Can the complex, three hour Les Miserables be reduced to a five minute, high school cheerleading routine? Yes.
Nov. 30, Cats won the prestigious Gypsy of the Year Award with The Scarlet Pimpernel finishing second. Winning the 11th annual fund-raising award was the company of Rent with $161,485. Second place went to Annie Get Your Gun with $159, 197 (Peters promised her producers, Barry and Fran Weissler would donate the extra $2,500 to tie her company with the kids at Rent). The Lion King raised $128,830; Phantom of the Opera, $119,931; and Ragtime, $115,688. The Off-Broadway company that raised the most money was Naked Boys Singing! with $25,054.
All together, $2,074,870 was raised in the six week fall fundraising drive for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.