Stephanie J. Block, Santino Fontana & Laura Benanti Join The Seth Rudetsky Broadway Concert Series

The Seth Rudetsky Broadway Concert Series presented by Mark Cortale returns to The Parker in January. The series, co-presented by the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, delivers three intimate evenings of incredible music and hilarious conversations hosted and music directed by Sirius XM Radio star Seth Rudetsky. The series features three Tony Award® winners and critically-acclaimed powerhouse talents: Stephanie J. Block (The Cher Show) on January 7; Santino Fontana (Tootsie) on February 5; and Laura Benanti (Gypsy) on March 26. For tickets and information, please visit ParkerPlayhouse.com and Ticketmaster.com; by phone at 954.462.0222; in person at The Parker box office at 707 N.E. Eighth Street in Fort Lauderdale.

Stephanie J. Block, who won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her starring role in the Broadway hit musical The Cher Show, joins Rudetsky on Friday, January 7th at 8 p.m. She also starred in the New York Revival of Falsettos (Tony Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Outer Critics Award Nomination, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical), Little Miss Sunshine (Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Tony Award Nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and Drama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical), Anything Goes, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, 9 to 5: The Musical (Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), Wicked, The Pirate Queen and The Boy from OZ. She starred in the First National Touring Company of Wicked as Elphaba (Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress, Carbonell Award for Best Actress in a Musical). Block's regional credits include Funny Girl (Robby Award Winner-Best Actress), Crazy For You (L.A. Ovation Award Nominee), Oliver (Critics Award-Best Actress), James Joyce's The Dead, Triumph Of Love, The Grass Harp, South Pacific, The Will Rogers Follies and the world premiere of Wicked. Television credits include Rise, Orange Is The New Black, Homeland and Madam Secretary. She has sung with numerous symphony orchestras around the U.S. Her solo concert has been critically acclaimed in NYC and London. Her voice can be heard on the original cast recordings of The Boy From OZ, The Pirate Queen and 9 To 5: The Musical (Grammy Nomination) and, of course, her own album, This Place I Know. She is a proud member of The Musical Theatre Guild and has been a member of Actors Equity since 1995.

Santino Fontana starred most recently on Broadway as Michael Dorsey in the stage musical adaptation of the film Tootsie, for which he was awarded the 2019 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He was previously nominated for a Tony Award for his starring role as Prince Topher in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway. He originated the role of Tony in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot and was awarded the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work in the revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs. He has also appeared on Broadway in the revivals of Sunday in the Park with George, The Importance of Being Earnest, Hello, Dolly!, Moss Hart's Act One and in the Encores series productions of 1776 and Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You Mr. Rosewater. He provided the voice of Prince Hans in the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Frozen which he will reprise in the upcoming Frozen 2, and starred on television in the CW romantic musical comedy-drama Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as well as appearances in Fosse/Verdon, Mozart in the Jungle, Shades of Blue and Submissions Only among other television and film appearances. In 2005, as a member of the Essentials, Fontana co-wrote the musical comedy Perfect Harmony and originated the role of Philip Fellowes V. In 2006, he starred as Hamlet in The Guthrie Theatre's performance of the Shakespearean classic, before moving to New York City to star as Matt in the Off-Broadway revival of The Fantasticks. He is married to actress Jessica Hershberg.

Laura Benanti, Tony Award-winner for Gypsy on Broadway and five-time Tony Award nominee, stars in the 2021 films Worth opposite Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci and Amy Ryan, and Here Today starring opposite Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. She is currently in production for HBO Max's Gossip Girl reboot, and will reprise her role on the final season of the hit TV series Younger, starring opposite Sutton Foster and Hilary Duff. Laura recently created and executive produced the HBO Max special, Homeschool Musical: Class of 2020 which premiered last December on the heels of her viral social media campaign #SunshineSongs. Her television credits include series regular roles on the Samantha Bee and Jason Jones produced TBS show The Detour, Go On opposite Matthew Perry, and Starved for FX as well as recurring roles on Supergirl, ABC's Nashville and Eli Stone, CBS' The Good Wife and Elementary, Showtime's Nurse Jackie and The Big C, NBC's The Sound of Music Live, Law and Order: SVU, and USA's Royal Pains. She has frequently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in her celebrated comedic portrayal of Melania Trump. Laura made a triumphant return to Broadway in 2019 as Eliza Doolittle in Lincoln Center's acclaimed production of My Fair Lady. Since making her Broadway debut at the age of 18 as Maria in The Sound of Music, opposite Richard Chamberlain, her many starring roles have included in Steve Martin's hit Broadway play Meteor Shower alongside Amy Schumer and Keegan Michael Key, She Loves Me (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award nominations), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Tony nomination, Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle award wins), and In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play. Laura won the Tony Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance as Louise in Gypsy opposite Patti LuPone. Other Broadway roles include The Wedding Singer, Nine (starring Antonio Banderas), Into the Woods (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle award nominations) and her Tony nominated turn in Swing! among her many other New York and regional theatrical performances and thriving solo concert career.

Seth Rudetsky is the afternoon host on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's On Broadway as well as the host of Seth Speaks on Sirius/XM Stars. As an author, he penned My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan and the sequel The Rise And Fall Of A Theater Geek (Random House) as well as three volumes of Seth's Broadway Diary featuring inside scoop and hilarious stories from all of the stars he's worked with. He co-wrote and co-starred in Disaster! (NY TIMES "critics pick") which also premiered to rave reviews in London. In June 2016, he and his husband, James Wesley, co-produced a recording of "What The World Needs Now" with stars like Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Carole King, Audra McDonald which went to number one on iTunes and raised more than $100,000 for the Orlando shooting victims (and is still raising money. Buy it!). Seth and James have a foundation called Your Kids Our Kids that presented Concert For America; a series around the country featuring stars like Barry Manilow, Keala Settle, Stephanie Mills, Vanessa Williams, Billy Porter, Randy Rainbow and Audra McDonald that raised money for 5 non-profits that have been working relentlessly since the 2016 presidential election. They also present Voices for The Voiceless, a yearly star-studded concert for You Gotta Believe which helps older foster children find families, even if they've aged out of the system. SiriusXM/Pandora also carries Seth's first podcast series: Seth Rudetsky's Back To School where he interviews stars about the ups and (hilarious) downs of their high school years. The first two seasons include Tina Fey, Bowen Yang, Allison Janney, Vanessa Willams and many more . When Broadway shut down, Seth and James started hosting / producing Stars In The House (StarsInTheHouse.com) ...a twice-daily livestream that's featured tons of Broadway stars as well as TV reunions like The West Wing, Scandal, Frasier and E.R. and has raised more than $1,000,000 for The Actors Fund. They also joined Marlo Thomas and co-produced new versions of "Free To Be You And Me" with Sara Bareilles and "Sisters And Brothers" with the Broadway Inspirational Voices with the profits going to NAACP Legal Defense Fund. You can find out more about Seth, and watch his signature "deconstructions" at SethRudetsky.com. If you want to hang out with Seth and James and a bunch of Broadway stars performing up a storm, come on one of their cruises! In January 2022 they sail to the Western Caribbean, in April 2022 they journey from Barcelona to Venice, Italy, in June 2022 roundtrip from Southampton, England to Norway, and in October 2022 Transatlantic from New York to Southampton. More info at SethsBroadwayVacations.com.

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