Ariana DeBose “A Lot of Livin’ to Do" - Broadway Backwards 2019

At Broadway Backwards 2019, Tony nominee Ariana DeBose of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical showed off her impressive dancing skills, backed up by a female ensemble, in a fun and flirty rendition of Bye Bye Birdie‘s “A Lot of Livin’ to Do.” The sultry and salsa-infused number was choreographed by Hamilton‘s Karla Puno Garcia.

Broadway Backwards, the annual Broadway extravaganza celebrating the LGBTQ+ community through the great songs of musical theater, returns to Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre on Monday, March 13, 2023. The beloved evening and its star-studded cast will embrace love and self-expression in true Broadway fashion.

https://www.broadwaycares.org/pre-eve...

"A Lot of Livin' to Do" with Ariana DeBose, Jordan Betscher, Olivia Cece, Christina Kotsopoulos and Alicia Newcom
by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams from Bye Bye Birdie
Choreographed by Karla Puno Garcia
Costume Design by Natalie Loveland
Orchestrated by Adam Kaufman
Arranged and Conducted by Ted Arthur

A bevy of Broadway’s brightest stars joined a sold-out audience on March 11, 2019, to celebrate and motivate the LGBTQ community and its allies through gender-reversed renditions of beloved show tunes, spectacular choreography and a record-breaking fundraising total at Broadway Backwards.

The 14th annual edition of the show raised $704,491 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City. The previous fundraising record was set last year at $680,273.

Broadway Backwards (#BroadwayBackwards), which was produced by Broadway Cares at the New Amsterdam Theatre, featured a cast of 130 performers and a live, 12-piece orchestra.

Broadway Backwards creator Robert Bartley wrote and directed this year’s show. Mary-Mitchell Campbell served as music supervisor; Ted Arthur and Christopher D. Littlefield were music directors. The evening's choreographers were Robert Bartley, Karla Puno Garcia, Paul McGill, Mimi Quillin, Stephen Reed and Robbie Roby. The creative team included lighting designer Timothy Reed, costume designers Johnna Fettinger, Jess Gersz and Natalie Loveland, prop designers Jenna Snyder and Alexander Wylie and sound designers Kurt Fischer and Marie Renee Foucher. The production stage manager was Jeff Brancato.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS unites theatre artists with theatre lovers to help those in need.

The money we raise together goes to more than 450 social service agencies in all 50 states to fund lifesaving medication, healthy meals and emergency financial assistance for those living with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses.

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Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theater community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the major supporter of the social service programs at the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund), including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative and The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts. Broadway Cares also awards annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., providing lifesaving medication, healthy meals, counseling and emergency assistance.

For more information, please visit Broadway Cares online at broadwaycares.org, at facebook.com/BCEFA, at instagram.com/BCEFA, at tiktok.com/@bcefa and at    / bcefa  .