LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news items you might have missed: • JoeMyGod: A gay city councilman has resigned after a video surfaced showing him drunkenly urinating on the door of a downtown Los Angeles gay bar. Continue reading “Councilman Resigns After Urinating On Gay Bar Door + More News”
Some news items you might have missed: • Broadway Cares: Broadway Backwards, the annual Broadway concert event which takes familiar songs in the Broadway canon and transforms them into queer anthems, returns to the New Amsterdam Theater in NYC on March 11. Continue reading “Broadway Backwards Returns + Far-Right Attacks Oreos + More News”
The annual Broadway Backwards charity concert returns this coming Monday to the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City. The one-night-only extravaganza tells LGBTQ+ stories like no other production on Broadway. Continue reading “NYC: ‘Broadway Backwards’ Back On The Boards Monday, March 13”
Time to get outdoors and enjoy the warmer weather (stock image via Depositphotos)
Broadway Backwards 2021 will take a hopeful, musical look toward life post-pandemic in its first virtual edition set to stream with a bevy of Broadway’s best at 8 pm Eastern on Tuesday, March 30. This year’s virtual edition of the popular theatre event will blend film and musical stage performances as an exploration of how isolation during this pandemic has particularly affected the LGBTQ community. That and a healthy dose of musical theater and star power are what you can expect. The videos here are just a few highlights from over the years at Broadway Backwards.
The show will feature Jay Armstrong Johnson as a New Yorker who dreams a fantastical, musical theater journey guided by Jenn Colella as a late night TV host. New performances will be merged with full numbers from past years to come together in a show that feels distinctly of the moment. The streaming event will feature a special opening number featuring divas Stephanie J. Block, Deborah Cox and Lea Salonga.
Plus, an all-star finale are almost too good to be true with Amy Adams, Debbie Allen, Matt Bomer, Glenn Close, Loretta Devine, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Cheyenne Jackson, Eric McCormack, Ruthie Ann Miles, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Javier Muñoz, Kelli O’Hara, Karen Olivo, Jim Parsons, Bernadette Peters and many more. And then there will be special appearances by Chasten Buttigieg, Anderson Cooper, Ariana DeBose, Don Lemon, Debra Messing, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Robin Roberts, Tony Shalhoub and Ben Vereen?
Make sure you tune in (for free!) for an ultimate un-Zoom theatrical experience at 8 pm Eastern on Tuesday, March 30 at broadwaycares.org/backwards2021. It will be available on demand through 11:59 pm Saturday, April 3. Of course, donations to Broadway Cares are always welcome 🙂
Check out performances from this year’s Broadway Backwards, one of my favorite annual benefit performances in NYC for my favorite, favorite charities – Broadway Cares and the LGBT Community Center in NYC.
Via press release:
Equality, solidarity and warmth filled the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on March 13, 2017, when the biggest stars on Broadway proved gender doesn’t matter, but love does as they explored and embraced the great songs of musical theatre at the 12th annual Broadway Backwards.
This year’s sold-out celebration, where men sing songs intended for women and vice versa without changing pronouns, shattered fundraising records, bringing in an impressive $522,870 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City. The show was produced by Broadway Cares.
The evening was hosted by Tony Award winner and longtime friend of Broadway Cares, Julie White, who brought her signature sass and wit to the stage. The evening featured 19 comedic, poignant and heart-wrenching numbers, backed by a live, 12-piece onstage orchestra, on the Hirschfeld stage, home to the Tony Award-winning Kinky Boots.
Tony winner Cynthia Erivo brought the house down with a gospel-infused rendition of “Make Them Year You” from Ragtime. Her powerful, show-stopping vocals, backed by the Broadway Backwards ensemble, had the audience on its feet cheering for more in a fitting finale to this year’s show.
What began as a small, grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006 quickly grew into a highly-anticipated event presented in Broadway’s best theatres. In its 12 editions, Broadway Backwards has raised more than $2.9 million for Broadway Cares and The Center.
The Broadway community will come together once again for Broadway Backwards, an annual celebration of unity, equality and love through gender-reversed performances of classic showtunes.
This 12th annual evening 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 star-studded event features performances of quintessential Broadway tunes with a twist: men sing songs originally intended for women, and vice versa. Artists will perform the great songs of musical theatre while freeing themselves of the bounds of gender norms. It’s a show where gender doesn’t matter, but love does.
This exhilarating evening will include one-of-a-kind, unforgettable performances from celebrated stars of stage and screen including Sierra Boggess, Tony winner Len Cariou, Tony nominee Carolee Carmello, Robert Creighton, Ariana DeBose, Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo, Tony nominee Santino Fontana, Lora Lee Gayer, Tony winner John Glover, four-time Grammy Award nominee Josh Groban, Tony winner Cady Huffman, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Rachel Bay Jones, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Tony winner Levi Kreis, Eric Petersen, Tony nominee Andrew Rannells, Megan Sikora, Elizabeth Stanley, Bobby Conte Thornton, two-time Golden Globe winner, Tony nominee and Oscar nominee Kathleen Turner, six-time Emmy Award winner Bruce Vilanch, Rachel York and Jersey Boys original cast members Dominic Nolfi, Michael Longoria and Daniel Reichard.
Tickets are no longer available online. Additional tickets at various price levels may become available. Sign up for our waiting list to be contacted if more tickets are released.
Creator Robert Bartley will return to direct the show. He will be joined by Mary-Mitchell Campbell as music supervisor and Laura Bergquist as music director. Choreography will be created by Bartley, Christopher Rice and Adam Roberts.
Last year’s inspiring performance raised a record $480,287. It featured a 67-person cast of Broadway and television’s best, backed by a live onstage orchestra.
What began as a small, grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006 quickly grew into a highly-anticipated event presented in Broadway’s best theatres. In its 11 editions, Broadway Backwards has raised more than $2.8 million for Broadway Cares and The Center.
Monday, March 13, 8 pm
Al Hirschfeld Theatre
302 West 45th Street, NYC
The sold-out audience at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre was dazzled Monday, March 21, 2016, by this year’s stirring edition of Broadway Backwards.
The annual celebration, where men sing songs originally written for women and vice versa offering this audience the chance to see LGBT stories told through the great songs of musical theatre, set a new fundraising record.
The evening raised an incredible $480,287 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City.
The evening included performances by Broadway legend Chita Rivera, Finding Neverland‘s Laura Michelle Kelly, Kinky Boot’s Wayne Brady, Wicked‘s Nick Adams, Len Cariou, Eddie Korbich, Treat Williams and many, many more.
Broadway Backwards began as a small, grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006, quickly grew into an highly anticipated event presented in Broadway’s best theaters.
In its 11 editions, Broadway Backwards has raised more than $2.4 million for Broadway Cares and The Center.
Joshua Buscher-West, Marty Lawson, Alfie Parker Jr., Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva, Alex Ringler, and Ryan Steele performed the number “Cellblock Tango” from CHICAGO the Musical at Broadway Backwards 10th Anniversary performance this past Monday in New York City.
And it’s FAB! I love this! Highly inventive and danced fantastically. Bravo, to the choreographer and actors!
Broadway Backwards is an annual celebration where gays and lesbians see their stories told through the songs of musical theater.
The evening benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDs and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. This year’s event raised a recorded $466,717.
Broadway Backwards is the annual celebration where gays and lesbians see their stories told through the great songs of musical theatre, sung by their favorite Broadway performers.
The 2015 edition of the event, held March 9, raised a record $466,717 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.
The sold-out show included 20 audience-pleasing numbers and multiple standing ovations for Tituss Burgess, Lena Hall, Florence Henderson, Norm Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lillias White and more Broadway favorites, as well as a special appearance by 2014 Kennedy Center Honoree Lily Tomlin.
You can watch highlights of this year’s fantastic evening below.
