Every year for the last decade or so I’ve had the privilege of attending the Red Bucket follies (formerly Gypsy of the Year), a major BC/EFA event and performance that marks the end of the 6-week fall fundraising collection.
It is the only BC/EFA event to include a moment of silence.
Every year it is preceded by a brief history of BC/EFA and we are all reminded of how personal a fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been – and continues to be – for all of us in the Broadway community.
Almost every year, Judith Light reads that speech.
She steps out onto the stage of the New Amsterdam Theatre (in a faaaaabulous pant suit) and gives what is nothing short of a sermon. Reading these notecards is not a gig to her. It is not an obligation. It is not a favor. It is not good publicity.
It is her conviction. And it is a real honor to breathe it in every year.
Inspired by a photo by Frazer Harrison, 2019.
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Getty/Frazer Harrison