2007 Easter Bonnet Competition Raises More than $3 Million for BC/EFA

After six weeks of fundraising, the theater community raised $3,345,998 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS during its annual springtime fund drive, $158,502 more than last year. The amount was announced at the 21st annual Easter Bonnet Competition on April 24, held at the Minskoff Theatre. Over 60 Broadway, off-Broadway and touring shows collected the money for the charity.

Curtains' David Hyde Pierce and The Year of Magical Thinking's Vanessa Redgrave were on hand to present the awards for top fundraising companies and the outstanding bonnet presentation.

For the first time in the history of the Easter Bonnet competition, a national touring company took the honors as the highest earner for the charity. The Jersey Boys San Francisco company raised an impressive $236,844. The runners-up for fundraising were in order: Wicked, with $227,768, The Color Purple, which raised $168,620, Mary Poppins at $164,373 and The Lion King with $163,174. The top fundraising Broadway play was The Coast of Utopia with $18,412 and the top fundraising off-Broadway company was competition newcomer In the Heights at $26,658.

Of course, there's more to the Easter Bonnet Competition than money. The event provides a chance for Broadway's ensemble members to strut their stuff as well as show off the talent of their show's bonnet designers, who work long and hard on the elaborate creations. The top prize for bonnet presentation went to the men of Journey's End for their presentation "Journey's End: The Underdogs of War," which saw the cast gamely singing Four Seasons tunes and wishing they had the success of Jersey Boys, re-dubbing themselves "Journeys Boys." Star Hugh Dancy made a cameo appearance wrapped in a towel after someone joked that the World War I drama would be more successful if it featured Dancy taking a shower. The bonnet featured an enormous bullet sticking out of a World War I-era helmet.

Hairspray and In the Heights tied as second runners-up. Hairspray performing a takeoff on The King and I's "Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet renamed "Small House of Edna Turnblad," with a bonnet that featured gold buddhas dressed as Tracy and Link. The cast of In the Heights, led by composer/star Lin-Manuel Miranda, re-imagined "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof as a rap number. Tony winner Priscilla Lopez modeled her show's bonnet, which paired an oversized deli coffee cup with a replica of the George Washington Bridge.

The Lion King's moving song, dance and video piece, titled "The End Starts Here," took the third prize spot. For bonnet design only, the highest honor went to The Phantom of the Opera for "Lot 666: A Chandelier in Pizzas bonnet design by Robert Strong Miller.

Judges for the competition were Pirate Queen star Stephanie J. Block, Actors' Equity Executive Director John Connolly, Year of Magical Thinking author Joan Didion, Fantasticks composer Tom Jones, Chorus Line choreographer Baayork Lee, Chicago star Bebe Neuwirth and Mary Poppins composer Richard Sherman.