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by Michael Portantiere



    Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig: Gypsies of the Year

    Wow! Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, by literally selling the shirts off their backs in impromptu auctions following performances of A Steady Rain, helped raise so much money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS that a special award was created for them and presented at yesterday's "Gypsy of the Year" event at the Palace Theatre. The mega-stars led their company in raising a mind-boggling $1,549,952 for BC/EFA, a goodly portion of the all-time-record $4,630,695 total that was raised by the companies of dozens of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and touring shows. Here are my pix of this year's "Gypsy of the Year."

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    1-GOY-Opening1.jpg

    Above and immediately below are three photos of the opening number, a wildly entertaining hommage to/spoof of "So You Think You Can Dance?"

    1-GOY-Opening3.jpg

    1-GOY-Opening4.jpg

    2-GOY-Hosts.jpg

    Julie White and Seth Rudetsky were the event's fabulous hosts.

    3-GOY-Newsical.jpg

    The company of Newsical offered their own take on the ridiculous "boy in the balloon" hoax.

    4-GOY-NakedBoys.jpg

    Naked Boys Singing contemplated having Hugh Jackman join their company in order to keep the show running. (If only!)

    5-GOY-DRA.jpg

    A performance by Dancers Responding to AIDS was one of the afternoon's highlights.

    6-GOY-Chicago1a.jpg

    Here and below are two pix of "9th Avenue Story," a hilarious number by the men of Chicago in which some of the older guys warned one of their group not to lust after a "twink." (But lust triumphed in the end!)

    6-GOY-Chicago2.jpg

    7-GOY-Hair.jpg

    The cast of Hair rocked the Palace, just as they rock the Hirschfeld eight times a week.

    8-GOY-Birdie.jpg

    More awesome presentations came courtesy of the cast of Bye, Bye Birdie...

    10-GOY-WSS.jpg

    ... the cast of West Side Story, performing on their own turf...

    9-GOY-Heights-Qb.jpg

    ...and the combined companies of In the Heights and Avenue Q.

    11-GOY-Jackman-Craig.jpg

    At the end of the show, Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman took the stage to accept the grateful cheers and applause of everyone in attendance for their superheroic efforts on behalf of BC/EFA.

    Wednesday, December 09, 2009 at 8:15 AM | Item Link


    Michael Portantiere comes to BroadwayStars with more than 30 years' experience as an editor and writer for such media outlets as TheaterMania.com, InTHEATER magazine, and BACK STAGE. He has also contributed articles and reviews to AfterElton.com, Playbill, and Stagebill, and has written notes for several major cast albums. Additionally, Michael is a professional photographer whose pictures have been published by THE NEW YORK TIMES, the DAILY NEWS, and several notable websites. (Visit www.followspotphoto.com for more information.)
    He can be reached at [email protected]


    The last five columns written by Michael Portantiere:

    07/13/2010: Presidential Material

    07/04/2010: Hardy Boy

    06/29/2010: High School Stars

    06/21/2010: Falling in Love Again

    06/17/2010: A Meeting of the 'mos (and Their Friends)

    For a listing of all features written by Michael, click here.

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