THE TOWN HALL AND MARK CORTALE PRESENT
SETH RUDETSKY’S BROADWAY FEATURING TONY AWARD WINNER
VANESSA WILLIAMS IN PERFORMANCE AND CONVERSATION
MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2022
123 WEST 43RD ST NYC 10036 | THETOWNHALL.ORG @TownHallNYC | 1
THE TOWN HALL AND MARK CORTALE PRESENT
SETH RUDETSKY’S BROADWAY STARRING
JANE KRAKOWSKI SEP
12
MON 2022
8PM
WITH MUSIC DIRECTOR & HOST
SETH RUDETSKY
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MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2022 • 8PM THE TOWN HALL AND MARK CORTALE PRESENT
SETH RUDETSKY’S BROADWAY FEATURING
VANESSA WILLIAMS
THE TOWN HALL 123 WEST 43RD ST NYC 10036
LARRY ZUCKER, Executive Director MELAY ARAYA, Artistic Director JEFF MANN, Marketing Director KEITH SHERMAN, Publicity SCOTT KLEIN, Publicity
TED LAMBERT, Chief Operating Officer BILL DEHLING, Technical Director CARL ACAMPORA, Production Manager ALEX KOVEOS, Digital Media Manager DENNIS RAKAUCKAS, Graphic Designer
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
VANESSA WILLIAMS is one of the most
respected and multi-faceted performers in the entertainment industry today. Having sold millions of records worldwide, Vanessa has also achieved numerous #1 and Top 10 hits on various Billboard Album and Singles charts: Pop, Dance, R&B, Adult Contemporary, Holiday, Latin, Gospel and Jazz. Her critically acclaimed work in film, television, recordings and the Broadway stage has been recognized by every major industry award affiliate including 4 Emmy nominations, 11 Grammy nominations, a Tony nomination, 3 SAG award nominations, 7 NAACP Image Awards and 3 Satellite Awards. Her platinum single “Colors of the Wind,” from Disney’s Pocahontas, won the Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. A graduate of Syracuse University, Vanessa is a strong advocate for equal rights, especially concerning the gay community and minorities. She was honored with the Human Rights Campaign “Ally for Equality” Award for her humanitarian contributions. Vanessa also achieved a career pinnacle with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. Vanessa’s autobiography, You Have No Idea, co-written with her mother Helen Williams, was a New York Times Best Seller in 2012. In 2020, Vanessa released Bubble Kisses, her first picture book for children, which tells the story of a young girl with the ability to transform into a mermaid. This effervescent, lively tale is based on a song which is also available with the book and as a download. Bubble Kisses was honored with The American Book Fest Award, The National Indie Excellence Award and The International Book Award in the Category of Best Children’s Picture Book – Hardcover Fiction. Vanessa’s recent Broadway credits include starring in the new play POTUS – featuring an all-female cast, co-starring with Cicely Tyson in The Trip to Bountiful, (the #1 play of the 2013 season), After Midnight (2014), and a special limited engagement in Hey, Look Me Over at New York City Center in 2018. Vanessa also recently starred in the revival of City of Angels on The West End in London and special performance of Stephen Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle at Carnegie Hall. In 2021, Vanessa joined the star-studded panel of judges for the new RuPaul series, Queen Of The Universe, along with Michelle Visage, Trixie Mattel and Leona Lewis. The show is hosted by Graham Norton and airs on ViacomCBS. Vanessa is the mother of four - Melanie, Jillian, Devin and Sasha. Her charitable endeavors are many and varied, embracing and supporting such organizations as Black Theatre United, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Special Olympics, Broadway Cares-Equity Fights AIDS and several others. Vanessa is one of the world’s most accomplished concert artists, appearing regularly with the most prestigious symphony orchestras in the world, including the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center..
SETH RUDETSKY | Musical Director & Host 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 scoops 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 2 | @TownHallNYC
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 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.
MARK CORTALE | Producer
Mark Cortale is celebrating his eleventh anniversary season as Producing Artistic Director of The Art House in Provincetown, MA. Since 2011 he has presented artists that include Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Chita Rivera, Sutton Foster, Kristin Chenoweth, Megan Mullally and Christine Ebersole. In 2019, he co-produced the Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominated Off-Broadway musical Midnight At The Never Get. He founded the international Broadway @ Concert Series featuring Seth Rudetsky as music director and host in Provincetown in 2011 and has presented these concerts at theatres that include the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Broward Center, The Wallis, The Kimmel Center, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Huntington Theatre Company, The Herbst Theatre and the Leicester Square Theatre in London. Beginning in June of 2020 these concerts were offered virtually every Sunday during the pandemic as The Seth Concert Series in association with BroadwayWorld. Mark also founded the singing string quartet Well-Strung which debuted at ArsNova and Joe’s Pub in 2012. In 2020 he founded the developmental theatre lab New Works Provincetown. In conjunction with producing partners Jonathan Murray and Harvey Reese, New Works Provincetown has commissioned two new full scale musicals to date: The Last Diva with a book by Jonathan Tolins, music by Scott Frankel, lyrics by Michael Korie and Maiden Voyage with book and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and music by Carmel Dean. Info at markcortalepresents.com.
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Contribute to our Archives! The Town Hall is searching for: • Programs & Stagebills • Photos • Performance Recordings & Films featuring the Hall • Ticket Stubs • Show Posters • Memorabilia from moments in our history Please contact: Melay Araya / Artistic Director 212-997-1003 ext. 22 | m.araya@thetownhall.org
1935 Marian Anderson makes her New York operatic debut
1944 Langston Hughes discusses the race question on air at “America’s Town Meeting”
1945 Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker debut Bebop in a formal concert hall
1957 Ravi Shankar performs here 9 years before he meets The Beatles
1961 Bob Dylan holds his first major concert at age 21
1964 Coretta Scott King debuts her Freedom Concerts
THE TOWN HALL FOUNDATION The Town Hall’s mission is to provide affordable world-class entertainment by new and established artists to a diverse audience; to inspire the youth of our community to appreciate and participate in the arts at The Town Hall and in schools through our Education Outreach Program; and to preserve and enhance The Town Hall as a historic landmark venue for the enjoyment and cultural enrichment of generations to come.
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
Tom Wirtshafter
Alfred H. Horowitz
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
VICE PRESIDENT
Marvin Leffler
Bruce S. Leffler
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TREASURER
Susan Zohn
Andrew T. Miltenberg
VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL
SECRETARY
Phyllis Putter Barasch
Ellen Miller-Wachtel TRUSTEES
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Teniola Adedipe Shauna Denkensohn Anne Frank-Shapiro John A. Jenkins David F. McCarthy Natalie Moreno Ellen Miller-Wachtel Rita Robbins Madhu Southworth Timothy Stambaugh Nevin Steinberg
Kathleen Rosenberg, Chair Nancy Berman Sandy Horowitz Elizabeth Iannizzi Candace Leeds Zita Rosenthal Rhoda Rothkopf
The photographing or sound recording of any performance or the possession of any device for such photographing or sound recording inside the theatre without the written permission of the management is prohibited by law. Violators may be punished by ejection and violations may render the offender liable for monetary damages.
FIRE NOTICE The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not run, WALK TO THAT EXIT. Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches or smoking in prohibited areas during the performances and intermissions. This violates a city ordinance and is punishable by law. -FIRE COMMISSIONER
ARTS IN EDUCATION ADVISORY COUNCIL
Dr. Charlotte K. Frank, Chair Dr. Sharon Dunn Michael Fram Gary Hecht Ernest Logan Dr. Eloise Messineo Dr. Lisa Mars Dr. Pola Rosen Leona Shapiro George Young
LIFE TRUSTEES
Leona Chanin Mary Dettling-Wright
THE TOWN HALL STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
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DIRECTORY OF THEATRE SERVICES ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: 212.997.1003 Mon-Fri 9:30 am to 5 pm, for rental & membership info BOX OFFICE: 212.840.2824 Mon-Sat 12 noon to 6pm. 24/7 Recording TICKETMASTER: 800.982.2787 to charge tickets by phone.online Ticketmaster.com LOST AND FOUND: 212.997.0113 CELL PHONE POLICY Cell phones should be silenced prior to the performance as a courtesy to the performers and audience. LOBBY REFRESHMENT BY Theatre Refreshment Company of NY
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MAJOR GIFTS, CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Town Hall’s Education Outreach Program, Judy Collins, Darlene Love and Storytellers Lab are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. The Centennial Concert Series is funded, in part, by Howard Gilman Foundation. We would like to thank the following foundations, corporations, and government institutions for their support: American Portfolios
Henry Nias Foundation
Bank of America
Howard Gilman Foundation
Consolidated Edison Company of New York
Office of City Council Member Darma V. Diaz
Cowen, Inc.
Office of City Council Member Ben Kallos
The Hearst Foundations, Inc.
Office of City Council Member Kalman Yeger
The Hyde & Watson Foundation
Office of City Council Member Keith Powers
Edythe Kenner Foundation Gund Investment Corporation
Office of the President, Borough of Manhattan, Mark Levine
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
S&P Global
New York State Council on the Arts
The Shubert Foundation
As of Feb 18, 2022
THE TOWN HALL’S YOUNG PATRONS CIRCLE Join the next generation of Town Hall supporters! Town Hall’s Young Patrons Circle is a special membership group, ages 21-40, that engages in social and educational activities through exciting events, performances, and programming. We are brought together by a shared love of the arts, a deep interest in social change, civic engagement, and a desire to become part of a growing group of like-minded individuals that support town Hall. For more information about the Young Patrons Circle, please contact Barbara Matovu, Development Manager - development@thetownhall.org
TOUR THE HISTORIC TOWN HALL Town Hall has played an integral part in the electrifying cultural fabric of New York City for more than 90 years. A group of Suffragists’ fight for the 19th Amendment led them to build a meeting space to educate people on the important issues of the day. During its construction, the 19th Amendment was passed, and on January 12, 1921 The Town Hall opened its doors and took on a double meaning: as a symbol of the victory sought by its founders, and as a spark for a new, more optimistic climate. In 1921, German composer Richard Strauss performed a series of concerts that cemented the Hall’s reputation as an ideal venue for musical performances. Since, Town Hall has been home to countless musical milestones: The US debuts of Strauss, and Isaac Stern; Marian Anderson’s first New York recital; in 1945, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker introduced bebop to the world; Bob Dylan’s first major concert in ‘63; and much much more. LEARN MORE. VISIT THETOWNHALL.ORG/TOURS @TownHallNYC | 7
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As of Feb 18, 2022
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