Vanessa Williams Set for Broadway at The Nourse Concert Series

Hosted by Sirius XM Radio Star Seth Rudetsky, this unique series will debut this winter at The Nourse Theater with two concerts. First up will be the red-hot star of TV's "Smash" and Broadway's "Wicked," Megan Hilty on February 7th, followed by Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award nominated superstar Vanessa Williams on April 25.

What differentiates this concert series from any other is the seamless mix of intimate behind-the-scenes stories from Broadway's biggest stars -- prompted by the encyclopedic-minded Rudetsky's probing, funny, revealing questions -- and their stellar singing of musical theatre repertoire.

The Broadway @ The Nourse concert series will benefit San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Project Open Hand, and San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Drag superstar Varla Jean Merman will be the opening act on the Vanessa Williams concert on April 25. Tickets are now on-sale -- further information can be found at www.cityboxoffice.com/broadway or by calling (415) 392-4400.

Producer Mark Cortale and his creative partner Rudetsky have quickly made their Broadway @ series the single most sought-after ticket to see Broadway's musical mega-stars like Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald and Megan Mullally in concert. Since launching the series in 2011 at Provincetown's Art House, its success has most recently led to runs in London, Sydney, Melbourne, New Orleans, Santa Monica, Fort Lauderdale, Detroit, San Antonio, and now San Francisco.

Megan Hilty, was a breakout star of NBC's "Smash" and starred on Broadway in "Wicked" and "9 to 5: The Musical." She most recently starred as Liz on NBC's "Sean Saves The World" with Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace" fame. A native of Seattle, Megan made her Broadway debut as Glinda in "Wicked" shortly after graduating from prestigious Carnegie Mellon University, and went on to perform the role in both the national tour and in Los Angeles. She has also appeared on New York stages as Lorelei Lee in the Encores! production of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," for which she earned rave reviews. For her critically acclaimed portrayal of Doralee Rhodes in Broadway's "9 to 5: The Musical" she received nominations for the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League Awards, as well as the L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award. She has previously performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center and with the Cincinnati Symphony. Megan's voice was featured as Rosetta in Disney's "Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings" and also in Disney's "The Secret Life of Magic Gourd," "Phineas & Ferb," "Glenn Martin DDS," "American Dad," "Tinker Bell and the Pixie Hollow Games," "Robot & Monster" as well as singing as Snow White in the film "Shrek the Third." Megan is featured in Summertime Entertainment's animated film "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return" with Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Dancy and Lea Michele. She can also be heard alongside Placido Domingo on the opera star's duet album. Megan was recently signed to Sony Music in a partnership between Sony Masterworks and Columbia Records. Her most recent album, "It Happens All The Time," includes fresh interpretations of compositions by contemporary songwriters and producers.

Vanessa Williams has enjoyed one of the most varied and successful careers of any entertainer today. As a recording artist, she has sold over 25 million records worldwide, including #1 and Top 10 hits in genres stretching from Pop, Dance, R&B, Latin, Gospel, Jazz and more, including 17 total Grammy nominations. Her platinum single "Colors of the Wind" from the soundtrack to Disney's animated hit film "Pocahontas" won the Oscar for Best Original Song. On Television she starred as Wilhelmina Slater on "Ugly Betty," a role that brought her three Emmy nominations during the series' four-season run. Other TV appearances include "666 Park Avenue," "Desperate Housewives," "South Beach," "Boomtown," "Ally McBeal," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "The Love Boat," and many others, as well as TV-movies "The Jacksons - An American Dream," "The Kid Who Loved Christmas," "Bye Bye Birdie," "The Courage to Love," "Don Quixote," "A Diva's Christmas Carol," "Keep the Faith, Baby," "Stompin' at the Savoy," and others. On film, Vanessa has starred in "Soul Food," for which she won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress and the Black Film Award for Best Actress, as well as the films "Dance with Me," "Light It Up," "Shaft," "And Then Came Love," "My Brother," "Johnson Family Vacation," "Eraser," "Hannah Montana: The Movie," "Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor," among others. Among the award broadcasts she has hosted, are "The Essence Awards," "NAACP Image Awards," "TV Land Awards," "The Daytime Emmy Awards." Her Broadway performances include her Tony-nominated role in the revival of "Into the Woods," as well as "Kiss of the Spider Woman," "Sondheim on Sondheim," "The Trip to Bountiful," "After Midnight," and Encores' "St. Louis Woman." Vanessa Williams has received both the Lena Horne "Lady of Soul" Award and the International Press Academy's "Mary Pickford Award" for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to The Entertainment Industry. In 2007 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her accomplishments as a performer. She also received the Human Rights Campaign "Ally for Equality" Award for Humanitarian Contributions, and is an advocate for equal rights, especially concerning the LGBT community and minorities.

Jeffery Roberson aka Varla Jean Merman starred Off-Broadway in the musical "Lucky Guy" opposite Leslie Jordan at the Little Shubert, prompting The New York Times to say "If Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman had stood in front of the right pair of funhouse mirrors, they might have resembled Ms. Merman and Mr. Jordan in stature as well as comedic talent." He played the role of Mary Sunshine in the revival of "Chicago" on Broadway and won Boston's Elliot Norton Award for Best Musical Performance in "The Phantom of the OPRAH." He starred as Mother Superior in SpeakEasy Stage's "The Divine Sister" by Charles Busch in Boston. Jeffery as Varla Jean has filled concert halls and cabarets across the world including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Public Theater, London's Soho Theatre, LA's Renberg Theatre, and San Francisco's Victoria Theatre, Plush Room and most recently Feinstein's. Jeffery recently completed shooting the feature films "Hush Up Sweet Charlotte" directed by Billy Clift and the sequel to "Girls Will Be Girls" directed by Richard Day. His last film "Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads" played the 2012 festival circuit and is currently available exclusively via SethTV.com. He made his network television debut on "All My Children," guest starred as Varla Jean in "Ugly Betty's" final season and on Bravo's "Project Runway" Season 5 as the winning model for the show's drag challenge.

Seth 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 a pianist, Seth has played for more than a dozen Broadway shows including Ragtime, Les Miz and Phantom. He was the Artistic Producer/Music Director for the first five annual Actors Fund Fall Concerts including "Dreamgirls" with Audra McDonald (recorded on Nonesuch Records) and "HAIR" with Jennifer Hudson (recorded on Ghostlight Records, Grammy Nomination). In 2007 he made his Broadway acting debut playing Sheldon (singing "Magic to Do" in a devastating unitard) in "The Ritz" directed by Joe Mantello for The Roundabout Theater. Off-Broadway he wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed "Rhapsody in Seth" (directed by Peter Flynn) at the Actors Playhouse and has also appeared on TV on "Law & Order: CI" and had a recurring role on "All My Children." As an author, he penned the non-fiction Q Guide To Broadway, the novel Broadway Nights and the recently published My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan (Random House). Broadway Nights is available on Audible.com starring Kristin Chenoweth, Andrea Martin and Jonathan Groff and My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ana Gasteyer and Megan Hilty. Seth played himself on "Kathy Griffin; My Life on the D-List," was the vocal coach on MTV's "Legally Blonde" reality show and starred opposite Sutton Foster in "They're Playing Our Song" for the Actors Fund. Recently, he co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed "Disaster!," a 1970's disaster movie musical which is now slated to transfer to Broadway in 2015. Right now, he tours the country performing with Broadway stars like Patti LuPone, Sutton Foster and Audra McDonald. His newest book, Seth's Broadway Diary, was ranked as a number one bestseller on Amazon.com For more info: www.SethTV.com.

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