After a Four-Year Hiatus, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition Will Return in April

Across the country, bands of volunteers will once again fill theater lobbies starting tonight with iconic #Red Buckets in hand for the spring return of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in-theater fundraising.

Through Sunday, April 23, 2023, audience members at participating shows can donate to help provide meals and medication, health care and hope to those who need them most.

After a four-year pandemic-induced hiatus, the efforts of those onstage, backstage and front of house will once again culminate in the much-appreciated return of the Easter Bonnet Competition (#BroadwayBonnets),

The 34th annual Easter Bonnet Competition is set for 4:30 pm on Monday, April 24, and 2 pm Tuesday, April 25, at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre, home to Disney's The Lion King.

Broadway shows scheduled to begin their appeals this weekend are & Juliet; A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical; The Book of Mormon; Kimberly Akimbo; The Lion King; Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Six. Off-Broadway shows starting tonight are Little Shop of Horrors and The Play That Goes Wrong. Set to join in the fundraising next week are Broadway's Aladdin, Hadestown, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Phantom of the Opera, Some Like It Hot and Wicked. More participating shows will be announced soon.

In exchange for a donation, audiences at many shows can receive autographed posters, Playbills and other memorabilia or unique experiences.

Several national tours also will join in the Easter Bonnet Competition fundraising, making appeals from the stage and encouraging donations through QR codes and online giving.

"We are thrilled that the essential and beloved tradition of Red Bucket fundraising returns to theaters once again," Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola said. "The generosity and enthusiasm from participating productions translate into heartfelt donations from audience members, which ultimately benefit people in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico who are facing life-threatening health challenges and personal crises. It's an incredible, collaborative effort to see take shape and a beautiful reminder that spring has arrived."

In-theater Red Bucket fundraising takes place twice a year during six enthusiastic weeks of on-stage audience appeals in the spring and fall. The iconic #RedBuckets made a spirited return last year, rallying audiences with memorable post-show appeals and raising more than $9 million toward meals and medication for people across the country.

The two-day Easter Bonnet Competition performances, which celebrate and conclude spring fundraising, will return for the first time in four years after a pandemic-induced hiatus. Details about this year's show will be announced in April. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, March 15, at broadwaycares.org/easterbonnet.

Donations raised through the Easter Bonnet Competition will immediately be put to action through Broadway Cares' National Grants Program, providing nutritious meals, health care and hope for those facing illness, personal challenges and crises.

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 theater community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the major supporter of the social service programs at the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund), including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts and the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative. Broadway Cares also awards annual grants to more than 485 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., providing lifesaving medication, healthy meals, counseling and emergency assistance.