By Seth Rudetsky
27 Jul 2009

On Wednesday I interviewed the lovely and crazily young Laura Osnes who's now on her second Broadway lead. She was the winner of the Grease reality show and now she's playing Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. Laura didn't expect to get the role because she's only 23, but she kept getting call backs. The issue the director worked with her on is that she was acting too Midwestern-nice (something I've never been accused of). She said that Bartlett Sher had a work session with her and gave her objectives to play during a scene. Then, at her next call back, she started to play those objectives and he told her to forget them and play totally new ones. I couldn't tell if he wanted to know if she was directable or if he was gas-lighting her. PS, does anyone else use the verb "To Gaslight"? It's from the movie "Gaslight" where Ingrid Bergman's husband is trying to make her believe she's crazy. I grew up with my mother bandying it about all the time, ("Seth, I know you're pretending to be asleep. It's 11 o'clock at night and I heard you listening to side two of Ain't Misbehavin'! Don't gaslight me!) but I think I'm the only person under 70 who uses it.

On Thursday I had some of the Hair tribe at the Chatterbox. They told me that during rehearsals each cast member had to act out their character's back story in front of the cast. They were all prepared in advance and some included music, lighting cues and, of course, nudity. My question is, why???? Most of the cast is in their early 20s, what aspects of their character's lives can only be told in full if their clothes are off? I've seen "Inside the Actors Studio" with much older people who've lived incredibly full lives and never once did I see Angela Lansbury or Hume Cronyn feel the need to re-tell a story from their past while letting their freak flag fly. The cast rehearsed at The Public Theater and their rehearsal room had windows that faced an office. One of the cast members climbed up to the window and took it all off with his back to the cast. All they saw was his butt but they were also able to see a gaggle of secretaries looking out their office window with their mouths agape.

Andrew Kober, who gives an incredible comic performance as Margaret Mead (singing "My Conviction"), was cast in the show when he was very heavy. By the time the show came to Broadway, he had lost 100 pounds! He was nervous he'd be fired, but he kept the gig. I asked him how he lost all that weight and was devastated to find out it was diet and exercise. Why couldn't it involve some way where I don't have to change any aspect of my life?

Allison Case, who sings a beautiful version of "Frank Mills" usually ends the show hugging people in the audience. That's right…hugging them. As you all know, going into the audience right after the finale and wrapping patrons in a warm hug is a time-honored Broadway tradition that first with Ethel Merman during Gypsy. Anybody? Nobody. After one show, she approached a man and as she started to hug him he yelled, "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" She was completely flummoxed and suddenly in the center of a bunch of men yelling at her. She soon found out that Nancy Pelosi had been in the audience the man she tried to wrap in her peace-loving arms was a secret service agent! She was mortified and couldn't make her way backstage so she suddenly broke into tears in the lobby of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre while still in her full costume. She said she felt like she was experiencing what hippies went through in the '60s. AKA they wanted to teach the government to love and instead were pushed aside brusquely. I nodded sagely while thanking the heavens she didn't try to hug me while I was in the audience because I would have had the same reaction. Not because I was guarding a government figure but because of a long-held intimacy issue I refuse to part with.

And finally, I'm hauling up Seth's Broadway 101 at Ars Nova right when I get back from England. It's an all-singing, all-dancing, all-comedy salute to Broadway…my style. At this point, it's also an all-headache because I'm trying to get everything together before I leave. It's going to be for three Sundays: Aug. 16, 23 and 30 at 7:30 PM at Ars Nova. I'm just starting to cast the show now so more details next week, but tickets are already on sale at www.arsnovanyc.com. Peace out and talk to you next from across the pond!

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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.