Breakout Broadway Star Julie Benko Is Coming to Bay Street

For multi-hyphenate performer Julie Benko, bouncing around from show to show, style to style, and stage to stage is, at this point, second nature. This week, she headlines “Music Monday” at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater, performing her self-penned cabaret show titled Standby, Me.

Usually, you can find the actress-singer-musician-writer on Broadway, where she’s had quite an impressive year. Last summer, when Beanie Feldstein exited the lead role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Benko moved up from understudy to lead, until Feldstein’s replacement Lea Michele could take over.

These days, Benko still plays the role once a week on Thursdays — for now, anyway. In October, she’ll be originating her first lead role on Broadway, in the new Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman musical, Harmony, at the Barrymore Theater. After several stints on standby, the understudy will become the lead — with her own understudy — this fall. Still, Benko remains humble.

Benko says that a standout moment for her was when she was named by The New York Times as the “2022 Breakout Star” for theater. “They put me in an article with Quinta Brunson and a whole bunch of really stellar people for TV, music, and film,” she recalls, “To be among that group of people and be singled out as a rep for the theater community, that was a special moment. My husband got it framed for me.”

Her husband, Jason Yeager, is not only a big supporter but also a frequent collaborator. Last summer, the pair released an album, Hand In Hand, containing jazz and theater standards as well as a couple of original songs. They also have a holiday album in the works for later this year. Monday’s show, Standby, Me, is another of the couple’s collaborations. Yeager accompanies Benko on piano, and even participates as a “character.”

“It’s just me and him at Bay Street,” Benko notes, “He’s an integral part of the show. It’s really fun to get to work together and do these projects together,” she says. “We do a lot of our practicing in the living room, and we bring that relaxed, intimate feel like when we rehearse in our home to people.”

This show, in particular, contains songs from shows that Benko has understudied, such as Spring Awakening, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof, and, of course, Funny Girl. It’s not just songs, though — they are woven together through anecdotes of Benko’s experiences.

Beyond singing and performing in musicals, Benko says she’d love to do more film and television acting, but is also very passionate about writing, and says it’s important for her to have the chance to showcase that skill, too.

“This year has been so crazy that I haven’t been able to focus on getting my writing out there. I think my concerts and cabaret work is playing that role, because I am writing even if I didn’t write the songs,” she says.

“The show kind of recounts all the different forms of understudying I’ve done throughout my career,” says Benko. “There are going to be a lot of stories of on-stage mishaps like the time that I got a nosebleed on stage — and a lot of the challenges that I’ve had to overcome as an understudy, and how difficult it is to learn the songs, learn the lines and the dances. But also how hard it is emotionally.”

The emotional connection is important for her. Benko recalls receiving a letter from an audience member following one of her performances, telling her how inspirational it was to see how much rejection she had faced and kept going.

“The story that I’ve gotten to live over the last year year and a half, was so crazy,” says Benko “It’s sort of the American Dream, you know? People get a chance to go, ‘Wow, it can happen.’”

Ready to wow the crowd for her first-ever show at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater, Benko says she’s very excited to go back to the Hamptons.

“I’ve been to the Hamptons a couple of times, it’s so beautiful. My husband I vacationed there a few years ago, and visited Sag Harbor for the first time, it’s lovely. We walked around, looking at the Bay Street and I thought wow, ‘I’d like to work here someday,” she recalls, “It was really wonderful when I got the email and was invited to perform. I hope to keep coming back and maybe get to do one of its theater shows there one day.”

If the trajectory of her career so far is any indication, Benko is bound to receive many callbacks.

Catch Julie Benko’s “Standby, Me,” at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater for “Music Monday,” July 17, at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $60 and are available for purchase at the box office, and by phone (631-725-9500), email (boxoffice@baystreet.org), or online at baystreet.org.