Benanti, Felciano, Etc. Join Rudetsky for 'Broadway 101'

Class will be in session at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU, on Monday November 6 at 8PM with "Seth's Broadway 101 – an evening of divas, belting and hostile opinions."

Written and hosted by Seth Rudetsky, "noted conductor, musician, Sirius Satellite radio host, author, and self proclaimed showbiz know-it-all, this hilarious and subversively informative musical extravaganza benefiting Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) will teach both novice theatergoers and entertainment insiders everything they ever wanted to know about Broadway… but were afraid (or too jaded) to ask," as the evening is described in press materials.

The syllabus for this one night only event was shaped by the event's host and creator, Seth Rudetsky who will be joined by Broadway 101 "adjunct faculty members": Norm Lewis (Les Miserables), Laura Benanti (The Wedding Singer), Manoel Felciano (Sweeney Todd), Pamela Meyers (Into the Woods), Charles Busch (Tale of the Allergist's Wife), a full singing and dancing ensemble, and a 25 piece orchestra.

"By the end of this one session course on showbiz you'll have the answers to such age old questions as:

o Who are "swings" and what do they do?
o What was the most brilliantly orchestrated Sondheim song?
o When do actors find time to change costumes so fast?
o Why Broadway Musicals are amazing (yet sometimes incredibly headache inducing.)
o How could Lauren Bacall win the Tony if she's a bass?"

Rudetsky  has played piano in the pits of fifteen Broadway shows including Ragtime, The Phantom of the Opera and The Producers. He has been the Artistic Producer/Musical Director for the annual Actor's Fund Concerts including Chess, Funny Girl, and Dreamgirls. On television, he's been seen as Susan Lucci's Las Vegas choreographer on "All My Children," the coach on MTV's "Made" and was nominated for three Emmy's when he was a comedy writer on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." The host of Seth's Broadway Chatterbo, he also wrote and starred Off Broadway in the critically acclaimed Rhapsody in Seth at the Actor's Playhouse. Currently, he is the Broadway host every day on SIRIUS Satellite Radio and wrote the recently published book, The Q Guide to Broadway.

Tickets, which are available at $65, $40 and $20, can be purchased through Ticket Central – 212.279.4200 www.ticketcentral.com.

A special VIP Benefactor level ticket that includes a pre show reception with the performers can be purchased through the BC/EFA office – 212.840.0770.  For more on BC/EFA, visit www.broadwaycares.org.