Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – SETH’S BROADWAY BREAKDOWN obsessively and joyously dissects and celebrates the Broadway musical via its divas

• By drediman
• November 2, 2021
• No Comments

During the darkest days of the pandemic, lovers of Broadway musicals had to do without without live performances, which was certainly a challenging predicament for many of us. Coming to the rescue for starved audiences and especially jobless theater artists was Seth Rudetsky’s Stars in the House, the nightly theater-focused webcast – hosted by Mr. Rudestky and his husband James Wesley – that celebrated Broadway’s biggest stars, and in the process, raised considerable funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Now with Broadway well on its way to being back to business-as-usual, Mr. Rudetsky has taken it upon himself to shift his public service to ensuring that audiences don’t take the Broadway musical (now that it’s largely back) for granted by educating them on what makes the art form so special.

This “service” comes in the form of Mr. Rudetsky’s one-man show Seth’s Broadway Breakdown, which is currently playing Off-Broadway during weekends at Asylum in Chelsea. Those of you familiar with Mr. Rudetsky know that he’s had a long history of, as a host, bringing out the very best and in his guests. Prior to watching his new show, I was curious to see whether his beloved deconstructions of renditions of musical theater songs would prove as giddily entertaining sans the priceless interactions with and live performances of his guests. I shouldn’t have questioned myself. On it’s own, Mr. Rudetsky’s monumental obsession for Broadway generates enough wattage to easily sustain the 90-minute show. In summary, Seth’s Broadway Breakdown is an unabashed and joyous love letter to the Broadway musical that should appeal to Broadway newbies and like-minded geeks, alike.

What makes Mr. Rudetsky so effective as a guide is his encyclopedic knowledge of both musical theater history and music in general (having played in the Broadway orchestra pits of such iconic musicals as Les Misérables, Ragtime, and Grease). Combine this trove of knowledge with his quick wit and amusingly rapid fire banter and you’ve got one irresistible host. In particular, his enthusiasm for Broadway’s greatest musical theater divas – from sopranos (Barbara Cook, Rebecca Luker), belters (Patti LuPone, Betty Buckley), to every thing in between (Judy Kuhn) – is simultaneously informative and infectious. Indeed, dissections of his favorite – and least favorite – cast album snippets of these divas comes across less as a tutorial and more as an invigorating celebration of the Broadway musical, which I now have learned never again to take for granted.

RECOMMENDED

SETH’S BROADWAY BREAKDOWN
Off-Broadway, Play
Asylum
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through November 28