Tina Fey hosted the hour and a half One Night Only: Best of Broadway as many paid tribute to the long-lasting Broadway which was shutdown back in March due to the pandemic. The Tony Award winning Jersey Boys kicked off the night with montage of Frankie Valli songs including, “Who Loves you”, and “Oh What A Night”. The show aired live on December 10, 2020 on NBC networks and is currently streaming via a Hulu subscription.
Throughout the night, there were numerous attempt to promote Broadway Cares, an organization developed to help struggling actors was promoted to help those in need especially during this time of year. Broadway Legend, Nathan Lane was the first to speak about their cause. Others who spoke about how Broadway changed their lives include Barbara Streisand, who also entertained us with “Luckiest People in the World.” Broadway actor, Billy Porter shared the history of the Broadway Cares Fund which started back in the early 90’s as another pandemic shock the world. Another Broadway actor, Shawn Hayes and Vanessa Williams shared more about how Broadway changed their lives while encouraging donating to the charity.
Star stunning performances include multiple songs from “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations as well as another Musical dedicated to musicians of the past as the cast of Jersey Boys returned with another Montague of great hits.
Kelly Clarkson also performed “White Christmas”, which was fitting for the time of season and Country Superstar Brett Eldridge performed a classic opening from the Iconic “Oklahoma”, “Oh What a Beautiful Day.” Broadway Legend Patti Labelle lifted the street and hopes of all with her performance of “America To Me”. There were also multiple performances from several Broadway shows that were forced to shut down back in March, including the cast of Mean Girls with “Stupid with Love” as well as Mary Kate Morrissey who performed “I’d Rather Be Me”.
From the New Musical “Diana” opening next year, Jenna De Waal performed “If” written about the late, beloved Diana Princess of Wales
The cast of Rent performed “Seasons of Love” and actors share how their first theater experience, jumpstarted their love and passion for the entertainment industry.
Other performances include two numbers from the current Broadway musical, Chicago, “All that Jazz” featuring Lana Gordon as well as “When You’re Good To Mama” featuring Natasha Yvette Williams.
Three actors from the newest play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child spoke about what happened to them when Broadway shutdown and shared their hopes of returning to bring more people to meet the new generation of witches and wizards and Antonio Banderas introduced his stage performance of Chorus Line.
The cast of Jagged Little Pill ended the night on a high note with their anthem song as Broadway enthusiasts give hope that the show will go on when it is safe to do so.