By John Amodeo***“Bus drivers would stop to let us cross the street because they knew me, and it hit me that we were a big huge deal,” marvels Andrea McArdle, who became an overnight sensation and household name at the age of 13 starring in the title role of Annie 
on Broadway in 1977. McArddle was also the youngest person to be nominated for a Tony Award in a Lead Role.
Since then she starred in six more Broadway shows, in London’s West End, numerous national tours and regional theater and has also conquered the cabaret and concert stage as well as appearing in television films. Along the way, McArdle has worked with Nicolas King, another child star and successful jazz and cabaret singer, who sings her praises, “She was the longest-running Belle (in Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast) and I was the longes-running Chip; she was my Belle,” recalls King. “When we see each other, I call her Belle and she calls me Chip. She is one of my favorite people and one talented gal.”
Another Broadway personality McArdle has crossed paths with is the multi-
hyphenate Seth Rudetsky, who was in the pit while McArdle was starring in the original Broadway production of Les Misérables. “There are a lot of kids who go to Broadway and they don’t make it as adults,” notes Rudetsky. “Andrea is one of the few who kept working, because she has a unique Broadway voice, a world-famous Broadway sound and she kept it. That’s what I love about her. She was my Fantine in my first Broadway show.” To underscore Rudetsky’s admiration, Frank Scheck of New York Stage Review gushed, “McArdle showcases the kind of vocal chops that make her ideal for old-fashioned musicals. It’s a big, brassy voice that practically demands being accompanied by an orchestra.”
Since their auspicious meeting, McArdle and Rudetsky have toured together throughout the country,and abroad, as well as on Rudetsky’s own Broadway cruises, featuring Rudetsky’s signature interview style interspersed with songs by McArdle, accompanied by Rudetsky at the piano. They will bring their show to the Great Hall, Needham, MA on Saturday, September 20, 2025. Rudetsky elaborates, “The shows I do on 
my cruises are like the one I’ll do in Needham. I make my stars sing their signature songs. Instead of them doing patter, I ask them questions, and the singer doesn’t know questions in advance.”
That wouldn’t phase McArdle who is an old pro at ad-libing on stage. “You get good on your feet when you do this a lot,” claims McArdle. “One of the great things about aging is being a veteran. I literally lost my front tooth singing “Nothing” from A Chorus Line) with Donna McKechnie. The tooth was a veneer, and I spit it right out. One of the stagehands brought me crazy glue and I glued it back on right then and there and I finished the show. It’s what you do. It was an Annie Oakley moment (referencing a role she played in regional).”
McArdle has been no stranger to cabaret performing. “I was so young when I was handed the prime cabaret clubs, like Rainbow and Stars and Russian Tea Room. But when you haven’t lived yet, it was so intimidating,” admits McArdle. “But it’s 
my favorite thing. Cabaret doesn’t feel like work. When you have a good voice and you’ve lived a rich life, it’s so easy. The connection with the audience is everything for me. Unless you are sharing or taking them somewhere emotionally, it’s not worth doing.”
Rudetsky’s interview format focuses on the Broadway and musical theater careers of his guests, and he draws out some juicy backstage stories, such as McArdle’s disappointment to have been cast as Fantine instead of Eponine in Broadway’s Les Misérables. McArdle lamented “Eponine was on my bucket list like any girl.” So, she confronted producer Cameron Macintosh “I said, ‘Cameron, I’m such an Eponine.’ But he said, ‘Oh, Andrea, any Annie can play ‘Ponine, but I’m giving you a gift. Rise up to it,’” recounts McArdle. “I was in my early 20s so I did it. But I told him, ‘Please, I can’t get old without playing Eponine,’ so to shut me up, he gave me 10 weeks to perform ‘Ponine in Philadelphia in the national tour with Laurie Beechman as Fantine and my daughter Alexis as Cosette. It was a full circle moment.”
Rudetsky assures there’ll be a lot more where that came from. “Lots of showbiz questions for sure,” he promises. “But also, what was it like to be a star and in school as a kid? And a mother with a kid and both of you in showbiz? Her daughter was only eight when she was in Les Mis’ with Andrea. She says she beat her mother to Broadway. Andrea now has a granddaughter. Annie is now a Granny.”
The Great Hall Performance Foundation presents Seth’s Broadway Concert Series Starring Seth Rudetsky with Andrea McArdle on Saturday, September 20, 2025, 7:30 PM at the Great Hall, Needham Town Hall, 1471 Highland Avenue, Needham, MA 02492. Tickets: $50. To reserve, visit: greathallperformance.org/rudetsky-mcardle/
