Cherry Jones, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart & More to Take Part in Gypsy of the Year Competition

There’ll be no shortage of star power at the upcoming Gypsy of the Year competition, the annual Broadway talent show benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Now in its 25th year, this year’s ceremony will be held on December 9 and 10 at the Minskoff Theatre and is set to include a slew of talent from across the board serving as judges, presenters and performers.

Tony winner Cherry Jones (The Glass Menagerie) and Tony winner Ian McKellen and Tony nominee Patrick Stewart (Waiting For Godot/No Man's Land) will announce the awards at the competition. In addition, Tony winner Tyne Daly (Mothers and Sons), Tony nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger, Zachary Quinto and Brian J. Smith (The Glass Menagerie), Stephen DeRosa (Betrayal), Rick Holmes (Peter and the Starcatcher) and Lindsay Mendez (Wicked) are set to present at the starry event.

Twelfth Night’s Shakespearean trio of Tony winner Mark Rylance, Samuel Barnett and Stephen Fry will be on hand to introduce the judging panel, which includes Mary Bridget Davies (A Night with Janis Joplin), Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (Motown The Musical), Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez (First Date), Tony nominee Rebecca Luker (Cinderella), Hugh Panaro (The Phantom of the Opera) and Tony winner Roger Rees (The Winslow Boy).

The ceremony will be hosted by Seth Rudetsky and will boast performances from the casts of After Midnight, Avenue Q, Chicago, Disaster!, First Date, Kinky Boots, The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Newsies, Once, Pippin, Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark and Twelfth Night/Richard III. Also, in honor of the 25th anniversary of the show, there will be encore performances of memorable numbers originally presented at Gypsy of the Year in 1995 by Victor/Victoria and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and in 2002 by Beauty and the Beast.