Posts Tagged: Events

Seth Rudetsky’s You Are Not Alone Benefit NYC

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This coming week, XM Sirius superhost Seth Rudetsky is hosting a charity even with an incredible all star line up to help bring awareness to gay teen bullying and gay teen suidice called the You Are Not Alone Benefit.   There has been a large rise in gay teen suicide in the last few months, if you remember I did this post on gay teen bullying and gay teen suicide and thought that Louder Than Words from Tick Tick Boom was the perfect song for it, and unfortunately many of these kids have nowhere to turn to and no where to go.  Not only does it feel horrible to be alone, but celebrities left and right have been pitching in their voices and support to help stop gay teen suicide and Seth Rudetsky is doing the same with the You Are Not Alone Benefit.  Here is a brief background from what I can gather about the event from the site, some of the performers and of course where you can buy tickets, etc…

The You Are Not Alone Benefit in NYC to support The Trevor Project.  Buy Tickets Here!

The You Are Not Alone charity benefit for The Trevor Project is a first time event hosted by Seth Rudetsky and some of his amazingly talented friends.  It is a way to help bring awareness for gay teen suicide and to help raise money for the new leading gay teen suicide resource, The Trevor Project.  Seth Rudetsky and other Broadway Stars like Betty Buckley, Aaron Lazar, John Tartaglia and many more are all coming together for a one night for an extremely affordable performance on Monday, November 22 at 8pm sharp.

The address for the Seth Rudetsky You Are Not Alone Benefit is:

St. Paul the Apostle Church

Columbus Avenue @ W. 60 St. in New York City.

The performance starts at 8pm sharp, but cocktails start at 7pm so don’t be late.  Tickets range from $25 to $100 and are more than worth it.  There is also a silent auction with a ton of amazing designer gifts including Tom Ford, Hermes and others.  The Seth Rudetsky You Are Not Alone Benefit is going to be one of the most amazing Broadway charity benefit shows and it is a definite event that you cannot miss.

The performers.

Seth Rudetsky. @SethRudetsky on twitter.

Seth is one of my favorite hosts on Sirius XM radio.  Besides being a broadway host 7 days a week, Seth Rudetsky is an extremely talented piano player who has played for shows including Ragtime, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera.  Seth was not only the music producer and director for the first five annual Actors Fund Fall Concerts, but he is also an accomplished Actor both on and off Broadway.  He is a definite amahhhzing performer.

The talented, Ms. Betty Buckley.  @BettyBuckley on Twitter.

If you don’t know who Betty Buckley is then you need to go back to broadway 101.  Betty Buckley is a Broadway Legend who not only helped to make shows like Cats famous, but she has also appeared in Carrie, Song & Dance and one of my favorite roles ever, Norma Desmond in the incredible Andrew Lloyd Weber show Sunset Boulevard.  She has also played iconic characters like the mom in Gypsy Rose Lee.  Seeing Betty Buckley alone is worth 5 or ten or even a hundred times worth the price of admission to this event.  To see her combined with all of the other performers is priceless.  I don’t know if I heard correctly so I am going to say that it is a rumor that one of the songs you may hear from Betty Buckley at the You Are Not Alone charity event is one of my favorites, No One Is Alone from the Stephen Sondheim show Into The Woods.  Here is Bernadette Peters singing No One Is Alone from Into the Woods.

Mr. Aaron Lazar.

You may remember me mentioning Aaron Lazar in my post about when I went to the Kennedy Center to see Liza Minnelli perform.  Aaron blew us away that night by singing classic showtunes but with an Opera sound.    Not only has he starred in revivals of shows like Les Miserables, but he has also appeared on TV shows like Ugly Betty and The Today Show.  Aaron is an incredible talent and to get to see him with some of the other performers is an added bonus that you will all go crazy for.

John Tartaglia.

Have you ever heard of a small show called Avenue Q.  Enough said.  Tons of talent and an amazing ability to entertain, John Tartaglia is an incredible actor that you will instantly fall in love with.

Seth Rudetsky’s You Are Not Alone charity benefit for The Trevor Project is a must attend event that I highly recommend going to.  You cannot beat the price for the tickets with the talent that will be there, but more importantly it is going to support an incredible cause.

Liza Minelli

I’m going to see Liza!!! Yes with a Z

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Ok, I know you all are about to be jealous of this star studded Diva oriented weekend in Washington DC.  Not only do we never get the parties that NYC, LA, San Francisco, London, Chicago, etc… get, but we never have the amazing Broadway shows or variety that these cities get.  The one thing we do have that is unique though is the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

The Kennedy Center is not an amazing old styled theatre but it is a huge complex with amazing sound and can easily host all of the top shows in the world.  This is where I went to see Hairspray for the first time and many other shows.  We also have the touring cast of Mary Poppins coming through soon but more importantly we have the Kennedy Center Spring Gala coming through this weekend.

The Kennedy Center spring gala in Washington DC is sort of like the kick off season to Summer shows and events.  The Kennedy Center goes all out and brings in Broadway stars of all calibers and styles.  This year they have completely gone out of their way to bring in some of the best, most well known talent around.  The odd thing though is that there are still tickets available.  Some of my friends just bought theirs last night.  I found it shocking because of this years line up of talented performers and Actors.

The show headliner is none other than one of the original Divas, the great Liza Minelli.

Liza Minelli

Liza Minelli

Liza Minelli is not only the daughter of the famous Judy Garland, but Liza Minelli is an icon, one of the most recognizable faces and voices in American Pop Culture and history and no matter where you go or what you watch, you will probably run across a reference to her.  She has appeared in tons of movies, tv shows, jokes.  Liza has hit cds like like Liza with a Z and pretty much destroyed the show Cabaret for anyone else who would ever try to take it on.  Liza Minelli is a legend that I dare anyone to try to take on.  She is above and beyond going to be one of the highlights of this show.  This picture of Liza came from the Kennedy Center Website.  http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/gala/

So if Liza Minelli isn’t enough of a headliner for you, the next star to take the stage is the amazing and seriously talented Ben Vereen.

Ben Vereen you’ll remember from countless Broadway shows including Wicked, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin and the list goes on.  For those of you not into theatre, which I don’t understand why you’d be here if you weren’t, he was in Funny Lady, All That Jazz, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will and Grace and the list goes on with his TV appearances and roles as well.  He is also the god father to R&B sensation Usher.  Ben is one of the most talented Actors in modern times and I cannot wait to see him perform.  He dances, sings, acts and steals shows.  Between him and Liza Minelli, can it get any better?  Actually yes.

Aaron Lazar, many of you will not know him, reinvented many roles and recreated some of the most loved characters on Broadway.  He was in the recent revival of Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities and the classic A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim.  Aaron has also been on TV in Ugly Betty, The notorious Bettie Page (if your name is Betty you better watch out for this one) and countless other show appearances.  Aaron may not be well known, but his talent should be.

The next Actor I would like to mention is one whose name you won’t remember but whose voice and image you will never forget.  Andrea McArdle was the original Annie.  Not only did she create the role of the red headed orphan, but I think she created one of the most memorable American Icons that almost everyone can remember from their childhood.  Everyone remembers watching it and everyone recognizes the red poster and red lettering for the red headed orphan.  Sure she has done other things since Annie but when you create such an iconic role and character as Little Orphan Annie, it is hard to do anything else.

Some other performers who will be there include Elizabeth Ashley, Raul Esparza, Opera Singers; Elmore James and Harolyn Blackwell and the list of show stopping celebrities goes on and on.  It is insane how much talent The Kennedy Center booked for the Kennedy Center Spring Gala 2010 and I cannot wait to watch all of these icons and amazing performers show why they are the incredible Actors and Actresses that they are and why they have reached Celebrity Status in the Theatre, Screen and Entertainment industry.

If you haven’t bought your ticket to the Kennedy Center Spring Gala yet, you seriously need to hurry up because if word gets out that people like Liza Minelli are in town tickets will sell fast!  Hurry up and buy your ticket today and then come back and share how you liked the show after.