Cast members from Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Jagged Little Pill, Company, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicago, Diana, Mean Girls, Girl from the North Country, Six, and Mrs. Doubtfire will take part in Sunday’s Broadway Does Mother’s Day, a digital variety benefitting Broadway Cares’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund.
The show is designed to replace some of the funds usually raised by Broadway’s annual Easter Bonnet Competition, an event that was canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The digital sketch show will include Broadway stars, their children and their mothers, with musical numbers, comedy and special guests planned. Scheduled guests, so far, include Jill Abramovitz, Kate Baldwin, Jenni Barber, Laura Benanti, Betty Buckley, Carolee Carmello, Victoria Clark, Chuck Cooper, Claybourne Elder, Eden Espinosa, Beanie Feldstein, Harvey Fierstein, Mandy Gonzalez, Celia Rose Gooding, Molly Griggs, James Monroe Iglehart, Judy Kaye, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Raymond J. Lee, Lesli Margherita, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Alexis Michelle, Vanessa Williams, Betsy Wolfe and LaChanze, plus sketches from Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Jagged Little Pill, Company, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicago, Diana, Mean Girls, Girl from the North Country, Six, and Mrs. Doubtfire, with more to be announced.
“We’re delighted to see the theater community come together for Broadway Does Mother’s Day and honored to be a beneficiary of what promises to be such a special show,” said Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. “When crises hit, the Broadway community and theatre fans everywhere have always responded with generosity, compassion and action. We launched the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund on behalf of and for those onstage, backstage and behind the scenes who need a helping hand during this pandemic.”
The writing team for the special includes Hannah Friedman (Comedy Central), Megan Loughran (F Theory), Jessica Poter (Modern Family), Jill Twiss (Last Week Tonight), Kate Wetherhead (Submissions Only), and Jed Resnick (Avenue Q). The show will be directed by Ashley Rodbro (Hamilton, Moulin Rouge!), with music supervision by Andy Einhorn (Hello, Dolly!), and is produced by Stephanie Cowan and Erica Rotstein alongside general managers Heather Shields and Kyle Bonder with casting by Jason Styres, CSA and Andrea Zee, CSA. Executive Producers are Megan Loughran and Stanley Bahorek.
The broadcast will be streamed Sunday, May 10 at 3 pm ET at BroadwayDoesMothersDay.com.