The 20th annual Gypsy of the Year was held at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 8 and 9, raising over $3 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The show’s elaborate opening number was a tribute to the great Broadway tradition of the Gypsy Robe.
Tony Award winner Tyne Daly — showing a little leg — and Jonathan Hadary hosted the first Gypsy and came back for a special appearance this year.
Linda Balgord as Gypsy‘s Mama Rose (right) helped illustrate one of the 10 ways a cast member could get fired from that musical.
Grease‘s Kirsten Wyatt impersonated Alaska’s first daughter, Bristol Palin, as the show’s newest Rizzo, singing a hilariously reworked version of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do.”
The cast of Mamma Mia! showed how many other Broadway shows — such as Equus — could use their big box office-winning formula.
The Lion King took home the award for Best Onstage Performance with a brilliant modern dance piece entitled Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, choreographed and directed by cast member Ray Mercer.
Monty Python’s Spamalot alumni David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Sieber, and Hadary (now playing King Arthur on the show’s national tour) came on stage to join the cast at the end of their “Forget Your Troubles” musical medley.
Rock of Ages star Mitchell Jarvis bared almost all as “Hillbilly Elliot.”
Equus earned the first runner-up plaque for Best Onstage Performance with a gentle spoof called The Love That Dare Not Speaks Its Neigh written by star Daniel Radcliffe, who made a memorable appearance atop co-star Lorenzo Pisoni.
The young cast of the Broadway musical 13 celebrated the joys of being a working adolescent in Under Eighteen!
Don Richard and Jen Cody once again brought down the house reprising their nastier-than-nasty Urinetown characters Officer Lockstock and Little Sally.
In their last Gypsy of the Year performance, past and present members of Hairspray, including the fabulous Jenifer Lewis, brought the audience to its feet with a stirring rendition of “I Know Where I’ve Been.”
The cast of [title of show] — Heidi Blickenstaff, Hunter Bell, Susan Blackwell, and Jeff Bowen — concluded the event with a truly moving presentation about Bell and Blackwell’s first time seeing a Broadway show.
Hairspray‘s Harvey Fierstein, All My Sons‘ John Lithgow, and Boeing-Boeing‘s Christine Baranski came onstage to hand out the various fundraising and performance awards.
Equus star Richard Griffiths proudly showed off the plaque for raising $203,746 — the most money of any Broadway production (and a rare honor for a play!)
For more on Gypsy of the Year, click here.
