29 Broadway legends – including Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, André De Shields, and more – are looking back on their most iconic roles in the latest issue of New York Magazine. For the publication’s annual Yesteryear issue, the stage icons participated in a photoshoot inspired by their breakout roles, alongside a quote looking back on their experience in the production.
The issue includes Barbra Streisand on Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Patti LuPone on Eva Perón in Evita, Joel Grey on the Emcee in Cabaret, Donna McKechnie on Cassie in A Chorus Line, André De Shields on the Wiz in The Wiz, Nathan Lane on Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Bebe Neuwirth on Velma Kelly in Chicago, Liza Minnelli on Herself in Liza With a “Z,” Jeffrey Wright on Lincoln in Topdog / Underdog, Mandy Patinkin on George in Sunday in the Park With George, Audra McDonald on Madam Rose in Gypsy, Betty Buckley on Grizabella in Cats, Matthew Broderick on Eugene Morris Jerome in Brighton Beach Memoirs, Harvey Fierstein on Arnold Beckoff in Torch Song Trilogy, Mary-Louise Parker on Catherine in Proof, Tommy Tune on Billy Buck Chandler in My One and Only, Whoopi Goldberg on Fontaine in Whoopi Goldberg, Rita Moreno on Googie Gomez in The Ritz, Lin-Manuel Miranda on Usnavi in In the Heights, Lea Salonga on Kim in Miss Saigon, Estelle Parsons on Miss Margarida in Miss Margarida’s Way, Bernadette Peters on Sondheim’s Women in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, William Daniels on John Adams in 1776, Joanna Gleason on the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, Andrea McArdle and Sarah Jessica Parker on Annie in Annie, Cherry Jones on Sister Aloysius in Doubt, Idina Menzel on Maureen in Rent, and Dick Van Dyke on Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie.
While looking back on playing Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Streisand shares: “People say success changes you, but I think it just makes you more of who you are. I’m still the same person I was then — a combination of confidence and insecurity.”
Liza Minnelli reflected on starring in Liza With A “Z” on Broadway, stating: “It gave me an opportunity for people to know me outside of my parents and outside of Sally Bowles. I didn’t have hit records, but Liza With a ‘Z’ gave me the equivalent of multiple hits.”
On starring in the current Broadway revival of Gypsy, Audra McDonald says: “Rose is an amalgam of so many women in my life, in my ancestry — I’m not saying any of them are as extreme as Rose, but that fierce love, loyalty, determination that your children are going to have better than you had, especially coming through a Black lens.”
The full profile, featuring photos and interviews, can be found here. Print copies of the piece are also available in the April 7, 2025 issue of New York Magazine.
