Seth Tucker: Garage Cabaret

Seth Tucker

Garage Cabaret

On-going in Phoenix Arizona

By Lynn Timmons Edwards

Seth Tucker

Seth Rudetsky is not the only Seth who has Stars in the House. Seth Tucker, now based in Phoenix, Arizona has launched a series of concerts to raise money for out-of-work Arizona singers and actors. For the sake of this article, let’s call it “Stars in the Garage.”  His concept, which he has promoted extensively on social media, is to have people sponsor songs for as little as $30 a number. One can also donate as little as $10 and be a part of a group sponsorship. Once the song reaches the $30 minimum, it is rehearsed using Facetime and then recorded at a socially safe distance in his garage. The first concert was launched on Tuesday, March 24 with guest artists Trisha Ditsworth, Mary Ott, and Sime Kosta.

Seth tossed out his repertoire of songs online to his audience as well as a list of some of the most talented singers in Arizona as duet partners or singers who were willing to be “hired” for a song. To say we are making it up as we go along here in Arizona is to join with artists throughout the world. From the voices being raised nightly on the balconies of Rome to the hundreds of virtual concerts being broadcast on various streaming platforms, the show will go on!

I visited Seth’s condo parking lot and sat a socially safe distance away watching the garage door go up and down and the performances on Facebook that were live streaming. Tucker opened in his living room with one of his signature songs, “I Am What I Am,” and then in his gold lamé jacket and drink in hand went back to Jersey Boys with “My Eyes Adored You.” We are all “so close and yet so far away.”

Then he welcomed Ditsworth into the garage for the twisted love duet from Assassins, “Unworthy of Your Love.”  Ditsworth works all the time on Phoenix stages and most recently was featured in Something’s Rotten at Phoenix Theatre which has now been postponed until May. Next, Mary Ott took her place in the garage where she and Seth recreated their characters from the Arizona Regional Theatre production of Parade with the duet. “All the Wasted Time.” Ott, a master’s degree senior at ASU has a big voice and has been trained well to find emotion and authenticity within her character. As the song ended and they reached out to each other, Seth turned to the camera and said, “This is where we would kiss. Well, that ain’t happening!” Ott also offered up “So Big, So Small” from Dear Evan Hansen. May we draw comfort from knowing “your mom isn’t going anywhere; whether things feel too big or too small.”

Then it was back into the house where Sime Kosta, Tucker’s roommate, played and sang a little Queen with “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Tucker finished in the shower; why not? With a champagne glass this time, he chose “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to sum up the times we are facing with no shortage of high notes at the end.

There will be more Garage Concerts coming up, and Tucker is also offering coaching from his virtual studio at home.  He can be contacted at ActingUpSeries@gmail.com or you can find him on Facebook.

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Lynn Timmons Edwards

Lynn writes and performs themed cabaret shows based on the songs of the Great American Songbook throughout Arizona. She has had three short plays produced in the Theatre Artists Studio Festival of Summer Shorts and is working on a full length play, "Fairy," based on the life of Mary Russell Ferrell Colton, a founder of the Museum of Northern Arizona. In addition to writing and singing, Lynn plays bridge and tennis and enjoys traveling with her husband and artistic companion, Bob. Born in Ohio, Lynn is a graduate of Denison University (BA), Arizona State University (MPA) and has lived in Arizona since 1977.