Acclaimed Tony Award winners, esteemed legends and emerging new stars have joined the lineup to tell LGBTQ+ stories through reimagined show tunes when Broadway Backwards returns on Monday, March 11, 2024.
Special guests set to perform this year include Shoshana Bean (Hell’s Kitchen), Jonathan Bennett (Spamalot), Tituss Burgess (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Jordan Fisher (Hadestown), Arielle Jacobs (Here Lies Love), Casey Likes (Back to the Future: The Musical), John McGinty (King Lear), Shoba Narayan (Aladdin), Alex Newell (Shucked), Courtney Reed (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Jelani Remy (Back to the Future: The Musical), Lillias White (Hadestown), Constance Wu (Little Shop of Horrors) and Chip Zien (Harmony). This starry lineup - and more still to be announced - will share their LGBTQ+ stories, and yours, by taking familiar songs in the Broadway canon and transforming them into queer anthems and love ballads.
Broadway Backwards favorite Jenn Colella (Come From Away) returns for the fourth year to host the only annual Broadway event created to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. The 8 pm performance will be at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre. Tickets are on sale now at broadwaycares.org/backwards.
Broadway Backwards (#BroadwayBackwards), which features fully staged production numbers and a live orchestra, is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and benefits Broadway Cares and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (The Center) in New York City.
Tickets for Broadway Backwards start at $100. Sponsorship packages feature VIP tickets with premium seats and a special post-show cocktail reception with the cast.
A limited number of “Backstage & Beyond'' ticket packages also are available, which include an exclusive invitation to the dress-tech rehearsal and tour of the New Amsterdam Theatre, premium seats to the show and the special post-show reception with the cast. Ticket details are at broadwaycares.org.
Creator Robert Bartley returns to direct and choreograph the show. He will be joined by Ted Arthur and Mary-Mitchell Campbell as music supervisors, Michael Gacetta as music director, Nicholas Connors and Nick Wilders as associate music directors, Skye Mattox and Adam Roberts as choreographers and associate directors, and Christopher Tester as director of American Sign Language. E. Sara Barnes will serve as production stage manager. Casting by ARC’s Mark Brandon, CSA, and Jarrett Reiche join as casting consultants.
The evening will feature lighting design by Carolyn Wong, sound design by Maria Renee Foucher and prop design by Jenna Snyder and Alexander Wylie. Costume designers are Jess Gersz, Vanessa Leuck, Natalie Loveland, Tyler Carlton Williams and Nicole Zausmer.
Broadway Backwards began as a grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006. The event has grown into one of the most anticipated annual celebrations on Broadway.
Last year’s empowering edition raised a record $765,069. The 67-person cast featured a show-stopping lineup of beloved Broadway stars and was backed by a live, 13-piece orchestra.
Longtime corporate partner City National Bank joins Broadway Backwards as presenting sponsor this year, with additional generous support from lead corporate sponsors Jean Paul Gaultier, The New York Times and United Airlines.