Clay Aiken Sings 'Home' Run at Broadway Benefit

Clay Aiken performs 'Home' at Broadway Backwards 6.
View video by Scarlett full screen at YouTube.
Download mp3 audio by deborah760 here.

Broadway Backwards 6

Singer Returns 'Home' for Benefit

Clay Aiken returned home to the Broadway stage with a powerful performance of the song by the same name from The Wiz in the annual Broadway Backwards concert at the Longacre Theatre Monday night.

The yearly show, which features male singers performing songs traditionally sung by women and women singing tunes written for men, benefits both Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center (the Center).

Creator Robert Bartley directed and choreographed the sixth edition of Broadway Backwards. Chris Haberl was music director. The recap on the BC/EFA site proclaims that Broadway Backwards 6 raised a record-breaking $281,243. This is the paragraph about Clay's performance:

Clay Aiken, who appeared on Broadway in Spamalot, brought the house to tears with his heart-felt yearning for "Home" from The Wiz.

For more details, see the recap by Andrew Gans at Playbill, including a photo gallery. View Getty Images here.

Clay at BB6 after party.
Double clickable photo by Joseph Marzullo (WENN)

CA Fans Describe Performance

Fortunately, there were lots of Clay Aiken fans in attendance; and they have shared their experiences on various message boards.

According to dancermom, Clay was introduced just before the final group number. Included in the intro were the story of an LGBT teenager who recently committed suicide and the urgent need to stem the rash of teen deaths.

dancermom: I was in tears, and then they introduced Clay, saying the song was dedicated to all LGBT Youth.

Applause was polite when Clay was introduced. Then he sang. Quiet at first, but the song 'Home' built. It was amazing and beautiful.

When he was done, the applause was deafening. He gave a quick bow. The applause continued with a huge crescendo. Someone in the wings must have pushed Clay back on stage because came out about five feet and bowed again.

Double click to expand BB6 graphic by LovesClaysVoice.

ncwannabe: The female host told of the story of the young woman who tragically took her own life, and introduced Clay and the song, stating that it was in tribute to her.

Clay walked out in that commanding way that he enters a stage, calmly adjusted the height of the mic stand, listened to the introductory music, and then proceeded to envelop that song into his very being, only to release it again to utterly infuse itself into every molecule within the theatre.

Starting out quiet and gentle, with an earnestness that drew in the listener to the point one was leaning forward, hanging on every word. He slowly unleashed the constraints until, suddenly, you were pushed back in your seat by the power and the emotion flowing forth from his voice, his hands, and his entire being.

Then, in those last moments prior to the final “home,” in a motion so reminiscent of his triumphant "Bridge Over Troubled Water," he glanced to the side and slightly down, as if to gather up all the life force within him, and nailed that last note with all the conviction he could muster, with a look in those eyes that was pure steel.

nanjeanne: Clay was extraordinary. It was a very special moment they gave to Clay since the song was dedicated to a young girl who committed suicide. And he was simply "Clay Aiken" like everybody knew who he was.

The applause after he sang was very strong. Lots of people were turning to each other after he sang, nodding and clapping.

asolo: It was a very special night. A very special night. Men yelled "Bravo!"

copincalif: For all those kids bullied, all those LGBT youth who wonder how they are going to make it through another day, Clay Aiken is a testament to titanium.

Clay singing 'Home' at BB6.
Click to enlarge photo by Peter James Zielinski.

'Home' from 'The Wiz'

When I think of home I think of a place where there's love overflowing
I wish I was home
I wish I was back there with the things I been knowing
Wind that makes the tall trees bend into leaning
Suddenly the snowflakes that fall have a meaning
Sprinklin' the scene, makes it all clean
Maybe there's a chance for me to go back there
Now that I have some direction
It would sure be nice to be back home
Where there's love and affection
And just maybe I can convince time to slow up
Giving me enough time in my life to grow up
Time be my friend, let me start again
Suddenly my world has changed it's face
But I still know where I'm going

I have had my mind spun around in space
And yet I've watched it growing
If you're list'ning God
Please don't make it hard to know
If we should believe in the things that we see
Tell us, should we run away
Should we try and stay
Or would it be better just to let things be?
Living here, in this brand new world
Might be a fantasy
But it taught me to love
So it's real, real to me
And I've learned
That we must look inside our hearts
To find a world full of love
Like yours
Like me
Like home.

Hopefully, others will share their Broadway Backwards 6 reflections in the comments. Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation!


Signature by Linda