‘Broadway Backwards’ Raises Record-Breaking Donations For LGBTQ+ Groups

The annual benefit concert Broadway Backwards raised a record-breaking $1,111,788 on March 10th at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre. The sum goes to benefit the producer of the event, Broadway Cares, and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center in New York City. 

Broadway Cares is a nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization that raises money for essential services needed by people living with HIV/AIDS. It draws support from the talents, resources, and funding of the American theater community. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center, also known as The Center, was established in 1983 at the height of the AIDS crisis to provide safe spaces for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. Broadway Backwards has raised over $9.7 million for these organizations over the past 19 years, according to Broadway Cares. 

This year’s sold-out event was hosted by Jen Colella and showcased 82 performers and a 13-piece orchestra. The show opened with a rendition of “Defying Gravity” and continued with moving interpretations of performances from The Who’s Tommy, She Loves Me, The Baker’s Wife, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman, Big Fish, Cats, and more beloved classics. The event came to a close with Sydney James Harcourt’s rendition of “Keep Marching” from Suffs, which was a passionate cry to persist in the fight for equality. 

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This year’s performers included Tony nominee Lorna Courtney, Tony and Emmy nominee Eden Espinosa, Tony winner J. Harrison Ghee, Tony nominee Dorian Harewood, Tony winner Lem Cariou, and many more. Creator Robert Bartley returned to the 19th edition to direct and choreograph the show.

Broadway Backwards began as a grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006 and stands as the only annual event on Broadway created specifically for the LGBTQ+ community. The highly-anticipated fundraiser is a celebration of LGBTQ+ stories told by gender-reversed renditions of classic show tunes turned into queer anthems and stories. The reinterpretations of familiar tunes and plots aim to put queer stories at the forefront and urge the audience to see stories in a new and fresh light.