Theater News

Good Works

The 2006 Easter Bonnet competition raises more than $3 million for BC/EFA, and a special 10th anniversary performance of Rent benefits three organizations. Plus: The Actors’ Fund and Philips Electronics support each other.

New York City

It’s finally spring, and theater folk are feeling particularly charitable. The 2006 Easter Bonnet competition raised $3,187,496.24 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS — the second-highest total ever for the annual event. Two performances of the bonnet presentation show were given at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Monday and Tuesday. Here’s a scene from the opening number, as performed yesterday.

Among the many highlights of the show: Todd Buonopane and Lawrence Goldhuber from the company of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, stating the obvious about George W. Bush…

…members of the cast of Hairspray, commenting on that show’s Las Vegas production…

… the company of Mamma Mia! in a number all about how being in a critically reviled show is a lot easier to take when it’s a huge hit and your making a lot more money than your friends with “classier” careers…

…and 102-year-old former Ziegfeld girl Doris Eaton Travis “balling the jack” with young Eric Sciotto.

At the end of the competition, Broadway stars Julia Roberts (Three Days of Rain), Harry Connick, Jr. (The Pajama Game) and Ana Gasteyer (The Threepenny Opera) took the stage to announce the winners: Wicked raised the most money for BC/EFA ($227,111.54), and The Color Purple won for the best bonnet presentation.

A special, 10th anniversary performance of Jonathan Larson’s immortal rock musical Rent featuring the original cast members took place at the Nederlander Theatre on Monday, April 24; proceeds will go to benefit the New York Theatre Workshop, Friends in Deed, and the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation. Pictured here at the after-party at Cipriani are Anthony Rapp and Daphne Rubin-Vega, who created the roles of Mark Cohen and Mimi Marquez…

… Wilson Cruz, who has played the role of Angel in the show…

…American Idol alumna Frenchie Davis, a member of the current cast of the show, which is still going strong at the Nederlander…

…and Constantine Maroulis, another American Idol veteran.

Philips Electronics recently donated $150,000 to The Actors’ Fund of America, so a number of Broadway favorites were only too happy to show up at Pier 94 on Monday for “Simplicity…A Look at the Future,” the company’s “interactive environment showcasing an extraordinary collection of future products, services, and solutions.” Among the attendees: two likely Tony Award nominees, John Lloyd Young of Jersey Boys and Michael Cerveris of Sweeney Todd…

…Paige Price (Broadway’s Saturday Night Fever) and Rachel York (currently co-starring in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)…

…Karen Mason (Sunset Boulevard, Mamma Mia!) and Christopher Sieber (Spamalot)…

…Christiane Noll and Bryan Batt, who are respectively starring Off-Broadway in A Fine & Private Place and My Deah…

…and former Monkee Mickey Dolenz, who appeared on Broadway in Aida, seen here with his lovely wife, Donna.