34 | NOVEMBER 7 • 2024 J
N

ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

A

s Stephen Sondheim 
once wrote in the 
musical Follies, “She’s a 
Broadway baby. Learning how to 
sing and dance. Waiting for that 
one big chance. To be in a show.” 
 On Sept. 8 at Franklin Hills 
Country Club, Broadway star 
Julie Benko treated Cabaret 313 
donors to a musical history of her 
career. A career that ultimately 
led to Benko being named 
by the New York Times as the 
2022 Breakout Star for Theater 
following her quintessential turn 
as Fanny Brice in the Broadway 
revival of Funny Girl. Benko 
went on to originate the role of 
Ruth Stern in Barry Manilow’s 
Broadway musical Harmony in 
2023.
More than 100 arts supporters 
attended the Soiree concert with 
Benko, who is now eight months 
pregnant, along with her husband, 
pianist-composer Jason Yeager. 
Benko and Yeager delighted 
audiences with her stories, told 
through song and anecdotes, 
of her family being cast in 
Fiddler on the Roof at the Jewish 
Community Center in Bridgeport, 
Connecticut, when she was 14, 
to conquering the challenges of 
being an understudy, standby 
or alternate on Broadway in Les 
Miserables and Fiddler on the Roof 
to off-Broadway and regional 
theater that includes Our Town, 
Once and The Fantasticks.
Benko and Yeager’s concert 
kicked off the 12th season of 
Cabaret 313, which has brought 
45 Broadway and Cabaret 
performers to various Detroit 
venues over the years. 
In addition, as part of the 
nonprofit’s mission, Cabaret 313 
has conducted 26 master classes 
for students at Wayne State, 
University of Michigan, Oakland 
University and Detroit’s Mosaic 
Youth Theatre. 

 PHOTO BY HUGH ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY

 PHOTO BY HUGH ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Husband-and-wife talented duo, Jason Yeager and Julie 
Benko, who are expecting their first child in November, 
put on a spectacular concert for Cabaret 313 donors.

Cabaret 313 co-founders Allan 
Nachman, left, and Sandi Reitelman, 
far right, with husband and wife Soiree 
stars Jason Yeager and Julie Benko.

Pianist-composer 
Jason Yeager 
accompanied his wife, 
Julie Benko, for the 
season kickoff Cabaret 
313 Soiree concert. 

Cabaret 313 

 Kick-Off

Broadway’s Julie 
Benko does the 
honors with a musical 
tribute to her career. 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY 
JULIE SMITH YOLLES

