Photo by Thann Clark
by James Judd
If you love Broadway divas of indeterminate age, you’ve likely seen clips of Broadway Barbara teaching Bob Fosse dance moves on your social media feed. You might even have stood in front of a full-length mirror attempting to master her famous “soft-boiled egg hands.” If you’ve missed her online, you’ve missed out on the best kind of physical comedy—equal parts razor’s-edge wit and slapstick ridiculousness.
Broadway Barbara is returning to the Red Room for a highly anticipated run from July 21–24, following her lauded debut at the Art House last summer. Barbara is the brilliant creation of Los Angeles based actress, singer, dancer, writer, and comedian Leah Sprecher. On stage, Barbara is a mature lady of the theater out to prove she’s still a triple-threat with the right stuff to play an ingenue. In fact, her press materials proudly state that Barbara has logged more audition time without landing a leading role than any other performer in Broadway history.
Exactly how old is Barbara? Though Sprecher is significantly younger than her alter ego—briefly mentioning dropping off her own preschooler before our interview—she remains delightfully vague on the subject of Barbara’s age. “She’s ageless,” Sprecher says. “She’ll live as long as I live, and it’ ll only get more and more natural as I age.”
Playing older is nothing new for the performer. “From when I first began trying out for shows, I would always be cast in the older character woman role in middle school or camp productions, like Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!” says Sprecher. “When I was 27, I played the mother to an actor who was also 27.”
Sprecher credits the training she received as a musical theater major at UCLA, followed by the rigors of the Groundlings—the ultra-competitive Los Angeles sketch comedy and improv launching pad—for teaching her how to turn all that never-the-young-lead heartache into priceless material. She spent a grueling but rewarding year writing and performing new material every week on their stage as a member of their legendary Sunday Company.
It was during her time with the Groundlings that the seed for Broadway Barbara was first planted. Originally conceived as a brief, five-minute character sketch, the bit featured Barbara aggressively tap-dancing through an audition for 42nd Street, trying to convince a panel of unseen casting directors that she could still play Peggy Sawyer. The sketch was an instant hit, showcasing Sprecher’s unique ability to marry high-level theatrical skill with deeply satirical character work. Realizing the character had legs far beyond a five-minute bit, Sprecher began building a full-length cabaret show around her delusionally confident alter ego.
When the global pandemic shuttered live theaters worldwide, Sprecher shifted her focus to the digital landscape. Alongside her husband, a professional comedy writer, she began producing short-form videos tracking Barbara’s theatrical insights, aggressively eccentric dance tutorials, and bizarre post-show routines. The Internet responded with open arms. Within months, Broadway Barbara became a viral sensation across Instagram and TikTok, drawing hundreds of thousands of followers, including real-life Broadway royalty who fell in love with the campy, affectionate send-up of theater culture.
As soon as the theaters reopened, Sprecher began receiving production offers from regional theaters across the country and even as far as away as Australia, where she was embraced by local audiences and critics. Australian Arts Review called it, “Where Judy-Garland-esque gravitas could rub against wackiness worthy of Lucille Ball.” Glam Adelaide added, “A dash of Liza with a Z, a splash of Patti LuPone… there’s no one who compares. FIVE STARS.”
For Provincetown theatergoers, the Red Room provides the perfect, intimate environment for Barbara’s larger-than-life personality. Audiences can expect a spectacular, high-energy variety show packed with belted show tunes, questionable choreography, and autobiographical tales of old Hollywood romances that may or may not have actually happened. Sprecher’s genuine talent shines through. Sprecher’s extensive national tour experience—including stints with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and 42nd Street—ensures that even when Barbara is missing a step for comedic effect, Sprecher is operating with pinpoint accuracy.
Ultimately, Broadway Barbara is a love letter to the theater community and the resilient, occasionally unhinged spirit of performers who refuse to let the curtain fall on their dreams.
Broadway Barbara Live! is performed at Red Room, 258 Commercial St., Provincetown, Tuesday, July 21, 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, July 24–25, 7 p.m. For tickets ($$42.50 – $52.50) and information, visit redroom.club.
