Broadway Backwards 2014: Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS

 

Broadway Backwards 2014

Monday, March 24, 8pm
Al Hirschfeld Theatre, NYC
 
Broadway's hottest young stars will join legendary performers of the Great White Way for the ninth annual edition of Broadway Backwards, a one-night-only performance produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and benefiting BC/EFA and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York.

The roster of Broadway stars joining this year's Broadway Backwards includes Bryan Batt, Tony Award nominee Stephanie J. Block, Tony winner Len Cariou, two-time Tony nominee Robin De Jesús, Tony nominee Jonathan Groff, three-time Tony nominee Judy Kuhn, Tony nominee Jessie Mueller, Krysta Rodriguez, Cass Morgan, Tony Yazbeck and Patricia Morison, Broadway's original "Kate" in Kiss Me, Kate and a veteran of several other original Broadway companies including The King and I.

Additional performers will be announced in the coming weeks. Performers subject to change.

VIP tickets include premium seats and a special post-show party 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.

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 began as a grassroots concert performed at the Center in 2006. In subsequent years, the event grew quickly, performing Off-Broadway, then on Broadway for the last five years. Last year's sold-out show raised a record-breaking $347,060 for the two organizations.

Creator Robert Bartley will again direct and choreograph, with additional choreography by Amy Jones and Melissa Rae Mahon. Mary-Mitchell Campbell returns as music supervisor with Tim Rosser as music director.

The Meeting with Justin Sayre - A benefit for the Ali Forney Center

Hey all you beautiful queers, I want to clue you in on an exciting show that's happening next Monday, June 13, 2011, at 7:00pm, at Joe's Pub.  Justin Sayre is one of my best friends in NYC.  He is an hilarious and incredibly talented writer for stage and screen, and produces his own monthly variety show called The Meeting (of the International Order of Sodomites), at the Duplex in Sheridan Square.  Get tickets.

I always wish I had recordings of my conversations with Justin.  Few people are as erudite, insightful, and beautifully gay as Mr. Sayre.  He's making waves in the downtown performance scene and broadening the reach of his rapier wit.  This Summer he'll be guest hosting radio shows and producing special editions of The Meeting on Fire Island.  Catch any of his shows; you'll be amazed.

For his special June edition of The Meeting, Justin is hosting his second annual benefit for the Ali Forney Center.  If you don't know AFC and you're a New Yorker, you've been hiding out somewhere and perhaps you can comment on this post so we can send in a therapist to coax you back out into the real world.  AFC is the nation's largest and most comprehensive organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth.  AFC's goal is to provide homeless LGBT youths, aged 16-24, with the support and services they need to escape the streets and begin to live healthy and independent lives.  There is no queer group of people more in need of our help, in my humble opinion.

Justin's lineup of performers includes JACKIE HOFFMAN (The Addams Family, Hairspray), PAUL IACONO (MTV’s “The Hard Times of RJ Berger,” Fame), DAISY EAGAN (The Secret Garden), COLE ESCOLA (Logo TV's “Jeffery & Cole Casserole”), GAY MARSHALL (Jacques Brel Is Alive…), RYAN O'CONNOR (“Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star”), EMILY BERGL (“Desperate Housewives,” “Men In Trees”), NATALIE JOY JOHNSON (Legally Blonde, But I’m A Cheerleader), RANDY RAINBOW “(“Randy Rainbow is Dating Mel Gibson”), LADY RIZO (Grammy \-winning singer and chanteuse), JEFF HILLER (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, “30 Rock”), ERIN MARKEY (Puppy Love: A Stripper’s Tail at PS 122), KIM SMITH (Bistro Award for “Outstanding Performer on the Rise”), SUMMER & EVE (the folk-musical comedy band featuring NADIA QUINN of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), MICHAEL LONGORIA (Jersey Boys), JACK FERVER (Rumble Ghost at PS 122, SWAN!), LARRY HAMILTON, and JAMAAL WILSON.

For $25, that lineup is a steal, and when you consider your money is benefiting the Ali Forney Center, it'd be downright silly to miss it.  I hope to see you there!

Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

Posted by David

This past Sunday I attended a fundraiser in the West Village, just south of Washington Square Park.

The event was called Teddy Cares and is hosted and driven by Ruby Rims. Ruby is a drag queen, by the way, for those of you readers in Topeka.

Teddy Cares raises money for the Actors Fund AIDS Program. The event also supports Judson Memorial Church, where the performances were held. Judson is also deeply involved with the community and provides life-saving programs to any and all who need them.

I was there because of Ruby. I was first exposed - I don't think there is a better word for it - to Ruby when I was a regular at Eighty Eights, a long lamented piano bar that I have spoken of previously. Ruby was part of the inner circle at Eighty Eights that welcomed me almost immediately from the first night I happened upon the place. I, too, became a regular and in the years following the bar's demise, annual events such as this became the primary time we saw each other. [More, with pics and video, after the jump.]