By Seth Rudetsky
17 Apr 2007
Friday I met with Laura Benanti, and we had a long discussion about her wig for The Wedding Singer. She said she used her own hair when the show was out of town, but they wanted to make her look dowdier. She claims they were mopping the floor with something and then realized they could use it as a wig! They also made her wear clothes much larger than her real size (size perfect) because they thought she needed to be a clunkstress.
She's so gorgeous in real life, and I remember when I had her and Steven Pasquale on my Sirius radio program because they were doing the World Aids Day concert of The Secret Garden. I busted them for being so obviously attracted to each other, and they told me flat out there was nothing between them. Of course, now they're engaged. Steve was backstage during Broadway 101 and said that was the first day they felt it. All I can say is, they'd better have kids asap because Ralph Lauren always needs more beautiful children for his Sunday New York Times ads.
Friday was also the sitzprobe, meaning the first time the cast sang with the orchestra. We had a delicious 26-piece orchestra with a full string section. It was thrilling for us all to hear the Gypsy overture with all those instruments and so nice to see the musicians receive all that love from the cast. Friday was also the rehearsal for Manoel Felciano's section, and he warned me not to be shocked when I saw him. He has to gain 40 pounds for a Todd Solondz movie and has already gained 25. He said he's doing it by drinking ice cream shakes and not exercising. It was obviously a replica of my "diet" in junior high School, leaving out my signature supplement of Tastykakes.
Saturday and Sunday were a blur of run-throughs and me frantically going over dance steps. Suddenly it was Monday night. We were sold out, and it was so nice for me to see people I admired so much getting a barrage of hysteria from the audience. Pamela Myers sang "Another Hundred People" form Company just like she did in 1970 — in the original key! The audience demanded that she take a second bow. Andrea McArdle sang that last verse of "Tomorrow," and people freaked out. Before that I had talked about how devastated I was that I saw her replacement in Annie back in 1978, so after she sang, I whipped out my original Playbill (which had Laurie Beechman's autograph on the front!) and had Andrea finally sign it!
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| Norm Lewis and Charles Busch |
| photo by Aubrey Reuben |
Natascia Diaz did the section about quick changes. First she did a section from Evita and did the quick change (frumpy dress and long hair into tight skirt and short bob) in back of dancers who were blocking the audience from seeing what was happening. Then she did the whole thing again but reversed the perspective, so she was facing upstage and the audience was "backstage" so they could see everything. The crowd went crazy!
The whole thing ended with Norm Lewis singing "Lullaby of Broadway" with his signature velvet voice and the brilliant ensemble dancing up a storm.
I'm spending the rest of the week in an Epsom salt bath, and then this weekend I go to Palm Springs to play for Jennifer Hudson! I'll tell you all about that and my visit with my dad, who lives there, next week. Til then, take out your recordings of March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, and cry up a storm!
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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 his show, Seth's Broadway 101, will be presented April 16. He can be contacted by visiting www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com.)
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