Easter Bonnet Competition

4:30 pm Monday, April 24, and 2 pm Tuesday, April 25
Minskoff Theatre, New York City

Across the country, bands of volunteers are once again filling theater lobbies with iconic Red Buckets in hand for the spring return of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in-theater fundraising.

Audience members at participating shows can donate through Sunday, April 23, 2023, to help provide meals and medication, health care and hope to those who need them most.

After a four-year pandemic-induced hiatus, the efforts of those onstage, backstage and front of house will once again culminate in the much-anticipated return of the Easter Bonnet Competition.

The 34th annual Easter Bonnet Competition is set for 4:30 pm on Monday, April 24, and 2 pm Tuesday, April 25, at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre, home to Disney’s The Lion King.
 

 
Broadway shows currently participating in the appeals are & Juliet; Aladdin; A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical; The Book of Mormon; A Doll’s House; Funny Girl; Hadestown; Hamilton; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; Kimberly Akimbo; Leopoldstadt; The Lion King; MJ; Moulin Rouge! The Musical; The Phantom of the Opera; Pictures From Home; Six; Some Like It Hot and Wicked. Off-Broadway shows participating are Little Shop of Horrors and The Play That Goes Wrong, Naked Boys Singing and Without You. More participating shows will be announced soon.

In exchange for a donation, audiences at many shows can receive autographed posters, Playbills and other memorabilia or unique experiences.

Several national tours, starting with Frozen, Six and Wicked, also will join in the Easter Bonnet Competition fundraising, making appeals from the stage and encouraging donations through QR codes and online giving.

“We are thrilled that the essential and beloved tradition of Red Bucket fundraising returns to theaters once again,” Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola said. “The generosity and enthusiasm from participating productions translate into heartfelt donations from audience members, which ultimately benefit people in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico who are facing life-threatening health challenges and personal crises. It’s an incredible, collaborative effort to see take shape and a beautiful reminder that spring has arrived.”

In-theater Red Bucket fundraising takes place twice a year during six enthusiastic weeks of on-stage audience appeals in the spring and fall. The iconic #RedBuckets made a spirited return last year, rallying audiences with memorable post-show appeals and raising more than $9 million.

The two-day Easter Bonnet Competition performances, which celebrate and conclude the Spring Fundraising Campaign, will return for the first time since 2019 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2020 show to be canceled just as fundraising was starting. Details about this year’s show will be announced in April.

Donations raised through the Easter Bonnet Competition will immediately be put to action through Broadway Cares’ National Grants Program, providing nutritious meals, health care and hope for those facing illness, personal challenges and crises.

Watch highlights from our last Easter Bonnet Competition in 2019