Seth Rudetsky has built a reputation for coaxing the best backstage stories out of Broadway's biggest names, and this time he's sitting down with Vanessa Williams for a conversation-meets-concert that feels more like eavesdropping on old friends than attending a formal show. Rudetsky, who built his following as a Sirius XM host and spent years as a Broadway pianist and conductor, has a knack for asking the questions you actually want answered—the ones that get performers talking candidly about their careers rather than reciting rehearsed anecdotes.
Williams brings decades of material to draw from, having moved fluidly between pop music, film, television, and Broadway stages throughout her career. Expect the evening to weave between her hit songs and the stories behind them, with Rudetsky's piano work threading it all together. The format strips away the polish of a typical concert, leaning into something looser and more revealing—part interview, part living room performance, staged inside the grand surroundings of Reynolds Hall with its sweeping balconies and full orchestra pit.