Actress and singer Megan Hilty, who has earned rave reviews for her performances spanning the stage, screen and concert hall, brings her wide-ranging talents to Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m., when she and pianist/commentator Seth Rudetsky perform songs from the great musicals.
Their appearance is part of the series “Mark Cortale’s Broadway @ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts” at the Center’s Virginia G. Piper Theater. The series features cabaret-style concerts by Broadway stars, accompanied by Rudetsky and mixed with candid showbiz stories.
Hilty may be most recognizable for her portrayal of seasoned triple-threat Ivy Lynn in NBC’s musical drama Smash. She made her Broadway debut as Glinda in Wicked, starred as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and received high praise for her portrayal of Doralee Rhodes in Broadway’s 9 to 5: The Musical. She earned a Tony Award nomination for her role as Brooke Ashton in Noises Off. The Bellevue, Washington, native has released two albums and her solo concerts continue to sell out and receive critical acclaim, from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to the Kennedy Center.
It was during her hiatus between Smash‘s first and second seasons that Hilty garnered rave reviews for her performance in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Ben Brantley of The New York Times called the opening performance “…one of those single, golden nights, so cherished by theatergoers, that thrust its leading lady into the firmament of musical stardom.”
In 2015, Hilty starred in a one-night-only performance of Bombshell and a two-night presentation of Annie Get Your Gun at New York City Center. She returned to Broadway as Brooke Ashton in Noises Off, a performance that in addition to earning her a 2016 Tony Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, also garnered her Drama Desk and Drama League awards nominations.
Rudetsky is the afternoon host on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio’s On Broadway, as well as the host of Seth Speaks on Sirius/XM Stars. He began his career as pit pianist for such shows as Ragtime, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. He found he had a knack for commentary, and expanded his work to include arts broadcast journalism. His radio shows feature interviews with major Broadway stars and deconstructions of major musicals. He also writes the Onstage & Backstage column for Playbill magazine, and wrote and co-starred in the musical Disaster! on Broadway.
In June of 2016, Rudetsky and his husband, James Wesley, co-produced a recording of “What The World Needs Now” with Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Carole King and Audra McDonald. The benefit song went to No. 1 on iTunes, and has raised more than $100,000 to benefit the Orlando nightclub shooting victims. On Inauguration Day 2017, the couple started Concert For America, an evening of entertainment with stars of film, television, music, comedy and Broadway, raising funds for five national organizations working to protect civil rights.
