By Seth Rudetsky
02 Mar 2009

On Wednesday I interviewed Martin Vidnonic at the Sirius XM Live on Broadway Show. He was talking about doing the seventies revival of The King and I when he was Lun Tha. He said that Yul Brynner would literally fire people for whistling in the theatre! There's always been theatre lore that whistling is bad luck, and Marty said it's because it was used as a warning if something was going to fall from the fly space above the stage. If someone was whistling randomly, you wouldn't know if they had a tune in their head, or if a sandbag was about to hit your noggin. However, Yul didn't like whistling because he heard it right before he had the accident that ended his career…as a circus acrobat! Who knew he was a circus acrobat? And why are you firing people for whistling backstage while you're starring in a show that literally has a song called "I Whistle a Happy Tune"? What a set-up!

Marty also said that Yul always wanted a standing ovation. If he didn't get one, he would move his hands straight into the air, as in "Stand up." One night, he did the move and didn't get a standing ovation. He glared and then turned around and bowed to the cast. Aka, mooned the audience. Sass.

The Sirius/XM show always has live performances and Marty sang "This Nearly Was Mine" and "I Am What I Am" and sounded gorgeous. If you're in Virginia in March, you must go see his show at Wolftrap. And, if you're in New York, go see him at the Metropolitan Room. He has one of the most glorious voices of Broadway, and his website is www.MartinVidnovic.com.

Tonight I was supposed to do another benefit for marriage equality, but it just got canceled because of the snow. Hmm…is this Cold Front homophobic? Not cool. (It's actually been rescheduled for April 13.) I'm a little glad it was canceled only because it was going to be at Symphony Space on the West Side at 7 PM, and I was going to go on at 7:30 PM and then have to rush to the East Side to go play for Cheyenne Jackson's Feinstein's show. (PS, tonight's show is sold-out, but he's added another one for next Sunday night.) And speaking of an enormous trip, I'll be performing in New Orleans at Le Chat Noir on March 12. Go to http://sethrudetsky.com/blog/see-me-live/ for deets and maybe I'll see in you in "The Big Easy," which, coincidentally, was my nickname in my twenties. Oh, wait, James might read this. I mean "The Big Chaste." Peace out!

(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.)