Tom Viola: Last News

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorJonathan Groff is opening up about his early days in New York City and his first same-sex kiss.The future “Frozen” and “Hamilton” star was only about 19 years old when he was a waiter at the Chelsea Grill in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s there that he met Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA).“He talked to me about the organization and the good that they did for the community and he also talked to me about how they have volunteers standing with red buckets collection money [at Broadway theaters],” Groff tells Jan Svendsen on a new episode of the “Broadway Gives Back” podcast.He added, “You could watch the second act of Broadway shows by signing up as a volunteer.

Tom Viola, the longtime executive director of the groundbreaking nonprofit organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, announced today that he’ll retire at the end of 2024, ending a 36-year tenure that guided the organization – and the theater industry – through two catastrophic eras: the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and ’90s and the Covid pandemic of the 21st Century.

The red bucket brigades so long-familiar to Broadway spring audiences were back this year after a two-year pandemic absence, and the results were heartening: donations across Broadway, Off Broadway and touring productions to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS totaled $4,288,994.

The foundation created by Cabaret lyricist Fred Ebb has awarded a record-setting $2.6 million to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The gift is the single largest in Broadway Cares history.