The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Deconstructing Broadway at Leicester Square Theatre

Deconstructing Broadway at Leicester Square Theatre | Theatre review
23 June 2013
Nichola Daunton
Avatar
Nichola Daunton
23 June 2013

Musician, actor, producer and radio host Seth Rudetsky lives and breathes Broadway. Having worked on some of the genre’s biggest hits, whether playing piano for Les Miserables or producing Hair with Jennifer Hudson, he is perfectly placed to deconstruct the world he loves so much.

Over the course of two hilarious hours, Rudetsky shows us the difference between things that are “A-mahzing!” (you can buy the t-shirt) in a good way, and “A-mahzing!” in a bad way. Teaching us about the correct use of vibrato via Broadway and international stars such as Patti LuPone and Whitney Houston (see I Will Always Love You for an example of how to do it right).

Using video and audio footage to emphasise his point, Seth shares his favourite Broadway performances, along with a whole lot of turkeys. Very old footage of Cher, in particular, performing songs from West Side Story and playing all the characters is a rare, side-splitting treat. Rudetsky doesn’t stop at deconstructing stars though, he even goes on to deconstruct himself, tearing apart his youthful attempts to sing Tomorrow from Annie and explaining to the audience (in case they didn’t notice) what’s wrong with his performance.

What makes Rudetsky such a charismatic and fun performer to watch is the sheer depth and breadth of his knowledge. You instantly believe him when he says he’s been watching these videos twenty times a day, and his knowledge of singing, from the difference between chest and head voice, to flats and sharps, makes him an excellent teacher for the less musically savvy.

What Rudetsky does so well is take you back to that child (or indeed, perhaps the adult) who spent hours and hours watching and re-watching their favourite music videos and TV shows in an effort to dig out all their secrets. His show is a treasure trove of these and his sheer overwhelming love of Broadway, combined with his great stage presence, makes this show a must-see for musical theatre aficionados, and the not so well initiated.

★★★★★

Nichola Daunton

The Patti LuPone season is on at Leicester Square Theatre until 23rd June 2013. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Swimming Home: An immersive online experience

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More

Live Lab at The Yard Theatre: An interview with associate director Cheryl Gallagher

Mersa Auda
Read More

We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online

★★★★★
Samuel Nicholls
Read More

We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks

Mersa Auda
Read More

Public Domain at Southwark Playhouse

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Unlimited Festival at the Southbank Centre: Centre stage for diversity

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More

RSC Next Generation: Young Bloods proves Shakespeare is timeless

Brooke Snowe
Read More

An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories

Selina Begum
Read More

A Livestream with David Bedella at Crazy Coqs Online

★★★★★
Regan Harle
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • The Capote Tapes
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Dig
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Swimming Home: An immersive online experience
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Win a DVD bundle of House of Sand and Fog, Away From Her and Young Adam
    Competitions
  • Crobar: Music When the Lights Go Out
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Six books perfect for beating the winter blues
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Assassins: Exclusive new clip
    Cinema
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Flow Forms at Spitalfields Music Summer Festival | Live review
Duke Special at Islington Assembly Hall | Live review