Hugh Jackman Helps Broadway Cares Raise $5.2 Million for Gypsy of the Year

The casts of many Broadway and touring shows raised $5.2 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, a total announced during this afternoon's Gypsy of the Year show at the New Amsterdam Theatre.

This year's fundraising brought in a total of $5,229,611, breaking the 2011 record of $4.9 million. It was a significant uptick from last year's collection total, $4,343,234.

Hugh Jackman was personally responsible for taking in $549,725 by auctioning off the shirts he wore on Broadway in The River. It was a total so high that Jackman received a special award for fundraising and was taken out of competition. In second place was It's Only a Play, which earned $464,559 by auctioning off selfie photos with the entire cast, led by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. The top musical fundraisers were Kinky Boots ($233,544) and Cabaret ($217,699).

For the third year in a row, The Lion King won the Best Presentation honor with a dance number called "Is the Writing on the Wall?" Pippin came in as the first runner-up for "The World," a death-defying stunt number from a pair of acrobats from the musical's cast.

This year's Gypsy of the Year paid tribute to the 40th anniversary of the musical The Wiz, featuring an opening number that reunited original stars Dee Dee Bridgewater, André De Shields, and Ken Page, along with Broadway's Charl Brown, Carly Hughes, Keke Palmer, Christina Sajous, Alton Fitzgerald White, and Lillias White, who closed the show by singing "Home." The opening number was created by T. Oliver Reid, Brian Harlan Brooks, and Ben Cohn.