Easter Bonnet Competition Raises $3,601,335 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

Stars, standouts and the most sensational ensembles of Broadway unveiled their best bonnets and skits at the long-awaited return of the Easter Bonnet Competition, which is produced by and benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The 34th annual edition concluded today, Tuesday, April 25.

This year's fundraising efforts raised a total of $3,601,335. Highlights included:

Best Bonnet:

Chicago

Best Bonnet presentation:

The Lion King (First Runner Up: The Phantom of the Opera)

Off-Broadway Fundraising:

Little Shop of Horrors ($54,441), The Play That Goes Wrong ($43,198)

Broadway Plays Fundraising

A Doll's House ($176,480), Pictures From Home ($86,373)

Tours Fundraising:

Wicked/Munchkinland ($204,090), Hamilton/Phillip ($112,731), Frozen ($96,348), Six/Aragon ($94,008)

Broadway Musicals Fundraising:

&Juliet ($231,536), The Phantom of the Opera ($223,274), Moulin Rouge! ($198,586), Wicked ($169,445), Funny Girl ($166,178).

The Easter Bonnet Competition, which has been on a pandemic-induced hiatus since April 2019, marks the celebratory conclusion of six weeks of competitive, in-theater fundraising by 42 Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies

The Easter Bonnet Competition was hosted by a cast of this season's favorite performers, including Christian Borle and J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot), Victoria Clark (Kimberly Akimbo) , Micaela Diamond and Ben Platt (Parade), Bongi Duma and Lindiwe Dlamini (The Lion King); Kimberly Marable (Chicago); Stark Sands (& Juliet); Will Swenson (A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical) and the current queens of Broadway's Six, Bella Coppola, Leandra Ellis-Gaston, Zoe Jensen, Taylor Imán Jones, Nasia Thomas and Hailee Kaleem Wright. Carolee Carmello (Bad Cinderella), Arian Moayed (A Doll's House) and Brandon Uranowitz (Leopoldstadt) introduced the judges at Tuesday's performance.

The last in-person editioned of the Easter Bonnet Competition, held four years ago, raised a record-breaking $6,594,778. Since the Easter Bonnet Competition began in 1987, the event has raised $87.5 million.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the philanthropic heart of Broadway, 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 Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative and The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts. Broadway Cares also awards annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., providing lifesaving medication, healthy meals, counseling and emergency assistance.

For more information, please visit Broadway Cares online at broadwaycares.org, at facebook.com/BCEFA, at instagram.com/BCEFA, at twitter.com/BCEFA and at youtube.com/BCEFA.