Fred Ebb Foundation Donates $2.6 Million To Broadway Cares

This is quite wonderful. The Fred Ebb Foundation has awarded $2.6 million to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, beating the foundation’s previous donation and highlighting its place as the largest single donor in Broadway Cares history. https://twitter.com/playbill/status/1478771026104356866 The year-end gift was put to work immediately with $1.5 million in additional support sent to The Actors Fund to provide assistance for everyone in entertainment and the performing arts, particularly through The Friedman Health Center, the Artists Health Insurance Resource Center and the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. From Playbill:

One-and-a-half million dollars has already been donated to The Actors Fund to provide assistance for those in entertainment and the performing arts. The Fred Ebb Foundation gift, shepherded by Ebb’s nephew Mitchell S. Bernard, will also jump start Broadway Cares’ continuing national grant-making in 2022.

“Fred and Mitch give us the means and ability to respond with strength and reach those struggling in our theatre community as well as in communities across the nation in the hope that a brighter tomorrow belongs to us all,” Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Executive Director Tom Viola said.

In his will, Tony winner Ebb, who created 14 musicals with John Kander, declared that royalties earned on his works would be distributed yearly to Broadway Cares. With an initial donation of $300,000 in 2005, the foundation has now cumulatively shared $24.8 million with Broadway Cares.

https://twitter.com/BCEFA/status/1478763518115692547 The current cast of Broadway’s Chicago created a video of “Hot Honey Rag” featuring onstage and backstage company members, clips of iconic Chicago performers, and a tribute to Tony winning choreographer Ann Reinking, who died in 2020.  I have a special place in my heart for this news item. Not only is Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS an organization I’ve worked with since the 1980s, but as a cast member of Chicago on Broadway and national touring companies. My last stint with the show was a huge all-star production in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl in 2013. I’m so proud of my beautiful tribe. https://youtu.be/Pp1GAizSkjc