Broadway Cares' Red Buckets Return to Theaters Tonight

The red buckets will return to theater lobbies in New York City and across the country as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' cherished tradition of in-theater fundraising returns tonight, October 25, 2024. The generosity of audiences, theater companies and #RedBuckets volunteers will provide nutritious meals, medication, health care, emergency financial assistance and more lifesaving support.

The six weeks will culminate in Red Bucket Follies, the annual fundraising celebration complete with one-of-a-kind songs, dances and original skits from Broadway's best. Performances are set for 4:30 pm Monday, December 9, and 2 pm Tuesday, December 10, at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 West 42nd Street, New York City). Tickets to Red Bucket Follies, one of Broadway's most treasured legacies, are available now at broadwaycares.org/follies.

The Red Bucket Follies Fall Fundraising Campaign continues through Sunday, December 8. Kicking off the #RedBuckets appeals this weekend are Broadway's Back to the Future - The Musical; The Book of Mormon; Chicago; The Great Gatsby; Hadestown; Hamilton; Hell's Kitchen; The Hills of California; The Lion King; McNeal; The Notebook; Oh, Mary!; Once Upon a Mattress; Our Town; The Outsiders; Six; Water for Elephants and Wicked; Off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors, The Play That Goes Wrong and Titanique; and Beetlejuice, Les Misérables, MJ, Some Like it Hot and Wicked - Munchkinland tours.

Starting appeals next week are Broadway's & Juliet, Aladdin, Cabaret, Sunset Boulevard and Yellow Face, as well as the national touring productions of Clue, Hamilton - Angelica tour and Kimberly Akimbo. More companies of Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring shows will join in the coming weeks.

“The enthusiasm from our theatrical community as we start another #RedBuckets fundraising season makes my heart swell,” said Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola, who this summer announced his retirement after a 36-year tenure. “Every dollar dropped in a bucket will provide essential meals, lifesaving medication, life-affirming health care and hope to so many in need this holiday season and beyond. I'm endlessly grateful to those onstage, behind the scenes and in the audience, in addition to our beloved volunteers, who make this essential fundraising possible.”

The Red Bucket fundraising takes place twice a year during six committed and compassionate weeks of fundraising in the spring and fall. Since 1989, the 31 editions of Red Bucket Follies (formerly called Gypsy of the Year) have raised $98.9 million to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

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 awarded more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS 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 Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts, the HIV/AIDS Initiative and the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative. Broadway Cares provides 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. At times of crisis, Broadway Cares also awards one-time humanitarian grants to provide emergency aid across the US and around the world.