Broadway star Julie Benko will perform Standby, Me in two performances today at the Hotel Jerome. Benko’s critically acclaimed performance marks the start of Theatre Aspens’ 2024 Summer Cabaret Series.
Life imitates art and art imitates life as an actress goes from unknown understudy to Broadway star. This is the story of Julie Benko, whose meteoric rise to stardom is the stuff of theater legend.
Benko is in Aspen today to perform two cabaret performances as she kicks off Theatre Aspen's 2024 summer cabaret season at the Hotel Jerome.
Benko's show is called Standby, Me. The first performance is at noon and the dinner show is at 6 p.m.
Benko had been an understudy on Broadway for 14 years and filled that role for lead actress Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart, Ladybird) in the 1964 revival of Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice, who goes from unknown vaudeville performer to Broadway star.
Feldstein's performance as Brice was met with mixed reviews, but to be fair to Feldstein, who could possibly replace Streisand (who won a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Brice in the 1968 film version of Funny Girl)?
When Feldstein was diagnosed with COVID-19, Benko donned a pair of Cinderella slippers by stepping into Brice's theater shoes and blew the proverbial roof off the August Wilson Theater.
Broadway had found its new Fanny Brice. “CBS Mornings” called Benko “a rising Broadway star.” Today.com wrote, “Julie Benko may be the biggest star of them all,” and the New York Times named her the 2022 Breakout Star of Theater, saying, “Julie Benko is the bright-eyed, soft-spoken soprano who went from standby to star.”
“The experience of going from being a backup to being the star of Funny Girl was so unexpected,” Benko said in an email response to questions from the Aspen Daily News. “But what was so magical was that it mirrored the journey of Fanny’s character on the show. When Fanny starts out, she’s a complete unknown and no one pays attention to her. When I would go on stage as an understudy, there were always audience members who were disappointed that they weren’t seeing the full-time star. But once I sang The Greatest Star, I could feel the change in everyone and suddenly they were cheering me on. By the end of the show, we were all on a transformative journey together.”
The name of Benko's cabaret show that she presents at the Jerome Hotel with her husband Jason Yeager on piano is called Standby, Me and will surely include stories and songs from her Funny Girl experience.
When asked to describe the art of cabaret, Benko said, “Cabaret is an art form that mixes music and storytelling. It’s personal and autobiographical. Cabaret requires a certain ease and rapport with the audience; it’s like walking into your living room. You want things to be alive and different from night to night so nothing feels artificial. It’s different than playing a character in a play. You’re playing yourself, which can be the hardest thing of all.”
Reviews of her cabaret show with Yeager have been rave. “Jason Yeager and Julie Benko are adorable. Review: They are A-DOR-ABLE,” said Broadway World Cabaret. Benko and Yeager are both accomplished musical artists. It's a real treat to see them perform in person. They arrived in style and with supreme success. Showbiz 411 wrote, “As Benko amply demonstrates, she is a master of the cabaret genre.”
The Aspens Theatre’s 2024 Summer Cabaret Series includes three more shows: Behind the Broadway Curtain: Songs From and About the Business of Show on July 14; Broadway Game Night: An Evening of Music, Mayhem and More! on August 4; and Heroes vs. Villains: A Broadway Showdown on August 11.
The Aspen Theatre will open the curtain on Legally Blonde: The Musical Friday at the Hurst Theatre. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit theatreaspen.org.
