Marc Shaiman, Kerry Butler, Jennifer Lewis and Martin Short Talk HAIRSPRAY and More on STARS IN THE HOUSE

The Actors Fund has teamed with SiriusXM Broadway host Seth Rudetsky and his husband, producer James Wesley, to produce a daily mini-online show, entitled Stars in The House, featuring stars of stage and screen singing and performing live (from home!) on social media to promote support for The Fund's services for those most vulnerable to the effects of the virus.

Stars in The House continued last night (8pm) with Marc Shaiman, Kerry Butler, Jennifer Lewis, and Martin Short!

Kerry Butler shared how she landed the role of Penny in Hairspray.

"They had already done two readings, and then they cut Penny out of the show. They did a reading without Penny Pingleton and without her mom in the show, and I think John Waters came to it and was like, 'What! You can't not have Penny!' So then that round I got to audition again and I did a song that Seth knows because I've done it with him many times, Gee Whiz, and I made it like I was Penny Pingleton singing this song. I had this whole scene set up, and then right after that I got it."

Marc shared his thoughts about the first preview:

"I remember Scott [Wittman] and I were backstage, and when you're working on a show, when you're writing it, you think the audience is just going to be versions of yourself basically. And so we peeked out from the curtain as the first preview audience came in, and it all looked like George and Martha Washington. The entire 5th Avenue Theatre was just a sea of white and grey hair and we just went, 'Oh, we hadn't thought about that. What's it going to be like?' Maybe all we were feeling, we were about to get a rude awakening. And then that audience just so embraced it."

Watch the full episode HERE!

New shows will be produced DAILY at the traditional theater times of 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET. Each star will be singing a mix of their hit songs and/or something unexpected. Between each song, Seth will interview the star as he does on SiriusXM, leading them to give fun, inside stories about their careers. Both the star and Seth will encourage people watching to donate at ActorsFund.org/Donate and James will be giving updates from The Fund as well as giving shout-outs to people donating in real time.

Marc Shaiman received Tony, Grammy and Drama Desk Awards for Hairspray. He has toiled on more than 50 films including South Park, Patch Adams, The First Wives Club, The American President, Sleepless in Seattle, Broadcast News, When Harry Met Sally, Beaches, City Slickers, The Addams Family, A Few Good Men, Sister Act, In & Out and George of the Jungle. He has been nominated five times for an Oscar and lost every time. He started his career as vocal arranger for Bette Midler, eventually becoming her musical director and producer. Their collaboration on her Emmy Award-winning performance for Johnny Carson's final "Tonight Show" will always remain a dream. He auditioned but was not chosen to play himself on her sitcom. Marc was an Emmy nominee for writing on "Saturday Night Live" (the Sweeney Sisters) and is an actual Emmy Award winner for co-writing Billy Crystal's "Oscar Medleys." He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for his arrangements for Harry Connick Jr., and he has worked with many other artists including Peter Allen, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Martin Short and Barbra Streisand. He resides in both Los Angeles and New York City with theatre director and collaborator Scott Wittman. Their 23-year relationship is his proudest achievement.