James T. Lane (Chicago) played composer Stephen Lloyd Rodgers von Schwartzenheim in the Christmas Carol-influenced opening number of Broadway Cares' annual Red Bucket Follies, which was held December 8-9 at the New Amsterdam Theatre hosted by Seth Rudetsky.
Watch Lane, as the familiar-named composer, struggle to write the opening number for this year's fundraiser. He is joined by Jenna Bainbridge (Wicked), who warns him of the ghosts of Broadway past, present, and future, brought to life by Antwayn Hopper (A Strange Loop), Jermaine Miles (BOOP! The Musical), and Rachelle Rak (BOOP! The Musical).
Watch the complete opening number, with music and lyrics by Chris Dimond and Michael Kooman and direction and choreography by Andrew Turtletaub, in the video below.
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 beat 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, the special variety performance that serves as the fundraising campaign's culmination. 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 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.
The two youngest cast members from the recent Broadway revival of Waiting for Godot, Zaynn Arora and Eric Williams, helped their show win the Best Presentation Award. Fed up with waiting for a titular star who never arrives, Arora and Williams delivered a humorous parody of “Waiting for Life” from Once On This Island. The runner-up for Best Presentation went to the cast of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Hamilton. Original cast member Thayne Jasperson wrote, directed, and choreographed a skit titled “Sons of Liberty Gone Wild.” The number found John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan, and Marquis de Lafayette performing presidentially seductive twists on pop hits from Michael Jackson, Sam Smith and Beyoncé.
Watch Waiting for Godot's Winning Skit at Red Bucket Follies
Other skits included the cast of Stranger Things: The First Shadow offering a theatrical mashup dream ballet inspired by Oklahoma! that featured touchstones from Into the Woods, and Wicked; 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'"; 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.
James T. Lane and company of Red Bucket Follies
Company of Red Bucket Follies
Rachelle Rak, James T. Lane, Antwayn Hopper, Jenna Bainbridge, and company of Red Bucket Follies
Company members from Mamma Mia!
Company members from Hell's Kitchen
Bruce Blanchard, Paul Castree, David Engeland, and Larry Raben
Christine Pedi
Christopher Sieber
Zaynn Arora and Eric Williams
Company members from Hamilton
Thayne Jasperson and company of Hamilton
Jake Warren and Casey Howes
Company of Vape! The Grease Parody
Kurt Elling
Company of Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Cast members from Broadway National Tours
Red Bucket Follies 2025 fundraising total
Jane Krakowski
Thayne Jasperson and Lin-Manuel Miranda
Seth Rudetsky
Kecia Lewis
Jessica Hecht
Marc Shaiman
