The yearly event follows six weeks of intensive fundraising by various shows on and off Broadway as well as touring productions throughout the country. It's a chance to celebrate the Broadway gypsies while raising funds for the worthy charity.
This year's competition is expected to boast performances from the casts of Beauty and the Beast, A Chorus Line, The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, The Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Rent, Tarzan, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Wedding Singer and Wicked.
Awards are presented in two categories: for best skit and for most money raised for BC/EFA. Last season, the competition brought in a whopping $2,972,721.15. Best skit honors went to The Lion King for the second consecutive year. Monty Python's Spamalot raised the most money for BC/EFA, $367,084.
Judges for the 2006 Gypsy of the Year Competition include actors Marian Seldes and Jill Clayburgh, choreographer Christopher Gattelli, BC/EFA donors Judy Dove and Marion Duckworth Smith and Continental Airlines' Ned Walker.
A three-time Tony Award nominee for her performances in Kiss Me, Kate; Ragtime; and Passion, Marin Mazzie's other theatrical credits include Into the Woods, Big River, The World Goes 'Round, the City Center Encores! productions of Kismet and Out of this World and Off-Broadway's The Trojan Women: A love Story, where she met husband Jason Danieley. Mazzie also starred in the London production of Kiss Me, Kate, where she earned an Olivier Award nomination for her work. She was also seen in the Actors' Fund of America's concert staging of On the Twentieth Century. A Tony nominee for his work as Herbie opposite the Rose of Tyne Daly in the 1989 revival of Gypsy, Jonathan Hadary has also appeared on Broadway in Awake and Sing!, All Shook Up, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Guys and Dolls, As Is, Torch Song Trilogy and Gemini.
Tickets for the performances are priced $20-$90 with a limited number of VIP ($350) and Priority ($200) seats available. Tickets are available by calling (212) 840-0770 or by visiting www.broadwaycares.org.
The Neil Simon Theatre is located in Manhattan at 250 West 52nd Street.
