ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Nothin' Like a Dame and a Hair-y Surprise

By Seth Rudetsky
22 Jun 2009

On Wednesday, I had cast members from Hair at my Sirius/XM "Live on Broadway" show. I asked Gavin Creel (Tony nominated for Claude!) how he got involved and he said that one of the cast members he didn't know very well sent him a message on Facebook saying that Jonathan thought he'd be great as Claude. Gavin was like, "Who's Jonathan?" She wrote back and said Jonathan Groff. Jonathan had played the role in Central Park and Gavin was annoyed because he assumed Jonathan would be playing the role again on Broadway so it was a moot point. Then Jonathan told him he wouldn't be doing the role and Gavin called his agent ASAP. He had an audition and got the offer on the night of his call back. Brava Facebook!

During the second segment of the show, my producer, Julie James, got the microphone and said that she was bringing out a special guest. Huh? She announced that he's done TV, film, won a Tony Award and was in the original run of Hair. WHO?, I wondered. Suddenly out sauntered…Ben Vereen! I was totally shocked! And so was the cast. I remember seeing Ben in the Tribe on the Tony Awards and he told us that he played Hud during the run of the show and then toured all over the world and eventually played Berger. He praised everybody from the tribe and told the audience that the show is making a difference in people's lives and we should "let the sunshine in." I immediately launched into the opening vamp from "The Flesh Failures" and he immediately started singing "We starve, look…at one another short of breath…" Soon everybody was belting "Let the Sunshine In" and we all got naked (yes to the first part, no to the second). You can hear it all this Friday [June 26] at 7 PM. Go to SethRudetsky.com for a link!

James (left) and Seth (middle) in girls' glasses with Juli and punkers on Governors Island
And finally, Happy Father's Day! James, Juli and I went to Governors Island to rent bikes. It was supposed to rain all day but we gave it a shot. Turns out, when we got there it was crazily sunny and I was devastated that I didn't have sunglasses. Juli lent me her kid-sized purple sunglasses and the bike rental place gave James some woman's sunglasses that was never claimed in the lost and found. James and Juli rode a crazy tandem bike and we were loving it, but everywhere we went there was BLASTING music. What was up? Turns out, it was also Punk Day (?) on the island and every ten feet there was another punk band. Seriously. Check out the photo with the bikes, crazy glasses and random punkers on the island. And on that note, let the sunshine in!

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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.

Megan Reinking, Ato Blankson-Wood, Kaitlyn Kiyan, Caissie Levy, Allison Case and Seth Rudetsky
Megan Reinking, Ato Blankson-Wood, Kaitlyn Kiyan, Caissie Levy, Allison Case and Seth Rudetsky

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