By Melissa Griegel . . .
The brain-child of Anthony Rapp (RENT) and Melissa Anelli, BroadwayCon returned to the Hilton Midtown from July 26 to 28 for it’s ninth annual three-day celebration of everything Broadway. The Broadway convention, which started in January 2016, has been in a variety of locations over the last nine years, and eventually switched from January and February dates to July. On the last night, they announced that they will be returning to the winter timeline for the 10th anniversary of the event from February 7-9, 2025. They have also hinted that there will be a celebration of thirty years of RENT.
Ben Cameron (Broadway Sessions), the consummate host, opened the ceremonies on Friday with a “First Look” at current and upcoming Broadway shows, and followed it up with performances from some Broadway faves. including Suffs, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, Gun & Powder, Redwood, The Notebook, The Outsiders, Six, & Juliet, and The Book of Mormon. Highlights included performances by Shaina Taub, Joy Woods, Jeannette Bayardelle, and James Monroe Iglehart who did a stunning rendition of “A Wonderful World”, invoking Louis Armstrong.
Members from the cast of the Tony-Award-Winning show The Outsiders performed during “First Look” and came back later for a mainstage event to talk about the show. Paul Wontorek, Editor-in-Chief of Broadway.com, came out decked in Outsiders merch and interviewed cast members Tilly Evans-Krueger, Emma Pittman, Reni Anthony Magee, Jason Schmidt, Daryl Tofa, Victor Carillo Tracey, and Jordan Chin. The cast talked about the camaraderie they have among one another, the desire to be authentic in their portrayal of the characters, the excitement of being in a hit Broadway show, and how pleased they are to be engaging a younger audience on Broadway. As required reading in most schools, it is a story that much of the audience knows either from the book or from the movie. A highlight for the cast was when the author S. E. Hinton came to see the show and met with all of them backstage.
The weekend-long conference featured large mainstage events, smaller workshops, and a Broadway marketplace. Mainstay event “Star-to-Be” was judged by Fredi Walker-Browne (RENT), Gregory Treco (Hamilton), and L. Morgan Lee (A Strange Loop) and featured some exceptional talent. Winner Erica Faye sang a beautiful rendition of “Flowers” from Hadestown, full of emotion. L. Morgan Lee emphasized that the judges were not merely looking for someone who can sing well; that they wanted to see “honesty” in the performance with someone who could “have a conversation with the audience.” Ben Cameron hosted other Con favorites such as BroadwayCon Game Show, Ultimate Trivia Challenge, and the always popular Cosplay Contest. Jenn Colella infused warmth and humor into Broadway Feud which pits Broadway stars against attendees.
Stephen DeAngelis, who has been hosting “At This Performance…” for the past twenty years did a workshop discussing the importance of standbys, understudies, swings, and alternates. He brought with him three actresses who have stepped into these positions on Broadway to talk about what it is like and to regale us with song. Miki Abraham (Shucked), Mia Pinero (Sweeney Todd), and Aubrey Matalon (Between the Lines) gave us insight into what it is like to be called at the last minute to step into the role of a featured or lead actor. Another particularly interesting workshop session was an interview with Pulitzer- Oscar- and Tony-Winner Alfred Uhry (Parade), moderated by “The Broadway Maven” David Beckon. Uhry was very open about his upbringing and what led him to write stories about the Southern Jewish experience with Driving Miss Daisy, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and Parade. His own childhood in Atlanta was very secular and it wasn’t until he was in college at Brown that he “discovered” his Judaism. Uhry was very personable and, at times, very funny. One interesting story was about how Stephen Sondheim was initially going to be the lyricist for Parade and how it led to how Jason Robert Brown became the lyricist instead. Jason Robert Brown was not well-known at the time, but Uhry talked about how much research Brown did into the Leo Frank case and the south in general, and how he did a marvelous job and how much he enjoyed working with him.
Set your calendars now for next February 7-9 for BroadwayCon 10. If you keep an eye on the website, there will be early bird info for booking the Hilton Midtown for the convention. For those aspiring costume designers out there looking to enter next year’s Cosplay contest, there was a call out for people to come dressed as host Ben Cameron and for anything RENT.
Featured Image: Game Show: Desmond Luis Edwards-Ben Cameron-Jelani Remy
Photos by Melissa Griegel Photography
www.griegelphoto.zenfolio.com