If you wanna win the Bonnet put some bling on it…oh, oh, oh!

A little while back I wrote a post about Extreme Fundraising that was being done for charities and I wondered what it would look like for the arts.  I noted how the causes were usually very personal and that the people involved put themselves through some sort of rigorous event.  Today I was reminded that theatre actually does have a form of extreme fundraising that is done during certain times of the year and takes a Herculean effort – it is the wonderful work done for Broadway Cares – Equity Fights Aids.

In a mere 6 weeks, through curtain speeches the theatre community raised $3,402,147.  That’s right almost 3 and a half million raised by actors and stage managers, often aided by the crews, ushers, and other working on a show through curtain speeches (and ticket sales to the Easter Bonnet performance).

The Easter Bonnet is one of many events held throughout the season:

The Easter Bonnet Competition features a parade of bonnets hand-crafted by the cast and crews of dozens of participating productions which are presented in song, dance and comedic sketches. A "must-see" for the Broadway fan, the show is always a highlight of the spring season, with moments both hilarious and heartfelt.

This annual spring event is the culmination of an intensive six-week fundraising effort by the companies of Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring productions.

Curtain speeches, sales of autographed posters and programs, auctions and cabaret performances are just some of the activities that enable these companies to bring in generous contributions from audiences on Broadway and across the country.

Honors are awarded to the companies that raise the largest amounts of money on behalf of BC/EFA during the fundraising drive. Companies offering the best designs and presentations of bonnets are also recognized.

Since 1987, 22 editions of The Easter Bonnet Competition have raised over $35 million for BC/EFA which, in turn, has supported programs at The Actors Fund including The AIDS Initiative, The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative, as well as over 400 AIDS and family service organizations across the country.

If that isn’t extreme fundraising – I don’t know what is!

And for those of you who weren’t at the show, you missed a fun afternoon.  Some of my favorite highlights included:

33 Variations “volunteer” [read be there or supposedly Jane will kill you] rehearsal skit – complete with Jane Fonda leading the cast in an aerobics workout.

Avenue Q – Puppet Rod vs. Howie Michael Smith singing a re-written “You’re nothing without me” from City of Angels (one of my all time favorite show tunes), only to be interrupted by the adorable Johnny Tartaglia (full disclosure, I was the GM on the original off-Broadway production and Johnny is one of the nicest, cutest most lovable people I have ever met or worked with). 

Billy Elliott – the young ballerinas in the cast being joined by 105 year old Ziegfeld Follies dancer Doris Eaton Travis).

Tovah Feldshuh and Joan Allen (two of many masters of ceremonies) who were beyond funny.

The dashing Jeremy Irons being charming and witty during the final awards – someone should be booking him now to host a gala.  His self-effacing humor was brilliant. 

If you weren’t there you missed a wonderfully fun afternoon – even if there were a lot of Liza references and almost every skit parodied Patty LuPone’s on-stage rant.  If you were at today (or yesterday), the title of the blog makes perfect sense…

(Fine – for those who weren’t there the Bonnet dancers did their own version of Beyonce’s hit – All the Singles Ladies, after declaring Seth Rudetsky Broadway’s Sasha Fierce.)