Thursday, December 08, 2022
‘The Music Man’ breaks all-time Red Bucket fundraising record for Broadway Cares
Broadway News: During its fall fundraising season, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS raised a total of $5,107,79. The Broadway production of “The Music Man” raised $2,002,612 alone, thanks to nightly auctions of props and costume pieces by stars Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. In the final week of the campaign, Nicole Kidman famously donated $100,000 during the post-curtain call fundraising.
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3 comments:
I had no idea they did this fundraiser! this is an amazing thing to do and an amazing amount of money to be raised by one show. I love that they use this money to donate to so many people in need rather than just focusing it in one spot. Besides the singular huge number raised by Music Man I adore they there were so many shows both on broadway and off broadway working together to raise money for this. It is so much fun to see the dramas community banding tougher like this, especially around the holidays. the list of shows that participated in this fundraiser is so long and gives me so much joy. I am sad to see that the fundraiser event is still not happening, if for no other reason besides it would be an absolutely amazing show with all of the different companies that participated in the fundraiser. I guess it gives me some thing to look forward to for next year!
Okay, now that’s a pretty incredible that that amount of money was raised. I’ve known about Broadway cares since 2019, when I worked on a production with a cast that was fundraising for it. Though I was not aware of the Red Bucket Follies event that normally happens with it. I’m glad that they were able to some kind of event, even though they couldn’t do the Follies one. I’m curious to see what next year’s Red Bucket Follies event entails, and what they have looked like in the past. I think it’s great that Music Man was doing everything they could help raise money, including auctioning of props and costumes. And I love how so many other shows have come together to help raise money. I wonder how much money Broadway Cares fundraises a year on average, and how the money from Music Man will affect that average. I definitely want to do more research on Broadway Cares.
As heartening as this is, I could not help but be a bit cynical so I dug a bit deeper into Broadway Cares. I do like that they are a non-profit organization and that they are fairly transparent about where the donation money goes. This is probably one of the more comprehensive websites for a charity organization that I've seen. Donations are tax deductible, and from what I can surmise Broadway itself does not benefit. I was skeptical that donations would be funneled through Broadway making them exempt for deduction by the donor. This is a big reason why I never donate in the check-out line at any store! But I am very pleased to learn that the charity is directly involved and this isn't a tax break scheme.
What I do wish the article touched on was that the "record-breaking" donation comes in large part because of the star power of the leads. Sutton Foster is a huge name on Broadway and attracts a following, and of course Hugh Jackman's huge celebrity is going to draw interest from beyond the theatre community. I'm not trying to diminish the good of their fundraising efforts, but it's not surprising that Hugh Jackman's costumes and props would raise $5mil for charity.
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