Top fundraising honors for Broadway companies went to Wicked with $208,406 and for plays The Ritz with $139,513. The Jersey Boys "Sherry" company was the top touring company with $327,403, and Altar Boyz won the off-Broadway effort with $36,006. Brian Stokes Mitchell, David Hyde Pierce and Rosie Perez awarded the prizes, noting that touring companies have stepped up their fund-raising efforts. This year, 17 national touring shows raised a record $1.7 million. In addition, the Gypsy of the Year onstage event was postponed for two weeks, allowing additional time for Broadway companies to raise money after the strike.
Broadway.com's own Bruce Glikas portrayed a celebrity photographer who gets punched out by Laura Bell Bundy in Legally Blonde's skit "Omigod...I Did It Again." The all-star panel of judges included Claire Danes, Martha Plimpton, F. Murray Abraham, John Tartaglia, director Des McAnuff and choreographer Rob Ashford.
The opening number featured a lineup of the original stars of West Side Story, including Chita Rivera Anita, Carol Lawrence Maria, Mickey Callan Riff, Ken Le Roy Bernardo and Jamie Sanchez Chino, backed by a line of young dancers performing variations on Jerome Robbins' original choreography. They were joined onstage by fellow cast members Genii Charnin, Harvey Evans, Marilyn D'Honau, Alan Johnson, Gene Gavin, Ronnie Lee, George Marcy, Liane Plane, Martin Charnin, Grover Dale, Bill Guske, Ed Kressley, Sandy Leeds, Tony Mordente, Carole D'Andrea, Frances Davis, Lowell Harris, Julie Oser-McLeod, Noel Schwartz, and Gina Tricones. Opera star Reri Grist Consuelo closed the show with the song she introduced 50 years ago, "Somewhere."