Seth Rudetsky as an actor

[morosco]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 8:14pm

How is he?  The Ritz?  Disaster?

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 8:41pm

The biggest show on earth currently is starring its creator as its lead, and even though he is sub-par, he gets away with hit because of who he is. Same idea here.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 9:01pm

Don't ask the original cast of Disaster, which made the show a hit Off-Bway, what they think of Seth after have been summarily dismissed in favor of "big names" for the Bway run.  I mean I admire Jennifer Simard, Kevin Chamberlin, Max Crumm and the sole holdover from the Off-Bway production, Seth himself, but these are the "big names" that will sell tickets on Broadway?  I guess we'll see.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 9:06pm

Jennifer Simard is not a "big name." At all. She's talented though.

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 9:24pm

Jennifer Simard was also in the Off-Broadway production.

[DrMike]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 9:57pm

Considering what all Seth has done for the visibility of the Broadway community, I can cut him some slack on a "vanity project."  I have my ticket to see Disaster in February and will be happy to chime in on his acting abilities afterwards.

[funhamilton_rent]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 10:48pm

I honestly have been really confused about how they've been advertising it using everyone's names. People may be like "Oh, that's the guy from Jessie", or "That's the guy from Rent" but it's still unlikely. No one outside of the Bway community gives a crap about anybody in the cast. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE Seth Rudetsky, but I just hate this advertising. I liked it before they changed it, but now it's just a picture of (for most people) random actors. I can't even think of another show that has advertising with people just standing around.

Think about shows with headlining actors. Shuffle Along, She Loves Me, China Doll, Waitress (kind of), Violet, If/Then, Finding Neverland, Misery, and It's Only a Play, just to name a few. Their headlining actors (Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti/Zachary Levi/Jane Krakowski, Al Pacino, Jessie Mueller, Sutton Foster, Idina Menzel, Matthew Morrison/Kelsey Grammer, Bruce Willis, Matthew Broderick/Nathan Lane/Katie Finneran, respectively) are all very notable. Kevin Chamberlin, Adam Pascal, Rachel York(e?)...... not so much.

[fflagg]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 11:46pm

Seth makes Bernie Sanders seem soft spoken. 

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 1/22/16 at 11:54pm

I admire Seth for what he does. As a musician and interviewer, he is perfect.

As an actor? I saw him in "Torch Song Trilogy". He was DREADFUL.

in "They're Playing Our Song" .... Horrible.

I still think he is a great interviewer and an amazing accompianist.

 

Updated On: 1/23/16 at 11:54 PM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 1/23/16 at 9:19am

Well, I agree with the acting part, but the singing I will cut more slack on. You can't be a noted musical director and arranger without some musical ability. Whether that extends to his being a good singer is debatable, but he's got talent.

[JPeterman]

Posted: 1/23/16 at 9:21pm

"Seth makes Bernie Sanders seem soft spoken."

That was funny :o)

[Patash]

Posted: 1/24/16 at 8:08am

It could be worse.  They could have hired Matthew Broderick to play his role!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/24/16 at 11:22am

I REALLY hope Jack Plotnick reels Seth in... As I have said before, I can barely understand what he says on his SIRIUS radio show.  He speaks far too fast.  He is, however, an amah-zing musician!

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 1/24/16 at 10:46pm

Agree with most here who say he's not the greatest at creating a real character.

 

My main beef with him at the moment is that you cannot go 10 minutes on SiriusXM On Broadway without him plugging that damned show.  It's constant.  I never thought I'd yearn for Julie James so much, but lately she's been a swell distraction from the 'me, me, me' show that Seth has been putting on.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 1/24/16 at 11:12pm

Oh, I'll take Seth's plugging over Julie James any ole time.  Julie James gives new meaning to the term "overgushing."  She has the ability to work my last nerve.  Plus, it is beyond inane to ask Jonathan Groff a question speaking in the third person (during a segment of "Broadway Names With Julie James".  I have no problem with Seth promoting "Disaster" on his radio show.  It is to be expected.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 1/24/16 at 11:13pm

to be fair for anyone that saw ut off-Broadway, Seths character is essentially just seth, his character is a walking talking footnote, pretty much the narrator of the piece.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 1/25/16 at 2:07am

I just don't think it's nice to dump terrific actors like Mary Testa, Tom Farrell, Judy Gold and Haven Burton, who turned your show into a hit, in favor of "names" which, as another poster opined, only Bway fans would recognize anyway.  Loyalty is a virtue, opportunism not so much.

[bryan2]

Posted: 1/26/16 at 9:02am

Seth is the best...he alone has kept people working and interested...Saw him in the Ritz...he was fine...love him !!

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 1/26/16 at 3:38pm

Wilmingtom said: "I just don't think it's nice to dump terrific actors like Mary Testa, Tom Farrell, Judy Gold and Haven Burton, who turned your show into a hit, in favor of "names" which, as another poster opined, only Bway fans would recognize anyway.  Loyalty is a virtue, opportunism not so much."

 

How do you know if any of the performers you've just named were even available to participate? They may have had other commitments. You can't just blindly go and accuse someone of being disloyal without knowing the facts. 

 

 

 

 

[LesMiz24601]

Posted: 1/26/16 at 5:36pm

funhamilton_rent said: "I honestly have been really confused about how they've been advertising it using everyone's names. People may be like "Oh, that's the guy from Jessie", or "That's the guy from Rent" but it's still unlikely. No one outside of the Bway community gives a crap about anybody in the cast. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE Seth Rudetsky, but I just hate this advertising. I liked it before they changed it, but now it's just a picture of (for most people) random actors. I can't even think of another show that has advertising with people just standing around.

 

Think about shows with headlining actors. Shuffle Along, She Loves Me, China Doll, Waitress (kind of), Violet, If/Then, Finding Neverland, Misery, and It's Only a Play, just to name a few. Their headlining actors (Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti/Zachary Levi/Jane Krakowski, Al Pacino, Jessie Mueller, Sutton Foster, Idina Menzel, Matthew Morrison/Kelsey Grammer, Bruce Willis, Matthew Broderick/Nathan Lane/Katie Finneran, respectively) are all very notable. Kevin Chamberlin, Adam Pascal, Rachel York(e?)...... not so much.

 

"

I could be wrong, but I think that's exactly what they are going for with the advertising. Many disaster movies from the '70s were marketed like "Watch a bunch of people you may (or may not) recognize from other movies fight for their lives!" 

 

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 1/26/16 at 6:25pm

Theater_Nerd, those people are friends of mine and I've heard it all from their side.  Not pretty.