Just got back from Broadway Backwards 2...

and I'm still laughing about how great it was. Fantastic performances all around, and Betty Buckley deserves to be canonized after that (not that she didn't before, but still). From the fully choreographed "Dreamgirls" opener to Len Cariou and Tony Roberts giving a fantastic rendition of "Class" to Seth Rudetsky pulling out some sheet music and making Betty Buckley sing a song from Carrie to Lauren Kennedy happening to know Danny's part in "Summer Nights" and filling in for Rosie, it was just an incredibly fun night. And the band was fabulous!

Anyone else there?

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How was Constintine? (sp)

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How were the three CHORUS LINE men? Did they sing "At The Ballet"?

Wish they would sell video of this.

It's a benefit. If they sold videos, then there would be no point in selling high priced tickets for the live performance in the first place.

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Updated On: 2/26/07 at 11:48 PM

The Chorus Line guys did sing "At the Ballet," and it was actually much better than I expected. None of them had particularly thrilled me with their vocals when I saw the show, but they were all quite good. Tony Yazbeck was especially impressive, singing Maggie's part and hitting the three "ball-ETTTT"s at the end dead on! Not too shabby.

Rosie reportedly couldn't make it because of "travel problems due to the weather." Sounded kind of B.S.-y to me, considering there's hardly any snow on the ground, but she wrote a $10,000 check to the Center to make up for it, so it's hard to complain. Liz Calloway had travel problems as well, as her plane was delayed and she originally had called and cancelled, but she managed to make it partway through the concert, having left her baggage at the airport to make it on time. Very classy.

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Updated On: 2/26/07 at 11:52 PM

Ken Alan and Brad Anderson were the other CL boys.

What DIDN'T Betty sing? She did a medley of "You're Nearer," "If Ever I Would Leave You," and "My Funny Valentine," then stuck around onstage while Seth talked about her, brought a TV on to show clips of Carrie (the movie), and then made her sing her first song from Carrie (the musical). And THEN she closed the concert with a lovely "Some Enchanted Evening." If I were her, I'd ask for overtime wages (although overtime on volunteering is still free, but... whatever :) ).

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Sorry, I'm not familiar with Carrie, but judging from the lyrics I Googled, she actually sang "Open Your Heart."

And Seth said plenty about Carrie, although he focused more on Buckley's knee socks from her role in the movie, not so much on the musical. I think it might have been because he was trying (and failing) to keep a straight face while talking about the musical, but he did make her tell a story about her opening night bows, how the entire audience started booing when the final blackout occurred, but then when she and the actress playing Carrie stood up and bowed, the boos turned to bravos.

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Updated On: 2/27/07 at 12:29 AM

You're forgetting that Rosie doesn't live in the City.

The show was great.
I was one of the ushers at the door taking tickets.
I was scheduled to be off yesterday,but was handpicked to work "B-way backwards" and it was well worth it.
As a gay teen and also as a performer it was so inspiring

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Liz Callaway sang a very sweet "She Touched Me," and Kate Reinders and Lauren Kennedy had a great kiss after they performed "If I Loved You."

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There's also a great video on broadway.com!