Broadway Backwards Raises Record $466K For Broadway Cares & NYC LGBT Center

Via press release:

The 10th anniversary of Broadway Backwards capped off an exuberant, exhilarating and emotional evening of performances on Monday, March 9, 2015 with news that this year’s event 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 recent Kennedy Center Honoree Lily Tomlin. Julie Halston and Rob McClure served as the evening's jovial hosts. 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. It is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and was presented again in the historic Al Hirschfeld Theatre, home to the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Kinky Boots. This year’s edition of Broadway Backwards featured a spirited 66-person cast and an onstage orchestra of 13 performing some of the most memorable numbers from previous editions of the benefit.

I was there with my buddy Mike and it was fantastic as always. As she did several years ago, 81 year-old Florence Henderson stole the show with a bawdy performance that included a macking session with an Alice stand-in. Peering into the upraised hindquarters of a muscular dancer, she quipped, "Is that the Holland or Lincoln tunnel? Helloooooo?" Mrs. Brady would not have approved. I'll post videos when they become available - in the meantime check out Playbill's photo gallery.

Broadway Backwards Reveals 2015 Cast

The tenth annual Broadway Backwards is next month and to celebrate the anniversary some of the show's most noted performers will be returning.

The roster of stars joining this year's Broadway Backwards includes Tony Award winners Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd, TV’s “Blue Bloods”) and Brian Stokes Mitchell (Kiss Me, Kate), Tony nominee Tony Yazbeck (On the Town) and Broadway favorites Tituss Burgess (The Little Mermaid), Julie Halston (You Can’t Take It With You), Ann Harada (Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Avenue Q), Florence Henderson (Oklahoma!, TV’s “The Brady Bunch”), Jackie Hoffman (On the Town) and Aaron Lazar (The Last Ship). Additional performers will be announced in the coming weeks. Performers subject to change. "I’m thrilled to welcome back these talented performers for this special 10th edition of Broadway Backwards," creator Robert Bartley said. "Thanks to them and the hundreds of talented performers who have participated in the nine editions of Broadway Backwards so far, we've been able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars that help provide lifesaving medications, counseling and support for LGBT youth and those struggling with HIV/AIDS." This year's edition of Broadway Backwards will be performed at 8 PM at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC), home to the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Kinky Boots.

Broadway Backwards is my favorite Broadway event and I've only missed one since the show launched. Get tickets here. You might enjoy my slideshow of the 2009 show where Florence Henderson and Eve Plumb (Jan Brady) had an encounter in a women's prison.

Tituss Burgess - And I Am Telling You

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has posted the full Tituss Burgess performance that brought down the house a few days ago at Broadway Backwards.  Burgess originated the role of The Little Mermaid's Sebastian on Broadway and played D'Fwan on 30 Rock.  From the YouTube comments: "Someone pass the plate cause that was church!"

At NYC's Marriage Equality Demonstration

Filmmaker Philip Davis sends us his video of Broadway star Tituss Burgess opening yesterday's marriage equality rally in Manhattan's Washington Square with a stirring rendition of the national anthem.  Via GLAAD, the second clip is the speech by Rep. Jerrold Nadler.

HIGHLIGHTS: Broadway Backwards 2013

Monday night I attended Broadway Backwards, the annual benefit show by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, which was wonderfully led by Tony Sheldon and my pal Jim Brochu, who played lonely older gay men looking for love in a world where most of their peers are gone due to AIDS. (Brochu was really looking, Sheldon was in denial and still mourning his late partner from 20 years earlier.) Broadway Backwards features show tune standards performed by the opposite gender for whom they were written. From the producers:

Broadway Backwards, the once-a-year celebration of the LGBT community, brought down the house March 18, 2013, while raising a record-setting $347,060 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. The sold-out show left the audience cheering after unforgettable performances by an array of Broadway's best, including Brian Stokes Mitchell, Karen Ziemba, Josh Young, Stephanie J. Block, Anthony Warlow and Tituss Burgess, who delivered a stirring recreation from Dreamgirls.  This year's show included a recurring story about a man on a personal journey, ultimately finding love in an unexpected place. Featured throughout the show were Tony nominee Tony Sheldon and Jim Brochu.

The running gag between Sheldon and Brochu was in their greetings to each other in every scene.  Eve. Margot. Endora. Hagatha.  And so on. Tituss Burgess (30 Rock's D'Fwan and The Little Mermaid's original Sebastian) indeed brought down the house with his Effie White and I was lucky enough to gush to him in person after the show.  The full show should be available soon on DVD and I'll let you know when. The previous three years of Broadway Backwards are on sale here.