Tom Hanks, Nathan Lane, Andrea Martin & More Stars to Take Part in the 2013 Easter Bonnet Competition
A bevy of Broadway’s brightest stars are uniting at the 27th annual Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition! Lucky Guy star Tom Hanks, The Nance headliner Nathan Lane, Kinky Boots composer Cyndi Lauper and book writer Harvey Fierstein (all Broadway.com Audience Choice Award nominees) and Pippin player Andrea Martin will participate in the previously announced 2013 competition at the Minskoff Theatre on April 22 and 23. Hanks, Lauper and Fierstein will present the top fundraising and best presentation awards on April 23, while Lane and Martin will introduce the competition’s judges.
In addition to the celebrity presenters and judges, the Easter Bonnet Competition will feature an original opening number starring Marin Mazzie. Nice Work If You Can Get It star (and Broadway.com Audience Choice Award nominee) Jessie Mueller will close the show with the traditional Easter Bonnet anthem, “Help is on the Way.” The event will also feature a reunion of Don Richard and Jennifer Cody as Officer Lockstock and Little Sally from Urinetown. Productions scheduled to perform and present bonnets include A Christmas Story, Ann, Annie, Avenue Q, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Chicago, Cinderella, Kinky Boots, Mamma Mia!, Newsies, Once, Spider-Man, The Lion King and Wicked.
But wait, there’s more! Other Broadway stars scheduled to appear include Broadway.com Audience Choice Award nominees Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), Victoria Clark (Cinderella), Katie Finneran (Annie), Ann Harada (Cinderella) and Andy Karl (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), as well as Peter Scolari (Lucky Guy), Robert Cuccioli (Spider-Man), Shalita Grant (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike), Ron Kunene (The Lion King), Tshidi Manye (The Lion King), Christopher McDonald (Lucky Guy), Judy McLane (Mamma Mia!) and Mark Nelson (My Name is Asher Lev).
The Easter Bonnet judges will include Jekyll & Hyde duo Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox, The Nance star Cady Huffman, Ann headliner Holland Taylor, Buyer & Cellar star Michael Urie, costume designer Gregg Barnes, choreographer Josh Bergasse and Paul Libin, executive vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters and president of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ Board of Directors.
An annual Broadway tradition, the Easter Bonnet Competition is the conclusion of six intensive weeks of fundraising efforts by participating productions on and off-Broadway, as well as on tour. The winner of the competition is the company that raises the largest sum for BC/EFA. Awards are also granted to the company with the best bonnet design and presentation, as well as the Broadway play, national tour and off-Broadway production that raises the largest amount for BC/EFA.
