The annual Broadway Backwards fundraiser, featuring gender-reversed and star-studded twists on classic and modern favorites, was held March 11 at 8 PM at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Come From Away Tony nominee Jenn Colella hosted 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.
The evening ultimately raised a record-breaking $704,491, beating the previous record of $680,273, set last year.
Creator Robert Bartley again directed the evening, with music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and musical direction by Ted Arthur and Christopher D. Littlefield. The show was choreographed by Bartley and Robbie Roby, with additional musical numbers staged by Karla Puno Garcia, Paul McGill, Mimi Quillin, Stephen Reed, and Tony Yazbeck.
Flip through photos from the evening below:
The event featured the talents of Clyde Alves (On the Town), Tony Award winner Len Cariou (TV’s Blue Bloods, Sweeney Todd), Lilli Cooper (Tootsie), Tony winner Gavin Creel (Waitress, Hello, Dolly!), Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Darren Criss (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, TV’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story), Tony nominee Ariana DeBose (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Nathan Lee Graham (Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Tony winner Rosemary Harris (My Fair Lady), Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge), Tony and Emmy winner Debra Monk (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, TV’s Mozart in the Jungle), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Tuck Everlasting), Caitlin Kinnunen (The Prom), Caissie Levy (Frozen), Isabelle McCalla (The Prom), Tony winner Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line), Bonnie Milligan (Head Over Heels), two-time Emmy and Tony winner Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago), Nicole Vanessa Ortiz (Smokey Joe’s Cafe), two-time Tony nominee Andrew Rannells (The Boys in the Band and TV’s Girls and Black Monday), Tony winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal), Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof), Tony nominee Jarrod Spector (The Cher Show), Academy Award and Tony nominee Kathleen Turner, Ana Villafañe (On Your Feet!), Teal Wicks (The Cher Show), and the Grammy Award-nominated Broadway Inspirational Voices.
