BC/EFA’s 23rd Easter Bonnet Competition Announces All-Star Lineup
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has announced an all-star lineup of presenters, judges and participants for its 23rd Annual Easter Bonnet Competition, the two-day Broadway spectacular that features the companies of more than 20 Broadway, off-Broadway and touring productions singing, dancing, and donning original Easter bonnets. The benefit takes place April 27 at 4:30pm and April 28 at 2pm at the Minskoff Theatre.
This year’s event will feature a rotating cast of hosts, including Joan Allen Impressionism, Danny Burstein South Pacific, Andre De Shields Impressionism, Tovah Feldshuh Irena’s Vow, Gavin Creel Hair, Johanna Day August: Osage County, Rebecca Luker Mary Poppins, Karen Olivo West Side Story, Javier Munoz In The Heights, Thomas Sadoski Reasons to be Pretty, Will Swenson Hair and John Tartaglia Shrek The Musical.
The show will also feature a special appearance by BC/EFA longtime friend Doris Eaton Travis, the 105-year-old original Ziegfeld Follies Girl. Doris made her first appearance at the Easter Bonnet Competition in 1998 and has been a highlight of many editions of the annual event. Other special guests include Don Richard and Jen Cody, who’ll reprise their beloved portrayals of Urinetown’s Officer Lockstock and Little Sally, and Andrea Burns In The Heights singing “Help Is On The Way,” the official anthem of BC/EFA.
The Easter Bonnet judges will include Laura Benanti Why Torture Is Wrong and The People Who Love Them, Brian D’Arcy James Shrek the Musical, Marsha Mason Impressionism, Steven Pasquale Reasons to be Pretty, Alice Ripley Next to Normal and the cast of God of Carnage: Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, and James Gandolfini. This year’s judges will be introduced by Exit The King’s Andrea Martin and Geoffrey Rush. The competition awards will be announced by Jane Fonda 33 Variations, Jeremy Irons Impressionism and Susan Sarandon Exit The King.
Productions scheduled to present Bonnets include 33 Variations, Avenue Q, Billy Elliot, Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Hair, Impressionism, Jersey Boys, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Mary Poppins, Naked Boys Singing, The Phantom of the Opera, Shrek, West Side Story and Wicked.
An annual Broadway tradition, the Easter Bonnet Competition is the culmination of six intensive weeks of fundraising efforts by Broadway and off-Broadway company members as well as numerous productions currently on national tour. The winner of the competition will be the company that raises the largest amount of money for BC/EFA. A second award is granted to the company with the best bonnet design and presentation. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization.