Broadway Backwards hits the Great White Way

The highly anticipated line-up of the LGBT Community Center's Broadway Backwards 4 will take the stage at the American Airlines Theater on Feb. 9, but artistic producer Dan Whitman played coy with EDGE in a recent interview.

"The secrecy is part of the excitement of the event," he said.

Director Robert Bartley did, however, drop a few names and details.

"I can tell you that Cheyenne [Jackson] and Sandra Bernhard will do a fun duet together," he said.

Whitman and Bartley started the annual event at the Center. It moved off-Broadway in its second year and then co-chair Terrence McNally moved the show to Broadway in 2008. Broadway Backwards remains unique because its participants perform numbers written for someone of the opposite gender.

Charles Busch sang "Before the Parade Passes By" from Hello, Dolly! Bartley described Busch's performance as someone who "came off like a man who lost his lover and he wants to join the world again."

The concert, however, is more than a series of gender-reversed songs performed by Broadway stars and legends. Each song is put in a new context; one relevant to the LGBT community. One year three actors performed "I Want it All" from Baby and the scene was set at a "want-to-be" father's group at the Center. The song transformed into a piece about three men who grappled with the idea of fatherhood.

"Broadway Backwards is a fully-staged, realized Broadway show," Bartley said. We try to keep it very real. It's a chance for gay people to come and see their stories on stage."

That said, Broadway Backwards 4 promises to be an evening filled with warmth, humor and perhaps a special surprise or two.

"Betty Buckley flew in from Texas for it one year," Bartley said. "She sang a selection from South Pacific and, after she finished her number, we asked if she would just sing one song from Carrie: The Musical.

Buckley politely declined at first because she didn't have the music with her. Luckily someone in the orchestra pit did have the music and, sure enough, Buckley sang one of the songs from Carrie.

"Liz Calloway gets the 'Best Good Sport Award'," Bartley offered. "One year, she was in Key West when we had a blizzard. Liz flew in, got to the airport, where her husband met her. Her husband sped her to the theater and our hair guy whooped her hair up and she walked up onto the stage and sang "She Touched Me."

Bartley and Whitman spoke to Whoopi Goldberg about participating in this year's show. She called them back and told them she wants to sing.

"We were like, 'Oh my God! That's amazing!" Bartley said.

Whitman added he feels the entertainment community has generously supported Broadway Backwards over the years... and of course it's all for a good cause.

"This is the only Broadway event where everyone learns new material," Whitman said.

Sandra Bernhard (I'm Still Here... Damn It! and "Roseanne"), Florence Henderson (Fanny and "The Brady Bunch"), Maureen McGovern (Little Women, Nine), Ron Palillo, Mario Cantone, Alan Cumming, Gina Gershon (Cabaret), Whoopi Goldberg, Cheyenne Jackson (Xanadu), Aaron Lazar (Les Mis?rables), Sally Mayes (She Loves Me), Kate Reinders (Good Vibrations), Jai Rodriguez, Christopher Sieber (Spamalot), John Tartaglia (Avenue Q), Marty Thomas (Xanadu), Tony Vazbeck (Gypsy) and Becki Newton and Michael Urie from Ugly Betty) are among those scheduled to perform.

Broadway Backwards 4 will take place at the American Airlines Theater (227 W. 42nd St.) at 8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9. Tickets start at $75 and can be purchased at www.gaycenter.org/specialevents/broadwaybackwards