By Seth Rudetsky
13 Oct 2008

This week I saw 13, and I'm very glad that show didn't exist when I was a kid because if I didn't get to be in it, I would have pulled a Madame Bovary. Not only is the cast all teenagers, but the band is too, so there would have been many parts for me to not get cast in. I loved lots of the voices in the show, especially Elizabeth Gillies, who plays the bee-yatchy girl and has a sassy vibrato, and Graham Phillips, who plays the lead and whose voice is in that nether region of when your voice starts changing but isn't quite there yet. He doesn't have a boy soprano or a man's range yet. It's right in the middle, like a contralto. Essentially, he's got the looks of a Bar Mitzvah boy with the notes of Melissa Manchester.

There's an amazing benefit coming up on Sunday, Oct. 19 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. It's called Broadway Voices for Change, and it's for America Votes, which is an organization that increases progressive voter registration and turn out. Now, you know that I'm not the biggest fan of sopranos, but this benefit features two sopranos that I think are a brava: Audra McDonald and Barbara Cook! I was chatting with Barbara on the phone (while holding the receiver and mouthing to James, "Can you believe I'm talking with Barbara Cook on the phone!?!?!?!"), and she told me that she loves singing with Audra. The show is going to be tons of solos for both of them and some sassy duets. I, of course, immediately began asking her questions about Music Man, specifically about one of my favorite Broadway songs, "My White Knight." Turns out, Meredith Willson kept changing the song because the first version was too long, and by the time he came up with the final one, Barbara had sung 12 different ones! And it really was 12 versions. Barbara doesn't do my mother style of number aggrandizing ("You spilled grape juice on me! This sweater cost me seventy fi-, eighty ni-, a hundred dollars!").

I decided to ask Barbra about a show she rarely discusses, Carrie. A lot of people have forgotten that she played the mother in the RSC production in London. She finally verified a story I always thought was a Broadway urban legend. During pre-production, the director met with the producer, who felt that the scariness in the movie was from the fact that this kind of horror could take place in any high school in America, so the producer suggested that the show have the look of Grease. The director readily agreed and came back weeks later with the set and costume drawings. The producer looked at it all and asked, "Why all the columns? Why is everything white?" and the director said, "I took your advice. It all looks like Greece!" Seriously! He themed it like a Greek tragedy. Barbara said it manifested itself in bizarre ways like when the kids went to get the pigs blood, they were all wearing Trojan helmets. Huh. I guess people wore those a lot in the 80's. Literally, the 80's. BC. The amazing part is, after the director left the RSC, people would always ask him about Carrie. Someone mailed Barbara a clipping of an interview where he said, "I definitely made some mistakes with that show. It wasn't a Greek tragedy. It was a Roman tragedy." As Mr. Burns from "The Simpsons" once said while reading the comics, "Ah, Ziggy. Will you ever win?"

Speaking of winning, one of my favorite Audra McDonald facts is that she tried out for the ensemble of Beauty and the Beast…and didn't get it. I'd love to see the "No Call Back" pile of 8x10s from that audition with Audra's mug staring up from it. My other favorite Audra lore ties in with the sad closing of [title of show]. Heidi Blickenstaff and Audra grew up together in Fresno and both tried out for the local production of Annie. Heidi got the role of Annie, and Audra's picture yet again wound up in the reject pile. Of course, you'd think Heidi would be happy about that, but she told me that the reason Audra didn't get the part was because she was such a great performer, the director felt that she would outshine the rest of the cast. Poor Heidi walked around her whole life knowing that she only got Annie because Audra was too amazing. Well, I confronted Audra with the story, and she blatantly 'fessed up that she made up that spin just to save face. Audra said, "The truth is I tried out and didn't get it because the director said my audition was sub-par." Audra had the nerve to spin a lie whose tentacles extended decades later! I told Heidi that she got the role of Annie because she had the goods, not because Audra outshined her. And if Audra was hurt revealing the truth, she can cry all the way to where she stores her four Tony Awards. You can buy tickets to Audra and Barbara's song fest by phoning (212) 239-6200 or by visiting Telecharge.

Tonight, I'm performing in a benefit for Ovarian Cancer put together by the fabulous performer Lorin Latarro (Movin' Out and Chorus Line). I'm going to do some deconstruction and then play for Norm Lewis, who is singing his amazing version of "Before the Parade Passes By" from his upcoming CD where he goes to a B flat! It's at the Alvin Ailey Theater at 7 PM, and tickets are at www.smarttix.com. Right after that I'm hightailing it to the Laurie Beechman room to hear the beautiful tones/laugh at the hilarious stories of Andrea Burns from In the Heights at 11 PM; tickets at WestBankCafe.com. Andrea does a bit about playing Maria in West Side Story every decade of her life, and it ends with her singing "I Feel Pretty" as Elaine Stritch. I made a mini-video of her at my website (sethrudetsky.com) and it's a brava.

Speaking of which, I was at Sirius radio and was introduced to someone who recognized me. From where? Broadway? No. The Chatterbox? No. My TV forays on "All My Children" and "Law and Order. No and no. From where? How about from my rickety-rackety appearance on "Cash Cab." Apparently, that's what going to get me fans, so I've posted the episode on my website. If you want to know how I got on that show, read my column from June 2007 http://www.playbill.com/news/article/108527.html. FYI, my "Sirius Live On Broadway" show will be this Wednesday at noon at the Times Square Information Center with Stephen Bogardus and Kerry O'Malley from White Christmas, and to counteract that religion, my special guest will be the Jewish laugh riot that is Jackie Hoffman. Peace out and see you there or at the Kickin' it benefit or at Andrea Burns' show or the Audra/Barbara song fest!

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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" and the novel "Broadway Nights." He has played piano in the orchestras of 15 Broadway musicals and hosts the BC/EFA benefit weekly interview show Seth's Broadway Chatterbox at Don't Tell Mama every Thursday at 6 PM. He can be contacted by visiting www.sethrudetsky.com.)

Nehal Joshi, Erin Davie, Juli and Seth

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