A DELIGHTFUL JOURNEY THROUGH BROADWAY’S GREATEST DIVAS

By Sophie Clark | Muck Rack Portfolio | Press Invite

Part personal anecdotes and part historian’s journey through Broadway’s past, Seth Rudetsky: Divas By the Decade was a delightfully entertaining and informative trip to stages graced by some of Broadway’s greatest belters. 

Rudetsky, who is somewhat of a Broadway legend himself playing piano for several historic shows including Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and A Chorus Line, has clearly never lost his love and admiration for divas after working in the industry.

I was not entirely sure what to expect, and was one of very few people in the packed room who was not already a fan of Rudetsky and singers from the 50s. That said, I ended up having a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Rudetsky’s show was a slideshow presentation of his favourite, although admittedly incomplete, Broadway belters, sopranos, and real triple threats. I completely agree with his assertion that we use the word ‘diva’ far too liberally in 2025, and that it should be reserved for women who can hit the back of a Broadway theatre without a microphone, or can be entirely, yet justifiably, self-centered. 

I wish Rudetsky had played more piano himself, as he is a deeply accomplished artist in his own right, and it did feel at times that the show was a trial before his widely publicised — in the room — upcoming cruise. 

Although every woman that he mentioned was brilliant, and the clips he chose of them were clearly well thought-out, him breaking out his own musical chops would have created some more momentum and movement in the show to juxtapose the show’s theme of listing various women who could sing (and dance, and act) well. 

Additionally, the show went on much longer than advertised. It was supposed to go for approximately 75 minutes, but was nearly two hours long. That said, I would not have cut any of the fantastic performances that he included in his slideshow, my favourite being Leslie Uggam’s improvised rendition of June is Busting Out All Over which made me keel over with laughter. He does not need to necessarily shorten the show, but it should be advertised more accurately.  

Matt, the tech guy, should receive a lot of praise for really encapsulating the spirit of ‘the show must go on,’ as the all-important projector broke half way through Seth’s show, and Matt managed to resuscitate it without any (visible) fuss or panic. So, thank you Matt. 

I found this show to be a very fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and I certainly left it more knowledgeable about musical theatre art and artists. 

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