Video: Watch Alex Newell Raise the Roof With Ragtime's 'Back to Before' at Broadway Backwards

Tony winner Alex Newell stepped into the role of Mother from Ragtime March 11 at the New Amsterdam Theatre for this year's installment of Broadway Backwards, the annual benefit concert celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community. Hear Newell's roof-raising rendition of "Back to Before" in the video above.

Newell made history last Broadway season as the first openly non-binary actor to win a Tony Award, taking home the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for their performance as Lulu in Shucked. Newell's Broadway credits also include the 2018 revival of Once on This Island.

Broadway Backwards 2024 raised a record-breaking $917,651 to benefit Broadway Cares and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City. Included in that tally was a check from presenting sponsor City National Bank, which was represented by Senior Vice President Erik Piecuch, who shared a $100,000 check with Broadway Backwards creator . The 2024 total bested the record set last year by more than $152,000. The one-night-only, annual event was produced by Broadway Cares.

The evening featured more than 100 performers, including (Hell’s Kitchen), (Harmony), (Spamalot), (Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella), (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Tony winner (My Fair Lady), Tony winner (Sweeney Todd), (Here We Are), Darius de Haas (Shuffle Along), Robin de Jesús (The Boys in the Band), (Hadestown), (Into the Woods), (Here Lies Love), Likes (Back to the Future: The Musical), (King Lear), (Aladdin), Tony winner (Shucked), (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Remy (Back to the Future: The Musical), Tony winner (Hadestown), Constance Wu (Little Shop of Horrors), (Flying Over Sunset), (Harmony), and the Grammy-nominated Broadway Inspirational Voices, plus Joe Chisholm, , Nicholas Park, Morgana Shaw, and Jamison Stern.

The artists were backed by a 13-piece orchestra. Check out photos from the event below.

Creator Bartley returned to direct and choreograph the show, joined by music supervisors Ted Arthur and Mary-Mitchell Campbell, music director Michael Gacetta, associate music directors Nicholas Connors and Nick Wilders, and choreographers and associate directors Skye Mattox and Adam Roberts. ARC’s Mark Brandon and Jarrett Reiche were the casting consultants, Christopher Tester was the director of American Sign Language, and E. Sara Barnes was the production stage manager.

The evening also featured lighting design by , sound design by Maria Renee Foucher, prop design by Jenna Snyder and Alexander Wylie, hair design by Ian Joseph, and makeup design by . Costume designers were , , Vanessa Leuck, Natalie Loveland, Tyler Carlton Williams, and Nicole Zausmer.

What began as a small, grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006 has grown into a highly anticipated event. In its 17 editions, Broadway Backwards has raised more than $7.9 million for Broadway Cares and The Center.

Broadway Cares 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 has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

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