On February 7, 2011, Clay Aiken participated in the 6th edition of BROADWAY BACKWARDS. Held at the beautiful Longacre Theatre, the show was filled with an all-star cast that included Tony Award winners Hinton Battle, Len Cariou, Alan Cumming, Debra Monk, Bebe Neuwirth, Denis O’Hare, Karen Olivo and Lillias White, Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham and American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken.
BROADWAY BACKWARDS is an amazing benefit concert for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York. In 2011, the concert raised a record-breaking $281,243 for the two organizations.
According to the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids website:
BROADWAY BACKWARDS reinterprets the songs of musical theater by featuring women singing songs originally written for men and men singing songs written for women. By keeping the lyrics intact, including the pronouns, each song takes on an entirely new dimension. It’s Broadway in a whole new key.
I remember the benefit concert very well. I was lucky enough to be at the event and see and hear all the excitement of the night.
The obvious highlight for this Clay Aiken fan was seeing Clay shine on the Broadway stage as he performed “Home” from The Wiz. He started quietly and slowly built to a powerful climax. He sang from his heart and the audience was moved by his outstanding performance. As the applause continued, Clay returned to the stage for a second bow. Appropriately, Clay seemed right at “Home” on the Broadway stage.
I am so glad that I was able to attend this wonderful sold-out concert. It was a special evening that I will never forget.
I hope you take a moment and watch the following video of the wonderful performance by Clay Aiken. It is outstanding.
Do you want to see Clay return to Broadway some time?
Wonderful way to start a Sunday with Clay performing "Home"! His voice reaches down to my soul! Thank you for posting and by the way, I love the little icons of Clay at the bottom of the article!
I love the little guys too. I wish I knew who made them so I could give them credit!!
I would absolutely love to see Clay back on Broadway. I'm surprised he hasn't been invited back. Home is my favorite song but him.
From what I have heard, Clay has been asked back to Broadway but has turned down the invitations.
I remember this so vividly!!!!! Clay was wonderful!!
As far as going back on Broadway….I sure hope that he returns one day. I will get to NYC somehow to see him in any production. Was able to see him in Spamalot on Broadway, The Drowsy Chaperone in Raleigh, and of course Joseph in Ogunquit. Loved each one of those, and he was brilliant. There is always hope!!!
What a great job! And, yes, I would love to see Clay on Broadway again. His voice would be perfect for it. Thanks for sharing!
I would love to see Clay on Broadway! I was lucky also to watch him perform. It was a night to remember. A group of Clay fans had dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant before the show. On our way out of the theater, I overheard two young men saying they were astounded by Clay's performance!
Music fan you were so lucky to be in the audience to see Clay perform Home live. It is such a good song for him. So much emotion with this song. I think it would be great for Clay to be on broadway again as he really connects with an audience. It is such an undertaking though to do the same show hundreds of times. Well I got sucked in by the arrows at the end of the video again. I viewed until my iPhone ran out of power. The video of Clays thank you to his fans for 10 years of supporting him is always good to see. ❤️ Unconditional love to you Clay. I’ll support you forever!!!
Absolutely! Clay was made for Broadway. I saw Spamalot more than once and each time, was perfection. The Shubert Theatre made a phenomenal amount of money when Clay performed there. So did the restaurants and hotels. He is one great actor! Perhaps a fantastic part will come along someday and he will change his mind.
What an absolutely stunning performance…as usual.