Jennifer Holliday, Bernadette Peters, Andrew Rannells, More Revealed for 2026 Broadway Backwards Lineup | Playbill
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Jennifer Holliday, Bernadette Peters, Andrew Rannells, More Revealed for 2026 Broadway Backwards Lineup

The annual Broadway Cares event celebrates its 20th anniversary.

February 12, 2026 By Meg Masseron, Andrew Gans

Jennifer Holliday, Bernadette Peters, and Andrew Rannells

An initial list of artists has been announced for this year's Broadway Backwards, the annual benefit concert celebrating the LGBTQ+ community via new twists on iconic songs in the musical theatre canon.

The fundraiser will play Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre, current home of Wicked, March 23 at 8 PM. Produced by Broadway Cares, the evening will benefit the theatrical nonprofit and New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (The Center). Tony nominee Jenn Colella will again host. 

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Broadway Backwards; it will feature the most buzzed-about numbers from the last two decades of the event.

WATCH: 7 Legendary Broadway Backwards Performances to Celebrate 20 Years

The evening will feature performances by Kate Baldwin (Chicago), Bryan Terrell Clark(Hamilton), Bradley Dean (Chess), Lea DeLaria (POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive), Tony winner Jennifer Holliday (Dreamgirls), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Off-Broadway’s Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors), Michael McElroy (Sunday in the Park with George), Tony winner Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill), Tony winner Bernadette Peters (Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends), Tony nominee Andrew Rannells (All In: Comedy About Love), violinist Jacob Rienstra and Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof), and the Tony-honored and Grammy Award-nominated choir Broadway Inspirational Voices. More talent will be announced at a later date.

Creator Robert Bartley will return to direct and choreograph the show, with Steven Cuevas as music director. He will be joined by Ted Arthur and Mary-Mitchell Campbell as music supervisors. Adam Roberts returns as choreographer and associate director with Amanda LaMotte as co-choreographer and Colby Q. Lindeman as associate choreographer. ARC’s Mark Brandon, CSA, and Jarrett Reiche join as casting consultants.

The evening will feature sound design by Josh Maszle and Marie Renee Foucher and prop design by Jenna Snyderand Alexander Wylie. Costume designers are Kitty Cassetti, Antonio Consuegra, Jess Gersz, Alex Rocky, and Tyler Carlton Williams.

What began as a small, grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006 has grown into a highly anticipated event. In its 19 editions, Broadway Backwards has raised more than $9.7 million for Broadway Cares and The Center. Last year’s event raised a record-breaking $1,111,788. 

Broadway Cares 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 awarded more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Tickets are now available at BroadwayCares.org.

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