BC/EFA's BROADWAY BACKWARDS Returns March 11, Jenn Colella to Host

Beloved show tunes will get a fresh perspective when Broadway Backwards returns with gender-reversed and star-studded twists on classic and modern favorites on Monday, March 11, 2019.

Tickets go on sale today for this one-night-only event produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and benefiting Broadway Cares and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City.

The evening features performances from stars of stage and screen with men singing songs originally intended for women, and vice versa. Artists will honor the great songs of musical theatre while celebrating the LGBTQ community and creating an environment of equality, awareness and love.

Broadway Backwards will be hosted by Tony Award nominee Jenn Colella, who is currently inspiring audiences eight times a week as pilot Beverley Bass in the hit musical Come From Away. Colella's accomplished career on Broadway also includes roles in If/Then, Chaplin, HighFidelity and Urban Cowboy. She is a longtime friend of Broadway Cares and The Center and a passionate advocate for and member of the LGBTQ community.

The 14th edition of Broadway Backwards (#broadwaybackwards) will be performed at 8 pm at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre (214 West 42nd Street, NYC), currently home to Disney's Aladdin.

Tickets are available at broadwaycares.org or by calling 212.840.0770, ext. 229. Prices start at $85.

VIP tickets include 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 the opportunity to see the dress rehearsal, exclusive backstage access, a meet-and-greet with some of the stars of Broadway Backwards, premium seats for the show and more.

This year's special guest performers and choreographers will be announced in the coming weeks. Creator Robert Bartley will return to direct the show. He will be joined by Mary-Mitchell Campbell as music supervisor and Ted Arthur and Christopher D. Littlefield as music directors.

Last year's empowering performance raised a record $680,273. The 62-person cast featured many of the brightest talents on Broadway and beyond, including Tituss Burgess, Telly Leung, Andrea Martin and Alex Newell, backed by a live, 12-piece 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 13 editions, Broadway Backwards has raised more than $4.1 million for Broadway Cares and The Center.

Broadway Backwards is generously sponsored by The New York Times.

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

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the major supporter of the social service programs at The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative and the Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts. Broadway Cares also awards annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., providing lifesaving medication, healthy meals, counseling and emergency assistance.

For more information, please visit Broadway Cares online at broadwaycares.org.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski