‘Babes on Broadway’ pays tribute to the women behind the songs

‘Babes on Broadway’ hits all the right notes when it comes to saluting the best in the business.

The musical event will take place in April at the Union League on Broad Street, and it will pay tribute to the fierce females who helped pioneer the genre, as well as newcomers showcasing their talent.

When ‘Babes on Broadway: a Musical Tribute to the Women Behind the Songs’ takes shape, it’s because of the will and want of two of Philly’s most formidable behind-the-scenes music theater makers—composer-playwright Barbara Bellman and conductor-musical director Steven Gross.

‘Babes on Broadway’ is a brunch benefit for the female-focused Hadassah Hospital (and a presentation of a Life Activism and Philanthropy Award for Jake Spiegelman and Jay Golde), but it’s a musical theater extravaganza, front-and-center.

Gross, a Philly-based conductor, pianist and music director famed for his 25-years’ experience on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and London’s West End, gathered together many of the event’s contemporary participants from his theatrical Rolodex —and he is quick to add that “We’re saluting both the pioneers of the genre and the current batch of remarkable talent.”

One woman within that “current batch” is Philadelphia’s Bellman, whose musical ‘Bordello’ (written with Emillano Messiez) was performed in 2022 as part of the last Haddasah Philly benefit. A “late bloomer into the musical theatre world,” having had a full career in advertising and marketing, Bellman combined her love of writing with her experience in condensing stories.

“Also, because I came to creative writing later than most, my life experiences helped inform… and drew me to stories about women who had lived unusual, but unknown lives,” Bellman said of the rich history of Buenos Aires and its varied cultural influences from Eastern Europe that make up ‘Bordello’.

Along with performing one of the principal songs from the ‘Borello’ musical and its tale of journeywoman Raquel Liberman, the Union League’s ‘Babes on Broadway’ hones in on award-winning female composers such as Dorothy Fields (‘The Way You Look Tonight’), Kristen Anderson-Lopez (‘Frozen’), Lynn Ahrens (‘Ragtime’), Sara Bareilles (‘Waitress’), Jeanine Tesori (‘Fun Home’) and Betty Comden (‘Singin’ in the Rain’) – all sung by a cast of talented Philadelphia vocalists.

“Steven and I tossed ideas around and thought that it might be interesting to highlight the women behind the songs from many of the popular shows we’ve grown to love,” said Bellman of curating the music of ‘Babes on Broadway’. “There are many talented women – librettists, composers, lyricists, directors, choreographers, designers – that have added to the canon of great work but who don’t often get the recognition they deserve. Since Doña Gracia Hadassah is a woman’s organization, it seemed natural to use this opportunity to put the women behind the music into the spotlight.”

For information and tickets, visit events.hadassah.org/BabesonBroadway