GYPSY OF THE YEAR Raises $3,902,608 for BC/EFA; THE BOOK OF MORMON Tour Tops Fundraisers

The 24th Annual GYPSY OF THE YEAR Competition, the culminating celebration of six weeks of fundraising by 51 participating Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies, raised $3,902,608 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The grand total was announced Tuesday, December 4, at this year's GYPSY OF THE YEAR, which included songs, original skits and dances performed by more than 200 of New York's best singers, dancers and musicians.

Since 1989, the 24 editions of GYPSY OF THE YEAR have raised a total of $52,934,581 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) joined Katie Holmes (Dead Accounts) and Ricky Martin (Evita) in announcing the grand total to a standing-room-only audience at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 West 42nd Street), home to Disney's Mary Poppins. The three actors presented awards to the top fundraising companies and to the best performances in this year's show.

This year’s top fundraiser was the national tour of The Book of Mormon, which raised $478,130. Here's how this year’s fundraising competition total ended:

Broadway (Musical)
Top Fundraiser Once $232,770
1st Runner-Up Evita $224,105
2nd Runner-Up The Book of Mormon $209,265
3rd Runner-Up Wicked $165,370

Broadway (Play)
Top Fundraiser The Heiress $ 50,254

Off-Broadway (Play or Musical)
Top Fundraiser Avenue Q $ 24,940
1st Runner-Up Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike $ 20,700

National Tours
Top Fundraiser The Book of Mormon $478,130
1st Runner-Up Wicked – Emerald City $357,379
2nd Runner-Up Wicked – Munchkinland $252,152
3rd Runner-Up Les Misérables $172,290

The company of The Lion King took honors for the best onstage presentation for an outstanding piece, choreographed by Ray Mercer, that transformed a spoken word introduction into a graceful, powerful dance metaphor. The cast of Bring It On: The Musical was runner-up with a high-flying, acrobatic hip-hop number.

The 2012 edition of GYPSY OF THE YEAR, which was presented in two shows on December 3 and 4, is the finale of six weeks of intensive fundraising by Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies. The entire theatre community gathers for the competitive variety show, put on by the most talented singers and dancers in the ensemble of shows, known as "gypsies."

Broadway Cares announced last month that $250,000 of this year's GYPSY OF THE YEAR fundraising dollars had already been sent to three relief agencies – Community FoodBank of New Jersey, AmeriCares and the American Red Cross of Greater New York – and The Actors Fund to help provide immediate assistance for those in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut affected by the devastation from Hurricane Sandy. On Tuesday, BC/EFA announced that an additional $100,000 has been given to The Actors Fund to help continue providing emergency financial assistance for temporary shelter, food, clothing and transportation for members of our theatrical family bringing BC/EFA's hurricane relief efforts to $350,000.

The 24th Annual GYPSY OF THE YEAR Competition featured a tribute to legendary lyricist Fred Ebb, led by Tony Award winners David Hyde Pierce (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) and Debra Monk (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof). Ebb is renowned for his legendary collaborations with composer John Kander. Together, Kander and Ebb created some of the most delightful, smart and hilarious songs in more than a dozen groundbreaking and acclaimed musicals of the last 50 years, including Zorba, Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Scottsboro Boys, winning three Tony Awards. Ebb died in 2004. As a stipulation in his will, Ebb created the Fred Ebb Award of $50,000 to be given annually to an aspiring musical theatre songwriter and generously left Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS the remaining portion of royalties earned on his collective works – a donation totaling an astonishing $6.95 million since 2005. In 2012, the Foundation's award to BC/EFA was $1.3 million, the largest single gift in Broadway Cares history.

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