Newly announced for the evening are Tony Award winners Betty Buckley (Cats) and LaChanze (Color Purple), stage and television star Michael Urie (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, TV's "Ugly Betty") and TV icon George Takei ("Star Trek") as well as Jim Brochu (Zero Hour), Charles Busch (The Divine Sister), Dan Butler ("Frasier"), Len Cariou ("Blue Bloods," Sweeney Todd), Jenn Colella (High Fidelity), Nancy Dussault (Into the Woods), Harvey Evans, Anthony Federov ("American Idol"), Barrett Foa ("NCIS: LA" and Avenue Q), Jackie Hoffman (The Addams Family), Jessie Mueller (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever), Brian Charles Rooney (Threepenny Opera), Jason Michael Snow (The Book of Mormon) and Elizabeth Stanley (Million Dollar Quartet).
These artists join the previously reported Tony Award nominees Adam Pascal (Memphis) and Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon), two-time Emmy Award-winning comedian Bruce Vilanch, Bryan Batt (TV's “Mad Men”), Sierra Boggess (Master Class, Love Never Dies), Mario Cantone (Laugh Whore), Robin De Jesús (La Cage Aux Folles), Shawna Hamic (Les Misérables 25th Anniversary tour) and Telly Leung (Godspell).
Broadway Backwards 7 is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and benefits Broadway Cares and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.
Tickets, which begin at $75, are available by visiting broadwaycares.org or by calling (212) 840-0770, ext. 268. Prices start at $75. (This year will mark the introduction of the new “Backstage & Beyond” ticket package, which includes premium seats as well as the opportunity to see the dress rehearsal, enjoy exclusive backstage access and “meet and greet” some of the stars of the benefit.)
Creator Robert Bartley will again direct and choreograph with musical direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell. The creative team also includes lighting designer Ryan O'Gara, costume designer Philip Heckman and co-choreographers Stephanie Klemmons and Patrick O’Neill. “I consider myself blessed to be able to collaborate with so many extraordinary artists to create something that celebrates the most wonderfully universal thing of all – love,” Bartley said in a previous statement. “In doing so, together, we are able to raise funds to assist two organizations I deeply believe in, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the LGBT Center of New York, and support so many here in New York City and around the country. I can’t think of a better way to do that than with some of the greatest songs of the Great White Way sung by performers we all admire and love."
BC/EFA executive director Tom Viola added, "Broadway Backwards has not only grown into a major fundraiser for Broadway Cares and the Center, but also offers its audience the chance to see and hear the best of Broadway in a way we haven’t heard before. At last year’s Broadway Backwards, we had the privilege of seeing the magnificent Bebe Neuwirth turn the tables on one of the musicals for which she is known and won her second Tony Award, Chicago. Bebe sang ‘All I Care About is Love’ with a chorus of gorgeous women and those signature fans from the show. Seeing Tony Yazbeck perform the entire ‘Music and the Mirror’ song and dance from A Chorus Line opposite Derek Hanson’s Zack was something very special for this audience. And Clay Aiken and Lillias White each brought the house down with, respectively, a rousing rendition of ‘Home’ from The Wiz and a special Ray Charles arrangement of South Pacific’s ‘Some Enchanted Evening.’”
For more information visit broadwaycares.org.
