Fire Island Dance Festival 17 Raises Record-Breaking $340,445 for DRA

Neuwirth took the stage as host after completing an acclaimed 15-month run as Morticia Addams in Broadway's The Addams Family. She earned Tony Awards for lead actress in the Broadway revival of Chicago and for featured actress in Sweet Charity. In addition to an array of other television and movie roles, she won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Dr. Lilith Sternin Crane on Cheers.

Neuwirth's heart has belonged to dance since she first started taking ballet at age 5. In addition to her remarkable work on stage, screen and television, she also is founder of The Dancers' Resource, a program of The Actors Fund that creates a unique health, financial and emotional support system for dancers and choreographers. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS was the original funder of The Dancers' Resource and remains its primary financial supporter.

In honor of Neuwirth's dedication and devotion to the health and well-being of her fellow dancers and performing artists, Broadway Cares and Dancers Responding to AIDS presented her with a special donation of $25,000 for The Dancers' Resource on stage at the 7 pm performance, July 16.

"Broadway Cares and Dancers Responding to AIDS is blessed to work with a community of artists whose passion for movement and creative expression is matched by a great generosity of spirit and commitment to looking after and reaching out to each other," said BC/EFA Executive Director Tom Viola presenting the check to Neuwirth and the full Fire Island Dance Festival company. "While I hope none of you ever need The Dancers' Resource, if you do, may it always be there."

In 2011, BC/EFA has awarded The Dancers' Resource $150,000. With this special donation of $25,000, Broadway Cares' support since 2007 now exceeds $1 million.

Dancers Responding to AIDS, founded in 1991 by former Paul Taylor Dance Company members Denise Roberts Hurlin and Hernando Cortez, is a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre and dance communities, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes and other critical illnesses across the United States. Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised more than $195 million.

For more information about DRA, visit dradance.org.