Stars in the House
2020 American TV series or program
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stars in the House is a daily live streamed web series created and hosted by Seth Rudetsky and his husband James Wesley to support The Actors Fund and its services. Created in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Stars in the House debuted in March 2020.[2]
James Wesley
- Seth Rudetsky
- James Wesley
- Jon LaPook
| Stars in the House | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | Talk-show Benefit concert |
| Created by | Seth Rudetsky James Wesley |
| Presented by |
|
| Theme music composer | Dana P. Rowe and Scott Logsdon (performed by Liz Callaway) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 444[1] |
| Production | |
| Editors | Paul Ewen Mark Ezovski |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 60 mins |
| Original release | |
| Release | March 16, 2020 – present |
Stars in the House is a combination of music, community, and education (from CBS Chief Medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook). Originally airing twice daily (at Broadway showtimes, 2 PM and 8 PM), it now streams daily at 8 PM ET across multiple platforms, including YouTube. The show features musical performances by stars remotely from their home and conversations with Seth and James between each tune. Viewers can also donate to the charity and interact with guests in real time. Stars in the House raised over $50,000 in the first four days of airing and plans to stream daily until Broadway re-opens.[3] They have raised a total of $1,074,395 as of September 12, 2021.[4]
As of March 8, 2021, they have also raised $203,337 for other 501c3s including The Trevor Project, You Gotta Believe, NAACP Legal Defense Fund,[5] Cats4CovidRelief, Broadway at CBST, Greater Orlando Performing Arts Relief, Cancer Support Community, New York Gay Men's Chorus, Youth Pride Chorus, Tonewall, Bullets to Books, and Waterkeeper Alliance.
Development
On March 12, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio enacted new restrictions to try to stop the spread of the Coronavirus, which at the time had already infected nearly 100 people.[6] One of the restrictions was banning most gatherings of more than 500 people, which included all Broadway theaters. Quickly after, states like California and Illinois enacted similar guidelines.[7] With thousands of actors instantly out of work and stuck at home, Rudetsky and Wesley came up with the idea as a way to both raise spirits and help those suffering.[8]
The first show aired on Monday, March 16, with Tony Award winner Kelli O'Hara.
Episodes
Segments
"Plays in the House"
Plays in the House are special episodes of Stars in the House, one-night only live readings of plays featuring the original performers.[11] Plays in the House streams every Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm EST, Broadway's standard matinee time.
| Play | Playwright(s) | Performer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| The Heidi Chronicles | Wendy Wasserstein | Joan Allen, Cynthia Nixon, Peter Friedman, Boyd Gaines, Ellen Parker, Joanne Camp, Anne Lange and Drew McVety |
| The Tales of the Allergist's Wife | Charles Busch | Faith Prince, Andrea Martin, and Richard Kind |
| Fully Committed | Becky Mode | Mark Setlock |
| Fuddy Mears | David Lindsay-Abaire | J. Smith-Cameron, Robert Stanton, Keith Nobbs, Patrick Breen, Marylouise Burke, Mark McKinney, and Lisa Gorlitsky |
| The Divine Sister | Charles Busch | Alison Fraser, Julie Halston, Amy Rutberg, Jennifer Van Dyck, and Jonathan Walker |
| Bakersfield Mist | Stephen Sachs | Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub |
| The Little Doug Laughed | Douglas Carter Beane | Julie White, Johnny Galecki, Zoe Lister-Jones, and Neal Huff |
| Arms & the Man | George Bernard Shaw | Christian Conn, Daniel Davis, Alison Fraser, Tom Hewitt, Ismenia Mendes, Lauren Molina, and Phillipa Soo |
| Motherhood Out Loud | Susan R. Rose and Joan Stein | Jayne Atkinson, Andréa Burns, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Michel Gill, Justin Guarini, and Jane Kaczmarek |
| Candida | George Bernard Shaw | Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Andréa Burns, Santino Fontana, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jay O. Sanders, Michael Benjamin Washington, David Staller |
| All in the Timing | David Ives | Nancy Opel and Robert Stanton |
| Free Speech | Gilbert L. Bailey ll, Nova Y. Payton, Ann Harada, Gabriel Brown, Orville Mendoza, Andréa Burns, Michelle Liu Coughlin, Jason Veasey, Pearl Sun, Antuan Magic Raimone, Nikky Walks, Awa Sal Secka, Samy Figaredo, Ines Nassara | |
| Blithe Spirit | Noël Coward | Merle Dandride, Angel Desai, Montego Glover, William Jackson Harper, Kendyl Ito, Thom Sesma and Leslie Uggams |
| Free Speech Volume 2 | Devanand Jenki, Janelle Lawrence, James Edward Alexander, Valerie David, Nandita Shenoy, Riki Stevens, Bil Wright, Awa Sal Secka | |
| Macbeth | William Shakespeare | André De Shields, Donna Bullock, Rachel Crowl, Sherman Howard, Maurics Jones, Ty Jones, Linda Kenyon |
| Free Speech Volume 3 | Peter Flynn, Lauryn Hobbs, Elliot Johnson, Dai Thompson, Mukta Phatak, Kalonjee Gallimore, Daja M. Rice, Naima Alakham, Brittany-Laurelle, Janelle Clayton, Jonathan Duvelson, Ronnita Freeman, Ashley Hurd, Elliot Johnson, Jonah Nash, Tavia Riveé, Grace Rivera, Vanessa Sierra, Justin Sudderth, Welinton Vallejo, Jasón Wells, Adrienne Witt | |
| Beautiful Thing | Jonathan Harvey | Natalie Toro, Kennedy Kanagawa, Cheech Manohar, Kuhoo Verma and Jason Veasey |
| Die, Mommie, Die! | Charles Busch | Charles Busch, Jennifer Cody, Brandon Contreras, Willie Garson, Ruth Williamson, BD Wong |
| Misalliance | George Bernard Shaw | Marc DelaCruz, Dan Dominguez, Midori Francis, Peter Francis James, Teresa Avia Lim, Jamie Sanders, Thom Sesma, Ryan Spahn and Sharon Washington, David Staller |
| Stick Fly | Lydia R. Diamond | Jelani Alladin, Caroline Innerbichler, Keith Randolph Smith, Tiffany Rachelle Stewart, Daniel J. Watts and Renika Williams |
| Caesar & Cleopatra | George Bernard Shaw | Jeff Applegate, Rajesh Bose, Brenda Braxton, Robert Cuccioli, Dan Dominguez, Jonathan Hadley, Mirirai Sithole |
Television cast reunions
Film cast reunions
| Film | Guests | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| The Goodbye Girl | Quinn Cummings, Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason | [47] |
| Night at the Museum | Hank Azaria, Bill Cobbs, Steve Coogan, Patrick Gallagher, Carla Gugino, Shawn Levy, Mizuo Peck, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson | [48] |
| The Kids are All Right | Annette Bening, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Lisa Cholodenko and Gary Gilbert | [49] |
| Camp | Daniel Letterle, Joanna Chilcoat, Robin de Jesus, Sasha Allen, Tiffany Taylor, Steven Cutts, Tony Melson, Leslie Frye and Vince Rimoldi | [50] |
| Hercules | Lillias White, Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze, Roz Ryan, Jon LaPook, Susan Egan, Tate Donovan, Danny DeVito and Roger Bart | [51] |
Musical cast reunions
Broadway Memorabilia Auction
In addition to direct donations made to The Actor's Fund, viewers can also contribute by bidding on memorabilia donated directly from the stars themselves. Items have included Tina Fey's old headshot,[86] Betty Buckley's original wig from Cats,[87] and a gown worn by Kristin Chenoweth.[88][89]