Throughout the month of June, Playbill and Pride Plays presented a full festival of programming in celebration of Pride month and as benefit performances for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The four plays and one-night-only concert raised a total of $107,386 for the charity.
As part of the 2020 festival, Pride Plays presented four “mainstage” broadcasts in addition to 11 private readings of works in development. Donja R. Love’s one in two kicked off the mainstage series, followed by Brave Smiles...Another Lesbian Tragedy by The Five Lesbian Brothers, The Men From the Boys by Mart Crowley, and Masculinity Max by MJ Kaufman.
The star-studded presentation of The Men From the Boys, directed by Zach Quinto, featured matching sponsor Goldman Sachs, which matched all donations dollar for dollar up to $35,000; the pioneering broadcast of Masculinity Max, directed by Will Davis, featured matching sponsor RXR Realty, which matched all donations dollar for dollar up to $7,500.
The festival capped off with Playbill’s Pride Spectacular concert June 28. The special featured iconic musical numbers that highlight LGBTQIA+ stories in musical theatre sung by members of the Broadway LGBTQIA+ community and its allies—as well as appearances from theatre greats. The one-night-only event streamed free as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Thanks to matching sponsor the Seaport District NYC, all donations up to $10,000 were matched dollar for dollar.All artists performed with the permission of the performers’ unions via Theatre Authority, Inc.
In only its second year, Pride Plays—led by producers Doug Nevin and Michael Urie, and festival director Nick Mayo—was able to increase accessibility to LGBTQIA+ works by LGBTQIA+ artists even amidst the contstraints of the COVID-19 theatre shutdown.
In doing so, the funds from these benefit performances will be used by Broadway Cares to provide lifesaving services for men, women, and children across the country affected by COVID-19, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses and crises. Your generosity helps provide lifesaving medications, nutritious meals, housing, emergency assistance and other vital services. Broadway Cares supports such initiatives and organizations as the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Color of Change, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative, and many more.
