Rosie O'Donnell Boards Broadway @ The Nourse Concert Series

By: Jan. 29, 2016
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Mark Cortale, producer of the acclaimed Broadway @ The Nourse concert series in San Francisco has announced that superstar Rosie O'Donnell will join this season's lineup on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Hosted by Sirius XM Radio Star Seth Rudetsky whom the New York Times dubbed "The Mayor of Broadway," the popular series returns after kicking off the 2015/16 season at The Nourse Theater with "Glee" star Darren Criss in past fall. Immediately preceding Rosie O'Donnell's performance will be Sutton Foster, star of the hit TV series "Younger" and Tony Award winner for Broadway's "Anything Goes" on Sunday, March 13th (rescheduled from Jan. 16th). The Broadway @ The Nourse concert series will benefit San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Project Open Hand, and San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Tickets are now on-sale - further information can be found at www.cityboxoffice.com/broadway or by calling (415) 392-4400.

What differentiates this concert series from any other is the seamless mix of intimate behind-the-scenes stories from Broadway's biggest stars - prompted by the encyclopedic-minded Rudetsky's probing, funny, revealing questions - and their stellar singing of musical theatre repertoire. And in Rosie O'Donnell's case - those revealing questions from Rudetsky are all but guaranteed to include several on the topic of Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Rudetsky will be appearing with O'Donnell on his night off from his new Broadway musical "Disaster!" which begins performances next month. (Music director Michael Rafter steps in to accompany Sutton Foster's concert on March 13th.)

Rosie O'Donnell's stage credits include the Broadway productions of "Grease," "Seussical," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Love, Loss and What I Wore," and the Encores! production of "No, No, Nanette." In addition to her acclaimed stand-up comedy and film careers, she is perhaps best known on television as the host and Executive Producer of the Emmy Award winning talk/variety series "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," and more recently for her return to daytime television as co-host of ABC's "The View." On the big screen, Rosie O'Donnell has starred in "A League of Their Own," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Another Stakeout," "The Flintstones," "Exit To Eden," "Now and Then," "Beautiful Girls," "Harriet the Spy," and "Wide Awake." Rosie can currently be seen in her recurring role as Rita Henricks on ABC Family's "The Fosters." As a tireless crusader for children, she established the Rosie's For All Kids Foundation, which has awarded more than $27 million dollars in grants to over 1,400 child-related non-profit organizations to benefit low income families across the country. Rosie's Theater Kids provides free in-school, after-school and summer instruction in musical theater to the public school children of New York. Recently, Rosie received a milestone in philanthropy when she was awarded the prestigious Isabelle Stevenson Award at the 2014 Tony Awards for her dedication, commitment and unconditional generosity towards arts education and New York City's public schools.

Sutton Foster won two Tony Awards for her leading roles in "Anything Goes" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and starred in the ABC Family TV series "Bunheads." She has just returned to TV this past year as the star of the hit new series "Younger" on TV Land by "Sex and the City" creator Darren Star, to rave reviews. She recently starred in the revival of Andrew Lippa's "The Wild Party" for Encores at City Center this past July. She was nominated for another Tony Award in Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley musical "Violet" at New York's Roundabout Theatre in 2014. Sutton Foster has starred on Broadway in "The Will Rogers Follies," "Grease," "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "Annie," and "LES MISERABLES" before her big break and Tony Award-winning performance in "Thoroughly Modern Millie." She has since then originated roles in the Broadway productions of "Little Women," "The Drowsy Chaperone," "Young Frankenstein," and "Shrek the Musical." She recently starred as Reno Sweeney in The Roundabout's revival of "Anything Goes," a role that earned her the 2011 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Astaire, and Broadway.com's Audience Favorite Awards.

She was first seen on television on "Star Search" at age 15, and has appeared in "Johnny and the Sprites" and "Flight of the Conchords." More recently, she was the star of the ABC Family TV ballet 'dramedy' "Bunheads," created by "Gilmore Girls" writer/producer Amy Sherman-Palladino. She is the star of the brand new TV Land series "Younger" by "Sex and the City" creator Darren Star, which just premiered on March 31, 2015, and co-stars Hilary Duff and Debi Mazar. Last year she also appeared on the prestigious 36th Annual Kennedy Center Honors broadcast, where she performed a medley of hit Broadway songs made famous by honoree Shirley MacLaine, including "Something Better Than This," "Steam Heat" and "She's No Longer A Gypsy."

Seth Rudetsky, the series curator, has hosted the Broadway Series at Parker Playhouse for the previous two seasons. He has played piano for over a dozen Broadway shows including Ragtime, LES MISERABLES, and Phantom of the Opera and is the man behind SethTV, his web-based entertainment network. As a comic, Rudetsky was awarded "Funniest Gay Male in NY" at Stand-Up NY and is a three-time Emmy nominee as a writer for The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He co-wrote and stars the new musical Disaster! which will open on Broadway this February.



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