A host of theatre favorites will take part in the 15th annual Broadway Backwards fundraiser, featuring gender-reversed and star-studded twists on classic and modern favorites, March 16 at 8 PM at the New Amsterdam Theatre.
Creator Robert Bartley returns to direct and choreograph the event, which is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and benefits Broadway Cares and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City.
Those scheduled to perform include Tony winner Laura Benanti (My Fair Lady), two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (My Fair Lady), Tony winner Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd), Garrett Clayton (TV’s Hairspray Live!), Tony nominee Jenn Colella (Come From Away), Tony nominee Ariana DeBose (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Tony winner André De Shields (Hadestown), Emmy Award nominee Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Take Me Out, TV’s Modern Family), Chilina Kennedy (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Derek Klena (Jagged Little Pill), L. Morgan Lee (A Strange Loop), Patti Murin (Frozen), Ken Page (Cats), James Snyder (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), and Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill).
Mary-Mitchell Campbell is the music supervisor for the evening with choreography by James Kinney and Joshua Buscher-West, who is also the associate director.
Attendees can expect performances from stars of stage and screen with men singing songs originally intended for women and vice versa. Artists will honor the songs of musical theatre while celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and creating an environment of equality, awareness, and love.
Last year's edition of Broadway Backwards raised a record-breaking $704,491. In its 14 years, the annual fundraiser has brought in more than $4.8 million for Broadway Cares and The Center.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.
Tickets are available at BroadwayCares.org.
Benanti and more have been special guest performers on Playbill Travel’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are now on sale for Broadway in the Great Northwest, Playbill Travel’s first domestic cruise featuring Kate Baldwin, Tedd Firth, Aaron Lazar, and Beth Leavel (April 26–May 4, 2020), and for Broadway on the Mediterranean (August 31–September 7, 2020), featuring Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy, and Lindsay Mendez, and for Broadway on the Nile (December 27, 2020–January 7, 2021) and Broadway on the Caribbean (February 15–22, 2021), with performers soon to be announced. To book a suite or stateroom, call Playbill Travel at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.
