'Stars in the House' marks anniversary with four new TV and Broadway virtual reunions
Some cast members of NBC's "The West Wing" will reunite next week to celebrate the first anniverary of "Stars in the House." Credit: NBC / Newsmakers via Getty Images / James Sorensen
The charitable online series "Stars in the House," created by James Wesley and North Woodmere-raised Seth Rudetsky to help support The Actors Fund, will celebrate its first anniversary with a special edition March 16, followed by four new Broadway and TV-show reunions.
The anniversary episode features actors including Annette Bening, Judy Kuhn, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Bebe Neuwirth, Kelli O'Hara, David Hyde Pierce and Keala Settle, singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester and composer-lyricist Marc Shaiman, among others. One portion will be a tribute to two front line workers who are regular viewers of the show. Four other fans will be chosen to appear via a contest at twitter.com/StarsInTheHouse.
Subsequent episodes reunite Bonnie Milligan, Peppermint, Alexandra Socha and others from the Broadway musical "Head Over Heels" (March 17); and stars of TV's "Little House on the Prairie," including Melissa Gilbert, twin former child-actors Rachel Lindsay Greenbush and Sidney Greenbush, and others (March 18); "The West Wing," including Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Josh Malina, Mary McCormack and Janel Moloney (March 19); and "Thirtysomething," with Ken Olin, Mel Harris, Melanie Mayron, Timothy Busfield, Patricia Wettig, Peter Horton and Polly Draper (March 20).
The Actors Fund says its COVID-19 Emergency Financial Assistance program has distributed over $20 million to more than 15,000 professionals in the performing arts and entertainment community who have been impacted by the coronavirus.
"We can't believe it has been a year!" said Rudetsky and Wesley in a joint statement Tuesday. "We continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity of our viewers, who send in donations from all over the world."
They added, "We thought that after the first few weeks, contributions would dwindle and the show would be more about bringing some joy and positivity during these dark times. But the fact that we have been able to do both — deliver fun and financial support — is beyond our wildest dreams."
All shows stream at 8 p.m. on the "Stars in the House" YouTube channel and at StarsInTheHouse.com.
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