The 26th annual edition of
Gypsy of the Year raised a record-breaking $5,229,611 for
Broadway Cares/
Equity Fights
AIDS thanks to six weeks of fundraising by 64
Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies.
The show's spirited opening number celebrated the 40th anniversary of
The Wiz, one of the first large-scale, big-budget
Broadway musicals to feature an all-black cast and winner of seven
Tony Awards in
1975.
Triumphantly returning to the yellow brick road,
Ken Page, who played the
Lion in the original
Broadway production was met with rapturous applause from the energized audience. The opening number was directed by T.
Oliver Reid and choreographed by
Brian Harlan Brooks with music direction by Ben Cohn and orchestrations by
Adam Michael Kaufman.
The grand total was announced Tuesday,
December 9, 2014, by special guests
Hugh Jackman,
Nathan Lane and
Judith Light after two stellar performances of original dances, songs and skits by more than
200 “gypsies” from Broadway and Off-Broadway shows.
Since
1989, the 26 editions of Gypsy of the Year (#gypsyoftheyear) have raised $62.4 million to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The previous record high for Gypsy of the Year fundraising was $4,895,253 set in
2011.
A standing-room-only audience at the
New Amsterdam Theatre, home to
Disney's Aladdin, erupted with cheers and applause as Jackman,
Lane and
Light also presented awards to the top fundraising companies and for the best performances in this year's show.
This year’s top overall fundraiser was
The River, which stars Jackman and raised $549,725.
For the first time in history, the top two fundraising plays – The River and
It's Only a Play – raised more than $1 million.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the
American theatre community, since
1988 BC/
EFA has raised more than $250 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the
United States.
Broadway Cares awards annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide and is the major supporter of the social service programs at
The Actors Fund, including the
HIV/AIDS Initiative, the
Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative and the
Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: youtube.com/BCEFAtv
broadwaycares.org
facebook.com/BCEFA
twitter.com/BCEFA
instagram.com/BCEFA
- published: 17 Dec 2014
- views: 5337