BroadwayGirlNYC: Broadway Cares (and so do I)

In honor of the huge success of this week's Broadway Easter Bonnet Competition, I've decided to dedicate my column to Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, the New York theatre community's premiere social service non-profit.
 
Started as separate groups with similar objectives in the late 1980s, Broadway Cares and Equity Fights AIDS joined forces in 1992, and since have become one of America's leading non-profit fundraising and grant-giving organizationx.  Money is granted for the benefit of performing artists dealing with a variety of health issues, most notably (but not exclusively) AIDS and HIV.

In addition to lauding BC/EFA for their noble efforts in supporting our community, I also have a special appreciation for the variety and creativity of their fundraising.  A perfect example is the Broadway Easter Bonnet Competition, which took place this week at the Miskoff Theatre on Monday & Tuesday afternoons.  Easter Bonnet is not only a gala event to celebrate the money raised by 64 participating Broadway, off-Broadway and touring productions this season; it's also a remarkably entertaining show in and of itself, a party by and for the theatre-making community, designed to acknowledge, regale and roast our own.

Not familiar with Easter Bonnet (or its sister show in the fall, the Gypsy of the Year)?  Here's how it works:
 
For six weeks at a time, twice a year, participating shows in New York and on tour collect money after their performances - generally in recognizable red buckets featuring the BC/EFA logo. Sometimes simple cash donations are solicited; other times shows will offer special merchandise or experiences at a premium, with the funds donated directly to the cause.  (Last year, Hugh Jackman sold his sweat-soaked, show-worn t-shirts from the stage, garnering up to $5,000 a pop!) 
 
When the six week period draws to a close, a party is thrown to acknowledge the totals raised and the shows that contribute.  And of course, since this is Broadway, the party takes the form of a lavish spectacle, complete with costumes, lights, and a screaming, adoring audience. 
 
In the Spring, that show is The Broadway Easter Bonnet Competition, an over-the-top comedy & fashion show that invites participating ensembles to create skits, along with (generally over-sized) themed hats, to represent their productions.  Many sketches are hilariously self-deprecating; some feature biting industry jokes; and a few (like this year's Billy Elliot sketch highlighting the recent mining crisis in West Virginia, one of BC/EFA's non-AIDS related beneficiaries) are moving to the point of provoking tears.  Prizes are awarded to both the shows that have raised the most money over the previous weeks, and also to those that put on the most entertaining sketches at the contest.
 
Each year in the fall, the culmination of fundraising efforts is the Gypsy of the Year Competition, a talent and variety show featuring chorus members, aka "gypsies," from various New York productions.  As with the Easter Bonnet Competition, sketches are specific and uproarious, ridiculous and celebratory and often quite moving.  The show is an all-around celebration of the theatre industry, especially the people who keep the business alive through their toil and tears all year round. 
 
It is those people - the chorus members, the dancers, the choreographers and producers and directors and stars; and also the stage managers and stagehands and electricians and plumbers and ushers and box office workers and theatre managers, etc. - to whom we all, as fans of New York theatre - are indebted.  And it is with this understanding that BC/EFA was created: we must take care of those who have given so deeply of themselves for our entertainment.
 
Easter Bonnet and Gypsy of the Year are just the beginning of BC/EFA's highly entertaining annual fundraisers.   Many of my favorite events of the year - most notably Broadway Bares and the Annual Flea Market & Grand Auction - raise money for BC/EFA.  I hope to see you at all of them!
 

UPCOMING EVENTS TO BENEFIT BC/EFA and related organizations:
 
Monday, May 10th - Playscripts Gala Celebration
 
June 20th - Broadway Bares XX "Stripopoly"
 
July 10th - Broadway Barks

July 17th & 18th - Fire Island Dance Festival
 
September 26th - Annual Flea Market & Grand Auction in Shubert Alley
 
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 over $175 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.
 
BC/EFA is the major supporter of seven programs at The Actors' Fund - including The AIDS Initiative, The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative, The Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic, The Dancers' Resource and three supportive housing residences. BC/EFA also awards annual grants to over 400 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide.
 
If you haven't already (or even if you have), visit www.broadwaycares.org to donate and learn more.