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“Stars in the House” will return for its second Election Day Vote-A-Thon with a star-studded lineup joining hosts Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson to talk about their voting experiences and deliver LIVE musical performances! The who’s who of stage and screen favorites who will participate on Tuesday, November 5 includes Lin-Manuel Miranda, Martin Short, Rosie Perez, Wayne Brady, Jessie Mueller, Shoshana Bean, Judy Kuhn, J. Harrison Ghee, Anika Larsen, Emily Skinner, Andrea Martin, Will Swenson, Brad Oscar, Javier Muñoz, Peri Gilpin, Merle Dandridge, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Rachel Bay Jones, Nina West, Lauren Patten, Kevin Chamberlin, Ali Ewoldt, Sam Gravitte, stars from the Original Broadway Cast of “Hairspray” (Marissa Jaret Winokur, Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, and composer/co-lyricist Marc Shaiman), members of the cast of “Glee” (Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Heather Morris, and more), improv group Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, and a live dance performance from Chicago stars Charlotte d’Amboise and Brenda Braxton. The Vote-A-Thon, which will once again support the Entertainment Community Fund, will take place LIVE from 12pm – 6pm ET on the Stars In The House YouTube channel and StarsInTheHouse.com.
Fans have always been a huge part of the show at “Stars in the House” and that will be truer than ever during this year’s Vote-A-Thon! Starting NOW, fans can send in their “I Voted” selfies to [email protected] for a chance to be featured on the show.
Broadway Votes will keep Seth, James, and viewers up to date with election reminders and factoids as the day goes on. And with Joy to the Polls, Seth and James will spotlight pop-up musical performances happening outside polling places in North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania.
“We were so moved by the reactions to our Vote-A-Thon in 2020 that we wanted to continue the tradition and provide a place where people can go to get away from some of the stress of election day, but still stay informed and most importantly – be entertained!” said Seth and James. “Our live event is the perfect way to pass the time while you’re in line at the polls or waiting for the results. We are so grateful to those in the community who will be joining us to share their voting experiences and sing and/or dance up a storm!”
“People in the performing arts and entertainment industry are still struggling to get back on their feet after the last few years of the pandemic and work stoppages. The Entertainment Community Fund is here to help those in need, and we in turn continue to rely on the generosity of others to sustain that support,” said Joe Benincasa, President and CEO of the Entertainment Community Fund. “Seth and James have kept the focus on how the Fund helps others since the launch of Stars in the House in March 2020, and their brilliant and entertaining outreach is deeply, profoundly and sincerely appreciated.”
The stars participating in the Election Day Vote-A-Thon join a long line of luminaries who have visited “Stars in the House” since the first show on March 16, 2020, including George Clooney, Jean Smart, Lisa Kudrow, Norman Lear, Ben Stiller, Chita Rivera, Bernadette Peters, Kerry Washington, Chandra Wilson, Kristin Chenoweth, Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond, Keala Settle, Judith Light, Annette Bening, Leslie Uggams, Audra McDonald, Peyton List, Patrick Wilson, Vanessa Williams, and Billy Porter. Dozens of iconic casts have reunited on the show, including film and television hits like “Night at the Museum,” “Scandal,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “The Waltons,” “Melrose Place,” “ER,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The West Wing,” “thirtysomething,” “30 Rock,” “Frasier,” “Fame,” “Glee,” “Desperate Housewives,” “SCTV,” “White Collar,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Taxi,” “The Love Boat,” “One Day at a Time,” and “Star Trek: Voyager;” plus iconic Broadway favorites like “Spring Awakening,” “Rent,” “A Chorus Line,” “Mamma Mia,” “Les Misérables,” “Urinetown,” “Fun Home,” “The Prom,” and “The Full Monty.”
As the creators and executive producers of “Stars In The House,” Seth and James bring a masterful combination of music, storytelling and community to each episode, ensuring that the show goes on in viewers’ homes even while performance venues across the world are closed.
“Stars In The House” airs on its YouTube channel and starsinthehouse.com. For more information and to see upcoming guests, please visit starsinthehouse.com and follow @StarsInTheHouse, Seth (@SethRudetsky) and James (@JamesWesleyNYC) on Twitter and Instagram.
ABOUT STARS IN THE HOUSE
Created at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Stars in the House” is a livestream series featuring stars of stage and screen to support charitable services for those most in need.
Since the first show, “Stars In The House” has raised $1,298,135 to benefit The Entertainment Community Fund, and over $500,000 for other charities, including the International Rescue Committee, NAACP LDF, Trevor Project, Humane Society of New York, Waterkeeper Alliance, You Gotta Believe, Cancer Support Community, New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, Youth Pride Chorus, and many more.
For their work on Stars in the House, James and Seth received a special Drama Desk Award, the Founders Award for Resilience from the Cancer Support Community, and a Gotham Icon Award from the Museum of the City of New York for keeping the theatre community “connected, informed, and uplifted during the pandemic.”
On November 2, 2020, The United States Library of Congress selected the “Stars in the House” website for inclusion in the historic collection of Internet materials related to the Coronavirus Web Archive due to it being considered “an important part of this collection and the historical record.”
Visit starsinthehouse.com to watch the Vote-A-Thon, as well as previous episodes and to donate to The Entertainment Community Fund.
ABOUT THE ENTERTAINMENT COMMUNITY FUND
Supporting a life in the arts
The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a national human services organization that addresses the unique needs of people who work in performing arts and entertainment with services focused on health and wellness, career and life, and housing. Since 1882, the Fund has sought to ensure stability, encourage resiliency and be a safety net for those who shape our country’s cultural vibrancy. To date, in response to the pandemic and through the film and television work stoppage, the Fund has provided more than $55 million in emergency financial assistance to more than 33,000 people in need in the performing arts and entertainment industry. Learn more at entertainmentcommunity.org.
ABOUT BROADWAY VOTES
Broadway Votes is a nonpartisan organization working to leverage the unique influence of the Broadway community and fanbase to inspire civic engagement across America. Founded in 2024 by Catherine Markowitz and Nelini Stamp, their sole mission is to promote voter participation, ensuring that every voice in the diverse tapestry of our business, audience, and nation is heard.
ABOUT JOY TO THE POLLS
Joy to the Polls is a nonpartisan organization working to get out the vote by motivating voters with music, joy, community, and art. They organize artists across the country to lift up and celebrate voters through pop-up concerts and creative actions that will energize people to turn out during early voting and on election day.
Seth began working on Broadway as a pianist for shows like Les Miserables and Phantom Of The Opera. He soon connected with Hearts and Voices, an organization that brings live weekly performances to hospitalized people with AIDS and began volunteering for them in 1992, performing at: Rivington House, Roosevelt Island Hospital, the prison ward at St. Clare’s Hospital and the Cardinal Cooke AIDS ward
In 2001, he produced and conducted “Dreamgirls” starring Heather Headley, Audra McDonald and Lillias White, the first fall concert for The Actors Fund, which was recorded on Nonesuch Records and raised almost $1 million for The Fund. He then did “Funny Girl” with Idina Menzel and Jane Krakowski, “Chess” with Adam Pascal and Josh Groban, “Hair” with Jennifer Hudson (Ghostlight Records, Grammy nomination), “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” with Terrence Mann and Jennifer Hudson and “On The Twentieth Century” with Marin Mazzie and Kathleen Turner. He also starred opposite Sutton Foster in The Actors Fund production of “They’re Playing Our Song” and hosted and played piano for an array of divas for their 2009 Nothing Like A Dame concert with Betty Buckley, Stephanie J. Block, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara and Bebe Neuwirth.
As a writer, he was nominated for three Emmy Awards for comedy writing on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and is the author of three volumes of “Seth’s Broadway Diary” which has tons and tons of Inside Broadway stories, “My Awesome Awful Popularity Plan” and its sequel “The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek” (published by Random House). Recently, he authored “Musical Theatre For Dummies,” which is also available as an audio book.
Seth and his husband James produced the all-star Broadway for Orlando recording of “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” featuring Carole King, Gloria Estefan, Sara Bareilles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Billy Porter. The song charted on the Billboard Hot 100, reached #1 on iTunes, and raised over $100,000 for the GLBT Center of Orlando. Seth and James also organized the group to sing at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.
He is the afternoon Broadway host on SiriusXM Radio and co-wrote and co-starred in “Disaster!” on Broadway.
ABOUT JAMES WESLEY JACKSON
In addition to conceiving the idea for Broadway for Orlando, James conceived (and co-produced with Seth) the first-ever benefit on Broadway for foster youth. On November 18th, James and Seth will be hosting their 10th annual Voices: Stars for Foster Kids benefit for You Gotta Believe, which helps older foster children find forever families.
In response to concerns that marginalized people would suffer after 2016’s presidential election, James co-produced and co- hosted a concert series called “Concert for America” with Seth. The first concert was held at The Town Hall in New York, New York January 20, 2017. Over the course of the series (13 in all), some of entertainment’s biggest stars, including Barry Manilow, Vanessa Williams, Chita Rivera, Melissa Manchester, Melissa Benoist, and Grant Gustin, generously lent their voices to raise money for national organizations dedicated to protecting civil rights, women’s health, and environmental protection, in theaters around the country.
In 2020, James and Seth produced the all-star recording of “Georgia On My Mind” to help raise awareness for Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight organization’s work for the January 5, 2021 run-off Senate election in Georgia. They also produced a special video celebrating the Inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, which aired during the January 20, 2021 Inaugural Special.
Most recently, they produced and co-hosted “Broadway Rallies for Kamala” at The Town Hall.
As a writer, James wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway play, “Unbroken Circle”, starring Eve Plumb and Tony nominees Anika Larsen and Jennifer Simard. He also wrote “Art and Science”, a comedy-drama dealing with the generational differences between two gay men. It starred Tony nominees Tony Sheldon and John Tartaglia.
James was also proud to be one of the lead producers on Broadway of his husband’s musical, “Disaster!”
James and Seth are the proud recipients of the National Leadership Award from the LGBTQ Task Force for their work on Broadway for Orlando’s “What the World Needs Now is Love” and they are the most recent recipients of the TDF Founders Award.
