ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Audra & Norm and the Beauty of Porgy and Bess

By Seth Rudetsky
03 Oct 2011

Sharon Wheatley
Sharon Wheatley

A week in the life of actor, radio host, music director and writer Seth Rudetsky.

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Ah! Delicious Fall weather. We lit our first fire this weekend in the fireplace. And by "fire" I mean Duraflame fake log that essentially gives off no heat but looks pretty and is crazily expensive. Anyhoo, this week began with my signature vertigo that I get every six months. Kristin Chenoweth gets it, too, but she has a Tony and Emmy to keep her company while the room is spinning. I only have a Bistro and a Playbill Leading Man Award. Crickets. Regardless, the vertigo may have been brought on by taking an eight-hour international flight and only drinking one half cup of water. It was probably exacerbated by my then doing an intense cardio workout to try to lose all the weight I gained during my two week European trip (in one trip to the gym). Thankfully, I was functional on Sunday during the Broadway Flea Market but felt myself fading throughout the day. The good news is, not only did I sell tons of stuff from my booth, but BC/EFA auctioned off a chance to co-host with me on Sirius/XM and it went for $4,000! And then I went home and pretty much couldn't function. I had to cancel my appearance in the fundraiser for the Weston Theater on Monday night but I was able to feature it on "Seth Speaks." I've now started a new segment called "Charity Chorner" (a la annoying store names like "Kandy Korner" where both words are spelled wrong) and I had Sharon Wheatley on the show. She spearheaded the whole campaign; if you want to donate to help rebuild the theatre following its recent flooding by Hurricane Irene, go to http://www.facebook.com/westonplayhouse. Sharon is an actress I've known for years and she wrote a great book a few years ago called "Til the Fat Girl Sings." It's about her childhood — growing up overweight yet wanting to perform. She was told repeatedly that she was too big to ever "make it," yet she's now done four Broadway shows! One of the people who told her it wouldn't happen was her father who not only told her she had to be thin to be an actress but, for some reason, kept telling her she had to look like Geena Davis. To this day, Sharon has no idea why Geena was the go-to body he kept referencing. After her book came out, it was optioned by Rosie O'Donnell to become a TV series. Sharon now realizes she should have known it would perhaps not work out because the day the contracts were signed was also the day that Rosie and Elizabeth Hasselback had their famous split-screen argument on The View, which led to Rosie leaving the show. Regardless, the book is now an ebook as well, and Sharon has started writing a blog about being a mother of two while pursuing theatre. She essentially wants to be the Broadway version of Erma Bombeck. Each column ends with a cliffhanger, so be prepared to be frustrated until the next installment. 

 Continued...