During a special Labor Day event, the live online show “Stars In The House” raised over $55,000 for the Entertainment Community Fund. The episode was co-hosted by SiriusXM’s Seth Rudetsky, his husband, Broadway producer James Wesley, and Annette Bening, who was announced as the Fund’s new chair in June 2023.
“Stars In The House” is part Q&A, part impromptu concert and part game show. The Labor Day edition welcomed a slew of Broadway guests, including “The Cottage” director and Tony Award-winning actor Jason Alexander, three-time Tony nominee Kate Burton, Tony nominee Rory O'Malley and Tony nominee John Tartaglia.
Including the proceeds from the Sept. 4 broadcast, “Stars In The House” has raised over $1,253,780 since its inception March 2020. That number includes a $25,000 matching gift donation from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in Bening’s honor. In addition, there is an ongoing matching gift donation of up to $50,000 from John Cryer and Lisa Joyner. People can continue to donate at StarsInTheHouse.com to help meet the match.
“Seth and James have done it again!” Entertainment Community Fund president and CEO Joe Benincasa said in a statement. “Our deepest thanks to everyone who made the ‘Stars In The House’ Labor Day special so successful — including our remarkable chair, Annette Bening, and the multitude of guests who spent their holiday in support of the Fund. And of course, our thanks to the hundreds of people who donated so generously to help those in need in our industry.”
New episodes of “Stars In The House” are available on YouTube. The series is produced by Rudetsky, Wesley and David Katz.
