Jenn Colella Returns to Host Broadway Backwards; Lineup Features Bernadette Peters, Alexandra Billings & More

Special guests have been revealed for the previously announced Broadway Backwards. The event will return to Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre on May 23. Queer icons and allies will perform songs from the musical theater canon through the lens of the LGBTQ+ experience. Jenn Colella will return as host. Produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the event benefits Broadway Cares and New York City’s LGBT Community Center.

The evening will include performances from LGBTQ+ stars Alexandra Billings, Matt Doyle, Claybourne Elder, Lauren Patten, George Salazar and Brandon Uranowitz as well as allies Wayne Brady, Len Cariou, Lena Hall, Bernadette Peters, Mary Testa and Lillias White. The celebration will also feature an ensemble performing fully staged production numbers, a live orchestra and more special guests to be announced in the coming weeks.

This year’s show will be written and directed by Broadway Backwards creator Robert Bartley. He will be joined by Mary-Mitchell Campbell as music supervisor and Ted Arthur as music director. Bartley will co-choreograph the production with Joshua Buscher-West, James Kinney and Adam Roberts.

Broadway Backwards began as a grassroots concert performed at the Center in 2006. It quickly grew and is now performed every year in a Broadway theater. Since 2006, the event has raised more than $6 million. The 2021 virtual edition raised a record $749,555.