Fred Ebb Foundation Donates Record $1.65 Million to BC/EFA

The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell Bernard, Trustee) has announced that its 2014 donation to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will total $1.65 million dollars, marking the largest single contribution in BC/EFA history and bringing the foundation's total contribution to BC/EFA to $10 million since it began ten years ago.

The foundation, which is funded by royalties from the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb's vast catalogue of work, makes an annual donation to BC/EFA. This contribution tops last year's donation of $1.4 million dollars, which was, at the time, the largest single contribution in BC/EFA history.

"Fred Ebb's brilliant legacy - with the extraordinary John Kander - has allowed BC/EFA to increase and expand its support specifically for The Actors Fund, over $4.6 million in 2014 alone. Fred's generosity has allowed BC/EFA to offer support for such new programs over the years as The Dancers Resource and Artists Health Insurance Resource Center, to support the Fund's response to Hurricane Sandy and other emergency initiatives and capital campaigns, as well as increase annual support for the HIV/AIDS Initiative, Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative, Hirschfeld Free Clinic, the Actors Work Program and other longstanding programs," said BC/EFA Executive Director Tom Viola. "Fred, your incredible generosity to BC/EFA has indeed made a difference in the lives of thousands of your colleagues, co-workers, friends and loved ones in 'the business.' As you wrote, it is indeed 'a quiet thing'. But you have truly offered us 'exploding fireworks, from way up there among the clouds' for now a decade. Thank you!"

The Fred Ebb Foundation, in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) also presents an annual award, named for Mr. Ebb, to aspiring musical theatre songwriters. The Fred Ebb Award recognizes excellence in musical theatre songwriting, by a songwriter or songwriting team that has not yet achieved significant commercial success. The award is meant to encourage and support aspiring songwriters to create new works for the musical theatre, and includes a $50,000 award. This year's award was presented to Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen. Past winners include John Bucchino (2005), Steve Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman (2006), Peter Mills (2007), Adam Gwon (2008), Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich (2009), Douglas J. Cohen (2010), Jeff Blumenkrantz (2011), Sam Willmott (2012) and Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond (2013). The selection panel is comprised of: Foundation Trustee Mitchell Bernard; lyricist, writer and composer Sheldon Harnick; music director David Loud; actress Debra Monk; playwright and producer Tim Pinckney; and theatre producer Arthur Whitelaw.