MEGAN MULLALLY, WITH SETH RUDETSKY, KICKS OFF NEW CONCERT SERIES

Megan
Mullally, with Seth Rudetsky and Stephanie Hunt, came to the rescue of a
cold spell in Fort Lauderdale bringing the heat of songs and chatter.
They kicked off the new WinterStage concert series debuting at the
Parker Playhouse.

Seth
came out on the set of the show with the piano stage left, a
conversation ‘pit’ made up of a table and two comfortable looking white
swivel chairs, a table and chandelier drops across the stage used very
effectively during the show changing colors and moods. He said the show
would be, “...a song, some chat, a song, some chat, a song and some more
chat,” which exactly what it was.

Megan
Mullally started the show by singing “Broadway Baby” from “Follies” and
“Look What Happened To Mabel” from “Mack and Mabel”. During the next 90
minutes she would also sing  Rodgers and Hart’s “You Took Advantage Of
Me”, Stephen Sondheim’s “Could I Leave You?” also doing a 3 number set
with Stephanie Hunt, with whom she formed the Nancy and Beth band,
including “One Mint Julep” and a spiritual.

It
was her chats with Rudetsky talking about her auditioning for a
Shakespeare play, having to go on for Rosie O’Donnell in “Grease”, her
working with Ellen Burstyn and Elaine Stritch in the short lived TV
series “The Ellen Burstyn Show”, majoring in English literature at
Northwestern University starting off in theatrical studies but not
fitting in with the crowd, meeting Carol Channing and being mistaken for
O’Donnell, going to the Golden Globes meeting Helen Mirren and not
knowing how to react to a ‘Queen” among other stories until she wetted
the appetite for tales of playing Karen in 8 years of “Will and Grace”
for which she won 2 Emmy’s and 3 Screen Actors Guild awards.

Megan
talked about falling in love with Sean Hayes’s blue eyes before he even
opened his mouth, she and Sean being the bad kids while Debra Messing
and Eric McCormack were the ‘parents’, how the ‘belly bump’ came about,
working with Cher and Alec Baldwin along with NOT FRench kissing on
television. She then sang a song from a show that never got produced
because, supposedly, NBC would not allow her use of the  Karen
character, revolving around Karen Walker having the money to put on her
own show.

Aside
from talking about “Grease” she said a few lines about “Young
Frankenstein”, not very flattering, but nothing about the revival of
“How To Succeed In Business” nor did she sing any songs from the three
shows. For an encore she did a version of Bette Midler’s “Dr. Long
John”.

It was a pleasant but not particularly a memorable show!

Seth
Rudetsky was more than capable as her pianist and, being her friend for
over 20 years, knew just the right questions to ask her to bring out
her sense of humor and sometimes the camp her audience loved. It was a
good kick off for this new series and Seth will be back with Megan Hilty
on February 20th and Patti Lupone on March 13th.

 
BEFORE
THE SHOW SETH AND MEGAN HELD A "MEET AND GREET" TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE
STONEWALL LIBRARY CELEBRATING ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY.