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ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Another Hundred People
By Seth Rudetsky
24 Jul 2007
Lee said that he would periodically come back and play Seymor or do run-throughs for new Audreys. He remembers one rehearsal with an Audrey that he thinks may have been a standby or an understudy. Regardless, he definitely remembers that she was the sexiest Audrey he had ever worked with. He told me that when he got to kiss her, he was having a breakdown…and he worked with a lot of Audreys. That sexpot understudy/standby was…Donna Murphy! And, quite frankly, she's still got it!
I love Lee's voice because he can sound totally nerdy in "Downtown," harsh rocky in "Git it," yet check out the total legit/operatic sound he gets on the word "so" in the song "Perspective" from She Loves Me! Yes, I obsess about minutia like that. Next question.
Friday night I went to see Broadway legend Betty Buckley at the Blue Note. Right before the 10:30 PM show, I scrambled to get her a birthday present, but the stores near the Blue Note that were open only sold a wide variety of bongs. Not cool. My boyfriend (James) and I loved the show, and she sang one of our favorites, "Come On, Come On" and sounded exactly like she did in her Carnegie Hall concert from more than ten years ago.
After the show, we went to her dressing room, and she told me that she recently had an audition for a M. Night Shyamalan film. She was asked to film herself and send it to the casting director. She and her assistant, Cathy, drove from her Texas ranch to Fort Worth, a city an hour away, to get a camera that was compatible with a MAC. They drove back to her ranch, filmed her audition, and Cathy went to transfer the film so she could make FedEx by five o'clock. Of course, it wasn't compatible with the MAC. She frantically called the store, and they told her to bring it in and they would transfer it. Cathy drove back to the store, and when she got there, the store said that they wouldn't do it. She begged them (Faith Prince-style), but they wouldn't budge. She only had an hour til she had to FedEx it! She called Betty, who was riding one her horses (!), and Betty told her, "Wrap the camera in bubble wrap and mail the whole thing!" And that's what she did. Betty got a callback and flew up to N.Y. When she walked in, M. Night was laughing and busted her for mailing an entire camera. She told him that not only did Cathy mail it, but got it back and then returned it for a full refund! Don't cross a diva! And speaking of diva, Betty got the film role! I'm so excited there's going to be belting in an M. Night Shyamalan movie. "I see de-a-a-a-a-a-ad (high E) people!"
And, finally, speaking of MACs, I bought a fancy new laptop and now have a video blog(www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com)! The first one I put up was about me in a movie theatre asking someone politely to move so I could sit next to my boyfriend. She refused, and I got a little saucy. I tell the story and ask for feedback as to who was in the wrong. Rhetorically! I expected carte blanche for my outburst but, turns out, people think I'm the idiot! Listen up: I didn't post a video blog to learn anything — I posted it to have my horrible behavior lauded!
Okay, this week is 110 in the Shade again and then Gypsy. Note to self: "Little Lamb" is a vital song in the score and should not be spent rifling through the Playbill.
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(Seth Rudetsky is the host of "Seth's Big Fat Broadway" on SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the author of "The Q Guide to Broadway." He has played piano in the orchestras of 15 Broadway musicals, and he can be contacted by visiting www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com.)
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