If you have attended a Broadway show in the spring or late fall, you may have experienced an appeal to donate to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA) after the performers have received applause during their bows. Shows still in previews don’t generally participate, but nearly all shows that have opened do. Often you can purchase Playbills or window cards signed by the entire cast in exchange for a donation to BCEFA, and sometimes there are special items auctioned off to the bidder donating the highest amount. I once watched Glenn Close auction off the false eyelashes she had worn during the last revival of Sunset Boulevard (not to be confused with the currently running Sunset Blvd!), along with a photo opportunity with her, for over $10,000. Daniel Radcliffe has a history of raising quite a lot for BCEFA auctioning things like the literal shirt off his back (in Equus) and a piece of paper he had typed on during the performance (in Merrily We Roll Along). But always during these times of year there are people waiting as you exit with red buckets to receive donations of any size (as I have heard many times, “no donation is too small . . . and no donation is too large!”). They now also have QR codes on the buckets to scan and donate through in these relatively cash-free times.
These fund-raising drives were started in 1987, as AIDS was ravaging the theatre community and so many brilliant artists needed assistance with medical costs and social services. Much of the money raised now goes to the Entertainment Community Fund to fund The Friedman Health Center for the Broadway community, the HIV/AIDS Initiative, and The Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative, but also expands to provide grants to AIDS and social service organizations all over the country. With these drives occurring roughly around the Easter season and just before Christmas, BCEFA has held revues since 1989 at the end of each round of fund raising to announce the shows that have raised the most money. In addition, shows that choose to can also perform a short musical skit in front of the Broadway community and a panel of celebrity judges in hopes of winning bragging rights by placing in the top three. The spring drive led to one show being called the Easter Bonnet Competition (and each musical skit ended with one performer wearing an elaborately themed hat) and the one in early December was called Gypsy of the Year until being renamed Red Bucket Follies in 2022. As of this year, Red Bucket Follies was the only show being put on (despite the drives still being twice a year), but perhaps Easter Bonnet will come back!
I have been going to these events for years now. The audience is largely made up of the Broadway community, but for a donation to BCEFA some additional tickets are available to the regular public. Generally there are two performances, one on a Monday at 4:30 (think of this as a dress rehearsal, and a way for the judges to decide which skits they plan to award so that there are no delays the next day) and the finale the next day at 2PM (earlier since most attending and performing have a show that night). At the Tuesday performance the fund raising and musical skit winners are announced, as well as the total raised by everyone during the drive.
One of the great things about going to these is being at an insider Broadway event where the more shows you have seen, the better you will enjoy the musical skits. For instance, I remember when the original cast of Hamilton retold the story of “Demon Barber Sweeney Todd” to the tune of “Alexander Hamilton.” When Phantom was about to close, cast members going back decades had a skit set in a nursing home for Broadway performers. You also see Broadway performers interact and introduce different skits (above see Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff from Merrily We Roll Along at the 2023 Red Bucket Follies). The BCEFA YouTube channel has videos from many of the performances over the years.
Often the musical skits are funny (I remember well the opening number honoring the covid testing teams at the first Follies following the covid shutdown – including dancing nasal swabs), but sometimes are quite touching.
The photos above show you the judges and which shows participated in the Red Bucket Follies in December of 2024.
The final total and the shows that had raised the most for the fall drive in 2024 were announced by Jim Parsons (Our Town), Cole Escola (Oh Mary!), Ruthie Ann Miles (McNeal) and Nicole Scherzinger (Sunset Blvd).
The total for the fall drive in 2024 was over $5.3M! As someone who truly loves Broadway theatre, BCEFA is one of my favorite charitable organizations (every year I send their cards, which also represent a donation, to family and close friends). There are other shows during the year to raise money for BCEFA (for example, Broadway Bares, if you are feeling adventurous) and other ways to support BCEFA (they often have Broadway house seats for even sold-out shows available if you are willing to donate twice the face value of the ticket – better than giving the money to a scalper). If you happen to be at a Broadway show during the fund raising periods, please consider being generous. Every single person who participates in the BCEFA drive donates their time, both while collecting and for the Red Bucket Follies. Even the theatre space for Red Bucket Follies is donated by Disney Theatricals. And if you happen to be able to attend Red Bucket Follies next December, let me know – I’ll see you there!
Julie Brannan, NYC residential real estate 