Longtime Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola will retire at the end of the year, ending a nearly 30-year tenure leading the organization. In fact, Viola has been with the theatrical non-profit since its founding in 1988.
Current Director of Development Danny Whitman has already been selected by the organization's Board of Trustees as Viola's successor, with Whitman set to officially take over as of January 1, 2025. Viola shared his planned retirement with the Board at its July 18 meeting following discussions with the organization's Executive Committee, which previously voted unanimously on Whitman's appointment. The full board followed in suit today.
"Few, if any, have served the theatre community with more heart, dedication, determination, and distinction than Tom Viola,” says Shubert Organization CEO and Broadway Cares Board President Robert E. Wankel in a statement. "Tom nurtured goodwill and trust throughout the theatre community in the toughest of times, building Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS into an integral part of our industry that has reached out to millions of people in crisis through the years. Fortunately, along the way, he created a solid infrastructure, and I’m certain that Danny Whitman is ready to lead the organization in this next chapter, ensuring Broadway Cares’ vital philanthropic work will continue long into the future.”
“Joining the Broadway community in the creation and now nearly 40-year legacy of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has given my life purpose and meaning," adds Viola. "I am proud of the unique collaboration between Broadway Cares and the Entertainment Community Fund in providing a safety net of social services for all in the entertainment industry and performing arts and how the resources of this now extraordinary theatrical fundraising engine reach across the country through our well-established National Grants Program. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will be a part of my heart always, fiercely and with great joy. I have no doubt that Danny Whitman will lead this extraordinary staff and community of volunteers in sustaining Broadway Cares’ legacy of generosity of spirit and good will.”
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS was born of two smaller efforts that joined forces in 1992. Both organizations were founded to fight the then-raging AIDS crisis; Broadway Cares by a group of producers and Equity Fights AIDS by a committee within Broadway's actor and stage manager union Actors' Equity Association. The group has become Broadway's most powerful fundraising force, famously collecting directly from Broadway audiences via twice annual in-theatre Red Bucket appeals and raising further sums by producing special benefit events, perhaps most famously the burlesque spectacular Broadway Bares. The group also hosts the fan favorite Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction, Broadway Backwards, and Broadway's official game night Broadway Bets.
The group's fundraising has allowed them to award more than $300 million in grants under Viola's leadership, $142 million to the Entertainment Community Fund and an additional $160 million to 450 local and nationwide organizations through its National Grants Program. Focused on both supporting those living with HIV/AIDS and further humanitarian efforts, the organization has worked tirelessly to provide meals, medication, healthcare, and hope to countless individuals and families.
Viola was honored with a Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre in 2010, with the awards citing the "leadership, advocacy, and creativity through which [Viola] has mobilized the theatre community's response to AIDS and other critical health issues." Viola has also received the Patrick Quinn Award for Distinguished Service from Actors' Equity, the Sandy Fund Award from the Humane Society of New York, the Howard Ashman Award from GMHC, and The Moasic Award for Distinguished Alumni from the University of Cincinnati.
Viola, a College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati graduate with a degree in musical theatre, began his work with what would become Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS as executive assistant to then-Actors' Equity Association President Colleen Dewhurst, aiding in the effort to fundraise for the nascent Equity Fights AIDS. Viola was a vital part of the merger between the two groups, and became the resulting organization's executive director in 1996. Under Viola's leadership, the group expanded its mission beyond HIV/AIDS, beginning with a major $10,000 award to the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative.
Whitman joined Broadway Cares in 2009, and has since seen fundraising totals climb from $2.4 million in 2009 to $11.1 million in 2024. Whitman has worked as lead producer for Broadway Bets and Broadway Backwards, and is also an integral part of the team that produces the Broadway Flea Market and Grant Auction.
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