they'd put up a schedule and do some re-broadcasting of some of the better interviews. At the very least they are fun.
Not to get off subject, speaking of Net interviews, but does anyone know what happened to AP on Broadway, the Itunes podcast? Suddenly I can't get it anymore.
Yeah, now that I have gotten used to the merge, I LOVE Christine Pedi. She is so fabulous and I didn't realize how much I loved her until somebody subbed for her... that girl was awful.
Have you guys ever seen his YouTube videos? He examines ONE singer on a SINGLE song. It's very...INTENSE. The videos are like ten minutes long! Although Seth can be quite exhausting, he is my guilty pleasure. When I was in NYC last week, I watched his XM show live in the Times Square Information Center. It was definitely entertaining. You guys should check it out! It's every Wednesday from 12-1.
I find Seth over-tthe-0top, overly flamboyant, and very self-impressed. He's a turn-ff. Just give me a person with a good radio voice who knows Broadway (beyond the last 10-15 years or so.) Oh, wait, XM had one of those.
At least they brought back "On the Aisle."
BTW, if you have Sirius/XM, listen to "On the Aisle" May 29 (and the teerrestrial radio program "Footlight Parade" on July 24.) It's a theme my wife and I suggested: Dreams and Visions.
I love Seth's show and now it's all my parents even listen to in their cars! He's hilarious and so entertaining. I love his youtube videos too, the 10 minute deconstructions. The one of all the R's is the best.
I've never found him either hilariious or entertaining. Just excessive. A little Seth goes a long way. I don't know why they couldn't hve cobbled together a format that included John Von Soosten too.
FYI, Downstage Center interviews are available again, now as podcasts. The interviews are conducted by Howard Sherman without John Von Soosten. They're very good.
I love Seth Rudetsky, especially his Actors Fund Concerts. But his taste is lacking. He liked 13 and likes Matthew Brodericks (Mannered Blahdericks) croaking.
Also, if you saw his Torch Song Trilogy, you would know, HE CAN'T ACT.
I'm really on the fence about Seth. His videos are entertaining, but I watch more than two and he turns just irritating. Now, he's done more than I have so I can't call his victories small, but for someone's who's so self-righteous he surprisingly doesn't have any Broadway credit, save a few subbing gigs. And he's only done concerts, where people don't have to deal with him for a long period of time. Maybe that's why he's never been a music director, no one can stand working with him for longer than a week. jk It's just my opinion, but he just seems as pompous and self-promoting as Ted Sperling, but at least Ted is successful. Again, I still find Seth entertaining, and his book about being a music director (obviously his un-attainable dream) is actually funny and readable. And his "wide" selection and style of music of is equivalent to this year's Tony opener.
I find John Von Soosten to be terribly boring to listen to. His voice reminds me of the "Delicious Dish" sketches SNL used to do in the 90s, with Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon doing their impressions of monotone and dry NPR hosts.
Seth may be self-absorbed, but is at least entertaining and lively. And that's the cue for Timmer to return, for the upteenth time in this thread, and voice his opinions on him.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."