Hello from New York-I am back after a few days in California. First, my friend Jack and I visited my father and his wife Gloria in Palm Desert. It was Veterans’ Day, so I remembered what my father told us about his experience in the Korean War years ago: when my father was called up, his sister saw this letter and was sad for him... so she took it Hidden. He didn't realize that he had to join the army until the day before he started. He remembered telling each soldier where they would be stationed when they were on the list after the basic training.
He admitted that his legs were shaking, and he was very happy when he found out that he was going to Germany instead of South Korea. Other soldiers he knew had to go to South Korea to participate in actual combat. He is very grateful to be in Germany and stay there at the end of the war, but he still has a few weeks in the army. He was ecstatic because he was allowed to take a one-month leave before being discharged from the hospital for the last time. This means he can treat it as a European holiday.
My dad said he could use military aircraft for free, and he immediately flew to Paris. He is ready to spend a good month, going to museums, drinking and dating. On his first afternoon there, he was sitting in an outdoor cafe, drinking espresso. Suddenly, two soldiers came over and told him that he had to return to the base. He didn't know what he did, but he had no choice but to go with them. When he got there, he found the "good" news: A few weeks ago, he told his mother that even if the war was over, he could not leave early. At that time, he didn't know that he could treat the last month as a small holiday. Well, after they talked, she made countless calls, telling those in power that she was emotionally stressed because her son had been away for so long, and she persuaded the army to let my dad end his service early. great? He was allowed/forced to shorten his 30 days in Paris in order to leave Europe immediately-to Brooklyn. That was 65 years ago. He was still discouraged.
After Palm Desert, Jack and I drove to Los Angeles. During the trip, we listened to Seth Rudetsky's Back To School, a podcast I made for SiriusXM/Pandora. You can listen to the podcast anywhere. It's all about celebrities in high school. Jack and I like SNL's Yang Bowen very much. Bowen knew he was gay when he was in high school, but when he was freshman, he joked with a female classmate that they would have amazing sex one day. He took up a whole page of her yearbook with false details about what they would do to satisfy their desires, and finally he said: "I can't wait to fuck you!" Well, a few days after the yearbook was published When he got home, there were about 30 phone calls on the answering machine at home. Suddenly, the phone rang, and this time, he answered the phone. That is the girl's stepfather.
The man told Bowen that he was disgusted and horrified by what Bowen had written, and then told him that he was a very powerful lawyer and that he would ensure that Bowen was expelled from high school. Poor Bowen hung up and told his family nothing. Can you imagine how scared he is? He just fell into a silent panic. The next day arrived, Bowen arrived at the school, he was called to the dean's office, he was not expelled...but he was suspended for five days due to "sexual misconduct". He is a good student with pairs of shoes, so much so that his first thought was "I think I will have to write this in my college thesis." Remember, he is a freshman, but he immediately knew it would record On his record, when he applied to college in four years, he had to explain. In short, he has not contacted that girl since high school. However, as a final call back, I asked him at the end of this part of the interview if they really ended up having amazing sex. #TwistEnding
You can listen to that podcast and all my other back to school podcasts here.
James and I attended Willie Garson's memorial service in Los Angeles. Willie starred in "White Collar" and "Sex and the City" and other shows, we established contact with him because he adopted his son from foster care. James and I must believe that this is the only organization in New York City dedicated to finding homes for older foster youths. A few years ago, Wiley gave a speech for us and then conducted a House Star fundraiser for YGB. Willie's son Nathan interned on Discovery Channel during Willie's illness. After Willie's death, Discovery Channel donated $300,000 to "You Must Believe Willie's Name". Since then, they have launched the Willie Garson Fund to benefit YGB forever. Everyone in his memorial is encouraged to donate, and you can also donate here.
In terms of who Willie is, the memorial itself is so wonderful. There is such a lively and relaxed ridicule. One person said: "Look at this result! So many stars. This just proves one thing: Willie is indeed as famous as he said." His two close friends Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett according to Willie in an email The requirements outlined, put the entire memorial together, including having a gospel choir and a New Orleans band. Mark and Jane told James and I that they would begin to commemorate Willie’s e-mail request, and then Jane would mention one of her oldest memories of Willie: the song and dance performance he did when he was 18, beginning with "If they You can See Me Now" and continue to play "I Made It From The Rain" (he is still 18 years old), and then back to "If they could see Me Now". We all came up with an idea how to start a memorial event that set the tone; love but ribbing. So... Mark and Jen opened their mouths, and finally Jen talked about Willie's cabaret performance, and finally commented that she hoped they could record it in some way, but unfortunately, it will only remain in memory.
I ran to the stage and asked her what key it was. She said casually: "I don't know, G?" I said, "G?! Jason Alexander—that's your signature key." Then Jason suddenly stood in the audience (holding the microphone) and said, " Seth, they are all my keys!" I played an introduction, and he immediately began to sing the song. Suddenly, Nia Vadaros joined Jason, and she began with "Jason, I have notes." She told him: "Jason, you are a great singer...but Willie is a better actor. He can sell any lyrics. Just like this..." Then she began to sing the second part. In the end, Nia and Jason quickly said that they needed a third singer to complete it. Nia told Jason, "We need great singers like you. And people like you who pretend to be straight men." Steven Webb stood up and said, "I meet this requirement. I'm Steven TV. Wen Weber!" He almost finished singing the song... But just before the last note, someone shouted "Stop". Matt Bomer introduced "I Have Been Through the Rain". At the end of the part, Nia reminded everyone that they existed for Willie and added: "Bomer! Stop messing around." Then they all sang the parody lyrics I wrote:
NIA: If he can see us now, let's be honest, he can see him waving to all his friends at Wesleyan College
Matt: He saw his oldest friend...and new friends
Jason/Steven: (indicating himself) he saw first-line stars (indicating to each other) and people like you
NIA: He is in heaven now and he is famous there
Steven: Because Mr. Belvedere has a lot of fans!
MATT: There is one last thing to do now
Jason: Let's sing together
Everyone: Willie Garson, we love you!
It's going well. Moreover, at this time, the Willie Garson Fund has more than $460,000. Tribute to all those who participated and all those who contributed.
Back in New York, Seth’s Broadway collapse will be staged at AsylumNYC next month. I had a great time. This is a quick video made by Jack, which contains a rotating record of some of the shows that I broke down in the show, aka obsession. When he switched records in my hands, I had to maintain the exact position I was in. I feel very Haley Mills in The Parent Trap (#OldSkoolReference #NotReallyAGoodComparison). The Tix of Seth's Broadway breakdown is here.
And, this Sunday at 8pm Eastern Time is my live concert with Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, who just emerged from Broadway's Beetlejuice. Just graduating from CCM (with other actors Shoshana Bean and Kristy Cates, they both played Elphaba by coincidence), Leslie played Fanny Brice in the funny girl at the Paper Mill Theater. Many years later, she participated in my SiriusXM talk show "Seth Speaks" and talked about her audition for the (at the time) Broadway revival of the funny girl, and finally let Lauren Ambrose play Fanny, and then did not come to Broadway. Anyhoo, she ended the interview with "I am the greatest star". I like that she can sing so many songs when she sits down, and I like that next to her is another interview with me that day, Max Mutchnick, the co-creator of Will and Grace. See how great she is, and get tix for my concert on TheSethConcertSeries.com.
Sign up for exclusive discounts and save up to 50% on tickets!