It’s Christmas Eve, and I j-u-s-t bought the last present I needed to get. I pretty much started shopping two days ago. I’d love to blame it on the fact that I was away on the Playbill on the High Seas cruise, but the reality is that last year I had plenty of time in NYC yet I was frantically shopping on Christmas Day itself. And, ps, nothing was open. I literally had to go to one of those stores on 8th Avenue that only caters to tourists, and essentially all of my presents featured some aspect of “I heart New York.” Anyhoo, this year I was able to find everything I wanted to buy, and I’m on my way to my mother-in-law’s house for severe acting out with food. Delish!
This week I had a little Playbill cruise reunion on my SiriusXM talk show, Seth Speaks. Jason Danieley and Christine Ebersole came by, and we told stories about what it was like spending ten days in South America. Jason and I wound up leaving a day before Christine, and she told us what she did on her last day below the Equator. She and a group from the cruise spent the day in a favela, which is the extremely poor section of Rio de Janiero. It’s also where Michael Jackson shot the “They Don’t Care About Us” video. Christine said it was really wonderful. First there was a drumming circle, which she joined in on, and then one of the men in the circle invited her into his house. She described it as incredibly tiny and yet his whole family lived there. She also noticed that, despite the poverty, everybody in the favela seemed extremely happy. Speaking of poverty, she was mortified when, after an hour passed, her husband Bill whispered, “I’m surprised no one’s recognized you.” What? She was about to glare and tell him that his comment made no sense when a young woman approached her. The woman pointed at Christine and asked, “Actress?” Christine slowly nodded and then the woman said, in perfect English, “I saw you this morning in 'Confessions of a Shopaholic'!" Brava Bill for being psychic!
photo by Krissie Fullerton |
Speaking of a mystical universe, I saw Jackie Hoffman’s A Chanukah Charol, and it was great. It’s a one-woman show where she plays a variety of roles; most notably the narrator (as Patrick Stewart) and the Ghost of Christmas Present (as Shelley Winters a la The Posiedon Adventure). There were so many hilarious lines, but one of my favorites is when she talks about performing for Jewish groups or non-Jewish groups. Jackie said she always knows when she’s not performing in a synagogue because she’s able to go an entire show without someone yelling "LOUDER!!!!" I was also obsessed with her imitation of her mother serving a holiday meal: "There’s veal, steak, chicken, brisket, white rice, yellow rice, potatoes, kugel, latkes and tsimis. I spent all day making food. Please take food. I hope there’s enough food." Pause. "Food."
All right, finally let me remind you to join www.SethTV.com, where I just put up the amazing Leading Men concert with Norm Lewis and Jonathan Groff…as well as the fabulous Patti LuPone concert from P-town! And, for a nice holiday treat, here is the video of me, Andrea McArdle and Lilla Crawford (original and current Annie) rehearsing for Gypsy of the Year. And, yes, all of us sing “Tomorrow”. Enjoy and peace out!
(Seth Rudetsky is the afternoon Broadway host on SiriusXM. He has played piano for over 15 Broadway shows, was Grammy-nominated for his concert CD of Hair and Emmy-nominated for being a comedy writer on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." He has written two novels, "Broadway Nights" and "My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan," which are also available at Audible.com. He recently launched SethTV.com, where you can contact him and view all of his videos and his sassy new reality show.)