Remember the Ribbon: A Tribute to World AIDS Day In honor of those living with HIV and AIDS and in memory of those lost to AIDS, Playbill will present the Gilead Storytellers series to commemorate World AIDS Day. On December 1, Playbill will broadcast Remember the Ribbon: A Tribute to World AIDS Day, a concert event unlocking performances from the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS video vault to uplift and inspire audiences.

Leading up to Remember the Ribbon, Hamilton leading man Javier Muñoz, Rema Webb (The Color Purple), Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Executive Director Tom Viola, and more will offer moving performances and/or share personal stories about their experiences with HIV/AIDS, the challenges they have overcome, and the hopeful reality of today. 

Hadestown Tony winner André De Shields will host Remember The Ribbon: A Tribute to World AIDS Day December 1, a concert event sponsored by Gilead Sciences featuring fan-favorite performances from the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS vault. The stream begins at 8 PM ET on Playbill.com/Storytellers and Playbill’s YouTube. While free to watch, donations are encouraged to support Broadway Cares. In addition to a video showcase of past Broadway Cares special moments, Remember the Ribbon features appearances from Gilead Storytellers Javier Munoz (Hamilton), Rema Webb (The Lion King), Broadway Cares/EFA Executive Director Tom Viola, and playwright Donja R. Love (one in two) with musician Jamar Rogers (The Voice). The evening will close with Aisha Jackson performing a new song, “The Test of Time,” written by Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar. Lyons, Helen White, and Nasia Thomas provide background vocals. Follow up-to-date information about the special event on social media with #RememberTheRibbon.

Wilma Theater: Heroes of the Fourth Turning Wilma Theater Four Catholic conservative friends gather at a late-night backyard party in Wyoming, shortly before the 2017 eclipse. As they wait for the arrival of their mentor, and newly appointed college president, secret passions and fears surface, revealing their troubled place in a divided country.

2pm: Ball Change Ted Snowdon’s Reading Series Manhattan Theatre Club: Set at the switchboards of an elite celebrity answering service, Ball Change examines how our communication technologies (and metropolitan mythologies) become obsolete. When we first meet the “Chimes” in the swinging 60s, all is glam and good fun, but fifty years of economic, social, and technological upheaval sure leave their mark on a girl. This is a time-traveling tale about how objects and ideas go out of style, commissioned by MTC through the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

4pm: CyberTank Variety Show By The Tank A weekly, remote, multidisciplinary, variety arts gathering open to all where we explore theatricality + themes by you.

The CyberTank Weekly Variety Show is a remote, multidisciplinary variety arts gathering open to everyone. The arts community has been presented with a challenge to re-examine theatricality, and The Tank has reframed this as the gift of an opportunity to grow and choose community over despair. Each weekly installment is centered around a specific question and features guest artists who will perform and facilitate conversation.

5pm and 8 pm: World AIDS Day Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  Donate here.

Starring are Brooks Ashmanskas, Laura Bell Bundy, Paul Castree, Richard Chamberlain, Charity Angél Dawson, Robin de Jesús, Fran Drescher, J. Harrison Ghee, Stephanie Gibson, Gideon Glick, Lana Gordon, Alan H. Green, Lena Hall, Jayne Houdyshell, Lisa Howard, James Monroe Iglehart, Famke Janssen, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Cherry Jones, Francis Jue,  Joaquina Kalukango, Tari Kelly, Nathan Lane, Norm Lewis, Vicki Lewis, Telly Leung, Alyse Alan Louis, Andrea Macasaet, Stanley Wayne Mathis, Kevin McHale, Varla Jean Merman, Jessie Mueller, Eric William Morris, Cynthia Nixon, Michael Notardonato, Okieriete Onaodowan, Royina Patel , Anthony Rapp, Krysta Rodriguez, Seth Rudetsky, Kirsten Scott, Matthew Scott, Michael James Scott, JK Simmons, Robin Lord Taylor, Evan Todd, Mariand Torres, Alysha Umphress, Anna Uzele, Marisha Wallace, and Michael Xavier.

There will also be special appearances by longtime Broadway Cares friends Danny Burstein, Judith Light, Billy Porter (also a member of the Broadway Cares Board of Trustees), and Michael Urie.

7pm: Plaguey Hill Irish RepIrish Repertory Theatre is proud to present a reading of Plaguey Hill, a new work by Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon, read by Tony winner Liev Schreiber and featuring new music by Lenny Pickett.

Written over the first two weeks of April 2020, Plaguey Hill is an impressionistic account of day-to-day life during the Covid-19 pandemic. Though the poem is set in Sharon Springs, New York, it harkens back to memories of the burial mound of Plaguey Hill, in Friars Bush graveyard, Belfast, where victims of the 1830s cholera epidemic were laid to rest.

The poem takes the form of an intricately locked series of 15 sonnets known as a crown, or corona.

7pm: The Nice List On December 1st, 2020 – our National Day of Giving – we all come together for one common purpose: to celebrate kindness, generosity and the spirit of giving back.

In that spirit The Nice List will be brought to you for FREE on YouTube during the month of December for your family holiday enjoyment.

This special glimpse into the North Pole has been made possible by Masie Productions in partnership with Starhawk Productions who have assembled a diverse cast from Broadway and Television to tell an original heartwarming Christmas tale with Santa’s magical workshop like we have never-seen-before. 

The Nice List aimsto “celebrate the power of the human spirit as we come together for the happiest time of the year” says Wendy Gillespie. Elliott Masie draws the comparison that “the Elves in our story are just like the millions of employees and families right now that are navigating the world working remotely, communicating in new ways and discovering that the power of empathy and laughter through music can bring us comfort in these challenging times.”

7pm: Love, M.  Horizon Theatre marks World AIDS Day with new play, “Love, M.” Told through letters, Love, M. is the story of two mothers at the dawn of AIDS. Atlanta white socialite Deborah writes to her son, Chris, who is pursuing his dream of becoming an actor. Myrtle, a Black southern Baptist, writes to her son, Timothy, an idealistic young lawyer. With humor and humanity, and the AIDS Quilt as backdrop, Love, M.weaves the abiding threads of the healing power of love, as the characters piece their way towards acceptance.

7pm: Fast & Furious 45 By The Tank Live performance exists to serve as America’s cultural conscience. It is the artist’s responsibility to make work that shines a light on things when they’re wrong, celebrate them when they’re right and model alternative possibilities. This kind of work can change hearts and minds. The artist’s ability to act fast and create work quickly in response to events, policies and general dumpster fires has never been more crucial, as they participate in building the language of resistance.

Each month, a group of artists comes together to create performance pieces in the 7 days leading up to the event in response to the headlines of the week. The work tends to be made very quickly and, in many cases, very furiously! Artists interested in presenting work can e-mail host and producer, Tank Associate Artist Kev Berry at kev@thetanknyc.org for more information.

7pm: La MaMa Puppet Slam By La Mama La MaMa Puppet Slam returns this year with new short works of genius! In the virtual world these condensed works of puppetry are original, compelling, brilliant, witty, tragic, funny, stunning, startling, ironic, exotic, political, lyrical, musical, beautiful, intellectual, experimental, wild…. and always demonstrate genius in a matter of minutes!

Featuring performances by: Paul Zaloom, Maiko Kikuchi, Spica Wobbe, Concrete Temple Theater, Maria Camia, Hobey Ford, Larry Reed – Shadow Light Productions, Adelka Polak, Anurupa Roy Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust (India) and Lake Simons.

Curated by Jane Catherine Shaw

7:30pm Verdi’s Aida Boasting one of opera’s most popular and thrilling scores, Verdi’s immortal tragedy about a love triangle in ancient Egypt delivers passion, intrigue, and heartbreak in equal measures. The characters—including a celestially beautiful Ethiopian princess, the formidable daughter of the king of Egypt, and the dashing commander they both love—are larger than life, and the scenery is as grand as it gets.

8pm: The 24 Hour Plays’ 20th Annual Broadway Gala The 20th annual The 24 Hour Plays (Virtual) Broadway Gala will feature familiar faces from throughout that history in an unmissable experience where six new plays are written, rehearsed, performed, and streamed in 24 hours!  

Proceeds from the gala support The 24 Hour Plays’ year-round non-profit programs, including The 24 Hour Plays National Fellows, The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues, productions of The 24 Hour Plays with theater partners worldwide, and subsidized productions for schools and colleges. 

Scheduled to appear are: Genevieve Angelson, Kelly AuCoin, David Cross, Hugh Dancy, Merle Dandridge, Andra Day, Dagmara Domínczyk, Mike Doughty, Rachel Dratch, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Jesse Eisenberg, Noah Galvin, Joel Marsh Garland, Michelle Gomez, Adam Gwon, Josh Hamilton, Marcia Gay Harden, Amy Hargreaves, Russell G. Jones, Matt Lauria, Vella Lovell, Katherine McNamara, Portia, Solea Pfeiffer, AnnaSophia Robb, Sheila Vand, M. Ward and more to be announced. They will perform pieces written by Rachel Axler, David Lindsay-Abaire, J. Holtham, christopher oscar peña, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Lauren Yee.