Photos: Alex Newell, Shoshana Bean, and More Perform at BROADWAY BACKWARDS

Tony Award winners, Broadway legends and newcomers alike spectacularly shared LGBTQ+ stories through show tunes at Broadway Backwards at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre on March 11, 2024.

The show raised a record $917,651 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (The Center) in New York City. The 2024 total bested the record set last year by more than $152,000. The one-night-only, annual event is produced by Broadway Cares. 

Check out photos from the evening below! 

Jenn Colella hosted the event, welcoming returning guests while ushering in a new generation of Broadway Backwards attendees. Colella led a cast of 101 performers, a 13-piece orchestra and a standing-room-only audience in the event’s celebratory 18th edition.

Breakout star Julie Benko (Harmony, Funny Girl) opened the show with a flirty and fierce rendition of “Luck Be a Lady” from Guys and Dolls. She coquettishly rolled the dice alongside a high-rolling ensemble of women, leading them in a spirited, larger-than-life dance number. Watch Julie Benko's performance here.

The New Amsterdam swelled with sniffles and sobs when John McGinty (Children of a Lesser God) led a powerful number as a deaf college student confronting his mother about her insensitivities around his sexuality and hearing impairment. He passionately signed “Listen” from the Dreamgirls film, which was voiced by Jordan Fisher (Hadestown), whose powerhouse vocals reflected the fiery plea. Daniel Marmion and Morgana Shaw played McGinty’s parents.

In an Italian-American fever dream, Bradley Dean (Here We Are) portrayed a Godfather archetype advising his son’s suitor, played by Nicholas Park, to “Be Italian” in the signature song from Nine. Joined by a gaggle of gregarious gangsters, the full-out production number had the cast dancing sensually and sensationally amid red-checkered tablecloths strewn with glasses of merlot. The number also featured Todd Buonopane, Joe Chisolm and Janelle Farias Sando.

Photo Credit: Curtis Brown and Rebecca J. Michelson