Broadway Cares' fall Red Bucket fundraising campaign—which invites audiences to donate as they leave the theatre, sometimes in exchange for special prizes—raised a record sum this year: $7,344,304. That beats the previously held record, last spring's $6.8 million.

The exciting news was revealed at the finale of December 9's Red Bucket Follies, a special variety performance that serves as the fundraising campaign's culmination. At the Follies, each currently running Broadway show wrote their own skit; there was a performance from Waiting for Godot actors Zaynn Arora and Eric Williams of "Waiting for Life"  from Once On This Island. Hamilton original cast member Thayne Jasperson wrote, directed, and choreographed a skit that saw John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan. 

The Follies also revealed the shows that fundraised the most. Hamilton won the day with $564,393, followed by Just In Time with $491,236, and Waiting for Godot with $430,790.

Runner-up titles also went to Broadway musicals Maybe Happy Ending with $286,274, Hadestown with $251,603, and Wicked with $177,298; Broadway plays Oh, Mary! with $264,442 and Art with $188,905; Off-Broadway's Prince Faggot with $47,826, Little Shop of Horrors with $41,866, and Heathers with $37,397; and national tours Wicked (Munchkinland) with $273,544, A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical with $248,677, The Sound of Music with $244,261, Beauty and the Beast with $206,816, and Moulin Rouge! The Musical with $203,155.

Hosted by Seth Rudetsky, the event began with an opening number with James T. Lane (Chicago) as Stephen Lloyd Rodgers von Schwartzenheim struggling to write the event's opening number, which became a Christmas Carol-type fantasy, with Lane joined by Jenna Bainbridge (Wicked) to be warned about the ghosts of Broadway past, present, and future—played by Antwayn Hopper (A Strange Loop), Jermaine Miles (BOOP! The Musical), and Rachelle Rak (BOOP! The Musical). Directed and choreographed by Andrew Turtletaub, the number featured music and lyrics by Chris Dimond and Michael Kooman.

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Photos: Red Bucket Follies 2025

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Other skits included Christine Pedi as Liza Minnelli performing the greatest hits of ABBA, Hadestown star Kurt Elling and music director Dionne Hendricks with a swinging take on Horace Silver and John Henricks' "Doodlin'," a surreal theatrical mashup dream ballet inspired by Oklahoma! from the cast of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, an exploration of "Franken-AI" (written by Reid Clarke and Jackie Leon) from the cast of Hell's Kitchen, the cast of Mamma Mia! performing "I Will Survive" by way of the Pussycat Dolls; and a "Summer Nights" parody from the cast of Vape! The Grease Parody. A tribute to the 20 national tours that participated in the fundraising campaign was directed and choreographed by Chaz Wolcott, and showcased tours of Six, Wicked, Hamilton, MJ, Suffs, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and more.

Kathleen E. Purvis directed the annual event with Bernadette Schoenborn serving as production stage manager, Ted Arthur as music supervisor, and Andrew Graham as music director.

Since 1989, the 34 editions of the Fall Fundraising Campaign have raised more than $111 million to benefit Broadway Cares.

Broadway Cares is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares has awarded more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States

Visit BroadwayCares.org/Follies.