Equity News Magazine
Equity News is the official magazine of Actors' Equity Association. Equity News has been around in a variety of formats since 1915.
How the Theatre Community Shows Up: The Enduring Impact of the Red Buckets
by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
As the curtain falls on another season of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Red Bucket appeals, theatres across the country return to their rhythms. Buckets are stored away until the spring, and the hearts of those onstage, offstage and in the audience are fuller after six weeks of lifesaving impact.
What started as a grassroots effort by theatre companies to support community members suffering from HIV/AIDS has transformed into the Red Bucket serving as an iconic symbol of how our industry makes a difference. It's a tradition and legacy of care that has defined the theatrical community for more than three decades.
The cast of Ragtime. Photo by Michael Hull.
How Red Buckets Began
Red Buckets began with a simple, bold idea. In 1989, the Off-Broadway cast of Steel Magnolias stepped forward after the show and asked their audience directly to support friends and colleagues living with HIV/AIDS through Equity Fights AIDS. In just 10 days, that small company raised nearly $8,000, a powerful reminder that when artists speak from the heart, audiences listen.
Two years later, the tradition moved to Broadway when Keith Carradine and the cast of The Will Rogers Follies made the first onstage appeal after a curtain call. Other productions quickly followed, and the Red Buckets became a defining beacon of generosity across Broadway, Off-Broadway and national tours. Since that first appeal, more than $200 million has been raised in theaters, translating into meals, medication, health care and housing for millions of people nationwide. And this fall, powered by your unwavering support, Broadway Cares's Fall Fundraising Campaign raised a record $7.34 million.
Equity members Lorna Courtney (L) and Casey Likes. Photo by Michael Hull.
Your Support in Action
Every donation to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS carries a simple promise: no one in our theatre community, or beyond it, should face hardship alone.
For more than three decades, Broadway Cares has worked hand in hand with the Entertainment Community Fund to build a lifeline of compassionate support for everyone in entertainment and the performing arts. What began with our investment to start the Fund's HIV/AIDS Initiative in 1988 has grown into a partnership powering a full safety net of essential services, from emergency financial aid to mental health support, from navigating health insurance to personalized care at The Friedman Health Center.
That same commitment extends nationwide through our National Grants Program, which this year supported 483 organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. Food banks, community health clinics, harm-reduction programs and housing services turn your generosity into something tangible: meals, medication, health care and stability for people facing illness or uncertainty.
Meet Angela and Charity in New York City
As the head of the Entertainment Community Fund's Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative, Angela Babin understands the aspects of an artist's life that make accessing traditional care difficult. Performers often lack stable health insurance, work unpredictable schedules and face the unique pressure of staying "on" even when unwell.
A diagnosis or family emergency can jeopardize both health and livelihood. The annual support from Broadway Cares allows the initiative to step in to bridge those gaps – covering rent or medical bills, offering counseling and connecting clients with trusted specialists who understand the demands of a creative life.
"We are needed so much right now," Babin said. "Our community went through COVID and its shutdown, the writers' strike and wildfires. Now, in the United States, there are challenges affecting health care and health insurance coverage. People can't afford treatments. But when people are scared or struggling, they're still part of this community, and we won't let them face it alone."
Facing a glaucoma diagnosis, her mother's strokes and the threat of eviction, Charity James, an actor and voice artist, turned to the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative at the Entertainment Community Fund for a myriad of life-affirming services.
Angela Babin, head of the Entertainment Community Fund's Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative.
Photo by Allison Stock.
"I didn't have any other resources at that time, and I didn't have any way of helping myself at that point," James said. "People may think, ‘why are you bothering with your career when your mom's in the hospital?' And I say, ‘I have to. I can't allow myself to get swallowed up by this situation. I have to continue to move forward in my own career, in my own life.' The Fund helps me do that."
In 2025, Broadway Cares shared $8.38 million to support the full suite of lifesaving and life-affirming services at the Entertainment Community Fund.
Meet Margaret and Amna in Nashville
Margaret lives with HIV and is a client of Nashville CARES, a Broadway Cares grantee since 1988. Thanks to the support she receives there, Margaret was able to take control of her health and her life.
"I lost four apartments, and every time, Nashville CARES was there to pick me up," Margaret said. "They never criticized me, never judged me. Through their programs, I learned everything I could about living with HIV, and got control of my health. But if folks start cutting the resources that keep us going, the death rate's gonna soar again."
In 2025, and powered by the generosity shared in Red Buckets, Broadway Cares awarded $12,500 to Nashville CARES. While these funds directly support Margaret and others like her in accessing life-affirming care, Nashville CARES – like many organizations across the South – faces the ongoing risk of losing critical funding beyond this generosity.
"Right now, we're being funded year to year for prevention education in Tennessee, which makes it nearly impossible to build sustainable, long-term programs," said Amna Osman, CEO of Nashville CARES. "We're fighting every day just to keep these essential services going. That's why the support of Broadway Cares and our donors means so much. Because we can see the difference it makes, every single day, in people's lives and in our community."
In 2025, Broadway Cares shared $9.5 million in essential support with 483 organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. through its National Grants Program.
Margaret is a client of Nashville CARES, a Broadway Cares grantee since 1988. Photo by Josh Drake.
A Tradition Worth Carrying Forward
For Equity members and theatre artists everywhere, the Red Buckets represent more than a twice-annual fundraiser. They're a reminder of what our community does best: show up for one another and turn empathy into action.
As this year's Red Buckets conclude, their impact is just beginning, living on in the lives supported long after the lights go down. Thank you to every artist who made the ask, every audience member who answered and every Equity member who helps carry this enduring legacy forward, season after season.
The cast of Just in Time. Photo by Michael Hull.
The cast of Buena Vista Social Club. Photo by Michael Hull.
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