SIERRA BOGGESS AND RAMIN KARIMLOO JOIN SETH RUDETSKY

Published: Apr 30, 2019

FORT LAUDERDALE – Broadway’s original Ariel in The Little Mermaid and a frequent Christine Daaé in Phantom of the Opera and its sequel Love Never Dies performs together with Tony & Olivier Award Nominee and star of Broadway’s Anastasia, Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera when Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo join Sirius XM Radio star Seth Rudetsky in the Broadway Concert Series at The Parker on Saturday, May 18 at 8 p.m.

Presented by The Broward Center for the Performing Arts and Mark Cortale, the concert will deliver show-stopping songs and hilarity in a seamless mix of music from the Broadway stars’ stellar careers and intimate behind-the-scenes stories prompted by Rudetsky’s insightful, funny and revealing questions.

Boggess was last seen on Broadway in the Tony nominated musical School Of Rock. Other Broadway credits include It Shoulda Been You, two separate engagements of the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera (the first for the show’s 25^thAnniversary and the second opposite Norm Lewis), the revival of Master Class opposite Tyne Daly and The Little Mermaid. London theater credits include Les Misérables, the 25th-anniversary concerts of The Phantom of the Opera at Royal Albert Hall and Love Never Dies, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award. Other New York theater credits include The Secret Garden at Lincoln Center opposite Ben Platt, Cheyenne Jackson, and Ramin Karimloo; the one-night-only concert of Guys & Dolls at Carnegie Hall opposite Nathan Lane, Patrick Wilson and Megan Mullally; the final Off-Broadway cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, and Music in the Air for City Center’s Encores! series. She also starred as Christine Daae in the Las Vegas production of The Phantom of the Opera. Her recordings include School Of Rock, It Shoulda Been You, the 25th-anniversary concert of The Phantom of the Opera, the symphonic recording of Love Never Dies, The Little Mermaid and Andrew Lippa’s A Little Princess. Concert appearances include the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall, Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series The Lyrics of David Zippel, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and Broadway by the Year at Town Hall. Sierra has toured all over the world across Australia, Japan, Paris, and London with her concert show, which has been preserved live and released on CD, Awakening: Live at 54 Below.

Called “a global actor for a global time” by The New York Times, Iranian-born, Canadian-raised Tony and Olivier Award-nominated actor and singer Karimloo has taken the West End and Broadway by storm with stand-out performances in the most iconic roles in musical theatre, as well as nuanced characterizations in new and surprising pieces of theatre. He recently starred on Broadway in the smash-hit new musical Anastasia originating the role of Gleb Vaganov, a new character written for the stage adaptation and tailored to his talents. On the West End, he rose to fame in starring roles in both of the West End’s longest running musicals: Les Misérables, where he’s played Jean Valjean, Enjolras and Marius; and The Phantom of the Opera, where he played Raoul and became the youngest person ever to play The Phantom. Karimloo was then hand-picked by Andrew Lloyd Webber to originate the lead role of The Phantom in Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. For his performance, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical and awarded with the prestigious Theatregoer’s Choice Award and the Broadway World Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Additional awards include: Favorite Leading Man in London’s West End in the WhatsOnStage Awards, West End Theatregoers Choice Award for his performance as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, and the Best Actor in a Musical WhatsOnStage Award in 2011 for his performance as The Phantom in Love Never Dies.

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. As an author, he penned My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan and the sequel The Rise And Fall Of A Theater Geek (Random House) as well as three volumes of Seth's Broadway Diary featuring inside scoop and hilarious stories from all of the stars he's worked with. He co-wrote and co-starred in Disaster! (New York Times “critics pick") which also premiered to rave reviews in London.

In June 2016, Rudetsky and his husband, James Wesley, co-produced a recording of "What The World Needs Now" with stars including ‪Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, ‪Carole King and Audra McDonald which went to number one on iTunes and raised more than $100,000 for the Orlando shooting victims (and is still raising money. Buy it!).

The couple have a foundation called “Your Kids Our Kids” that presented "Concert For America;” a series around the country featuring stars such as ‪Barry Manilow, ‪Stephanie Mills, ‪Vanessa Williams, Tina Fey, Randy Rainbow and Audra MacDonald that raised money for five non-profits that have been working relentlessly since the 2016 presidential election. They also present “Voices for The Voiceless,” a yearly star-studded concert for You Gotta Believe which helps older foster children find families, even if they’ve aged out of the system.

Theater fans can also hang out with Rudetsky, Wesley and a bunch of Broadway stars as they perform up a storm, on cruises: in July they’re sailing to Alaska (SethsBroadwayVacations.com).

Tickets are $37-$67 with $123 VIP tickets which include a post-show meet and greet with the artists. This event was previously announced for February 8. Tickets for that date are valid and will provide admittance on May 18.

Ticketmaster is the only official ticketing service of The Parker. Buy tickets online at ParkerPlayhouse.com and Ticketmaster.com; by phone at 954.462.0222; in person at the The Parker box office Tuesday through Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and at the Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office.

The The Parker, located in Holiday Park at 707 N.E. Eighth Street in Fort Lauderdale, is an affiliated venue of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, which provides programming and management of the facility. The Broward Center 2018-2019 season is presented by the Broward Performing Arts Foundation.

For more information visit ParkerPlayhouse.com, like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheParkerPlayhouse and join the conversation on Twitter with #ParkerPlayhouse.

ABOUT PARKER PLAYHOUSE

The neo-classical The Parker is a Fort Lauderdale landmark. One of the city’s first entertainment venues, it was built by Dr. Louis Parker and opened its doors on February 6, 1967. During its early years, the playhouse earned its reputation presenting theatrical seasons featuring legendary Broadway stars. In 2005, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts assumed management of the 1,168-seat, fully-equipped theater and, over the years, it became a venue of note for every kind of artistic activity – theater and Broadway, music, concerts, dance of all genres, comedy, conversations, celebrations and educational programming that is curriculum-driven and aligned with Florida state standards. The Parker will undergo a $25 million transformation to take the iconic venue into the 21st century. For more information on the Parker campaign, visit ParkerPlayhouse.com/Support.