A MESSAGE FROM TOM VIOLA!

Below is a statement from Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS.
The 19th Annual Gypsy of the Year Competition will be held Monday, December 17 and Tuesday, December 18 at the New Amsterdam Theatre.

December 13, 2007

Dear Friends,

As the fundraising for The 19th Annual GYPSY OF THE YEAR Competition comes to a close, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the community for their truly generous, indeed heroic, efforts following the strike.

Together, we have turned a time of crisis for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and those who depend upon our fundraising, into a time of good fortune and, without doubt, sincere gratitude.

BC/EFA’s work is tied directly the robust artistic and commercial health of Broadway. You make BC/EFA’s work possible.

The permissions, the support, the efforts on-stage, backstage and in management offices across the neighborhood allows BC/EFA a unique opportunity to fund a “safety net” of social services for all of us in the community, as well as many who may never be lucky enough to attend a Broadway or Off-Broadway show.

And for that, we can never say thank you often enough.

The first GYPSY OF THE YEAR Competition in 1989 raised $64,000. Total. Today, we are projecting fundraising numbers for this 19th edition that could come in at over $3 million and break all previous records.

This is a monumental achievement, proving once again that all of you are among the most generous people in the world.

There is no other community, no other business or industry that has joined hands in a grassroots fundraising effort as the Broadway community has with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS for nearly 20 years.

This theatre community has never let us down. The on-going fundraising efforts of our friends Off-Broadway, in national touring shows and theatres across the country as well as the Broadway shows not affected by the strike, kept the fundraising fire burning and BC/EFA afloat during those 19 dark days.

Then as the lights of Broadway came back the entire community, without even being asked, redoubled their fundraising efforts with amazing speed and enthusiasm. It was extraordinary.

By pushing The 19th GYPSY OF THE YEAR Competition from December 3 and 4 to December 17 and 18, BC/EFA was able to make up much of the fundraising opportunities that were lost to the strike, for which we are very grateful.

BC/EFA sincere thanks to all in the theatre community, here on Broadway, Off-Broadway and indeed across the nation, who have taken our fundraising and grant-making efforts to heart and have welcomed these fundraising efforts into their theatres; sharing their generosity of spirit with their audiences.



Together we have indeed made a difference in the lives of thousands: those in and out of “the business” who depend on the social services of The Actors’ Fund; as well as over 400 food banks, health clinics and AIDS and family service organizations across the country who benefit from your generous fundraising efforts on behalf of BC/EFA.



Give yourselves a standing ovation.



With great appreciation,





Tom Viola

Executive Director



www.broadwaycares.org