BC/EFA Annual Report 2005 - Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

oadway cares/equity fights aids
GYPSY OF THE YEAR
TOTALS 1989 – 2004
1989 $64,000
1990 $92,000
1991 $205,000
1992 $445,000
1993 $707,000
1994 $802,000
1995 $1,213,000
1996 $1,262,000
1997 $1,325,000
1998 $1,751,000
1999 $2,074,000
2000 $2,056,000
2001 $2,037,000
2002 $2,623,000
2003 $3,359,533
2004 $2,754,631
TOTAL $22,770,164
A History of Gypsy
In the fall of 1989, the Broadway Cares “steering committee” met to discuss what new event might be jointly produced by Equity
Fights AIDS and Broadway Cares – then two separate organizations – that would capitalize on the shared success of the two groups’
most recent collaboration, that year’s Broadway Flea Market. While those two groups were three years away from a formal merger, it was
already clear that sharing revenue and resources was the future of AIDS fundraising in the theatre community.
The group kept coming back to the success of the then three-year-old Easter Bonnet Competition. What would engage the
Broadway community in another round of competitive fundraising that could also culminate in a variety show? Ideas were passed
back and forth but the one that stuck was an afternoon to give “gypsies” a moment in the spotlight.
The Gypsy of the Year Competition debuted on the stage of the St. James Theatre – which appropriately enough was then home to
the smash hit revival of Gypsy – on November 28, 1989. Hosted by Gypsy stars Jonathan Hadary and Tyne Daly, directed by Michael
Lichtefeld and produced by Maria Di Dia for Broadway Cares and Tom Viola for Equity Fights AIDS, the show featured gypsies
form A Chorus Line, Black and Blue, Cats, Grand Hotel, Gypsy, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, The
Threepenny Opera, as well as representatives from two Charles Busch productions (Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and The Lady in Question) and The
Heidi Chronicles. This fledgling event raised over $64,000.
Over the next 16 years, new choreographers emerged from the ranks, and a second performance was added, as Gypsy became
one of the most sought-after tickets of the season. The casts from many more shows participated and fundraising efforts increased
dramatically. By the seventh annual edition in 1995, the $1 million dollar mark was broken – an unthinkable goal even five years
before. Four years later a sold-out audience of over 1,600 people at the Palace Theatre cheered when the $2 million fundraising
total has reached for the first time. The 16th edition of Gypsy of the Year raised $2,754,631, over 40 times more than that first edition
in 1989.
Awards presented by Bruce Vilanch, Whoopi Goldberg and Brooke Shields; a farewell tap number featuring the cast of 42nd Street; the ebullient cast of Bombay Dreams;
two young Republicans from Mamma Mia!
events
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