Photo Flash: Go Inside Gypsy of the Year with the Best of Broadway!

Broadway's best spread messages of unity, hope and resilience through satire, song and dance December 5 and 6, 2016, at the 28th annual Gypsy of the Year competition, produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Gypsy of the Year (#GypsyOfTheYear), which celebrated six weeks of dedicated fundraising from 55 Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies, raised $4,492,636 for Broadway Cares. The grand total was announced Tuesday by Tony Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple) and Jessie Mueller (Waitress) and Hamilton star Javier Muñoz following two incredible days of performances. Erivo, Mueller and Muñoz also presented the awards to the top fundraisers and best performances across the two afternoons.

The company of Hamilton took top honors for best onstage presentation. In "America," the cast mashed up the music and lyrics of Bob Marley and Lin-Manuel Miranda and the poetry of Langston Hughes into a call for peace and equality in our country. Muñoz and Syndee Winters led the integration of song and word, with the cast channeling the duo's sentiments into a powerful, striking dance choreographed by Karla Puno Garcia.

The company of The Lion King was runner-up with a moving spoken-word piece giving voice to those marginalized by the current political climate. The piece, written by cast member L. Steven Taylor and choreographed by Ray Mercer, found four isolated actors and a dancer expressing their words through movement, finding common ground in each other's plight. The piece concluded with the performers declaring in unison, "I will never leave you alone."

Opening Number. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

On Your Feet! Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

The Color Purple. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Wicked. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Falsettos. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Fiddler on the Roof. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Lora Lee Gayer, Robert Creighton, Megan Sikora

Waitress. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

John Mulaney & Nick Kroll. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Paramour. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Judith Light. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Chicago. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

National Tours. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

The Lion King. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Hamilton. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Hamilton. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Cynthia Erivo, Jessie Mueller, Javier Munoz. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Jersey Boys. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Avenue Q. Photo Credit: Matthew Stocke

Jersey Boys. Photo Credit: Matthew Stocke

School of Rock. Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

Seth Rudetsky. Photo Credit: Matthew Stocke