Video: RED BUCKET FOLLIES 2025 Opening Number Starring James T. Lane
The number was performed at the annual variety show on December 8 and 9, 2025.
By: Gillian Blum Jan. 03, 2026
Check out the 2025 Red Bucket Follies opening number, from the annual variety show performed December 8 and 9, 2025 at the New Amsterdam Theatre.
This year's Red Bucket Follies opening number went meta, following Stephen Lloyd Rodgers von Schwartzenheim – played by James T. Lane – as he struggled to write the opening number for Red Bucket Follies.
It featured spoofs of and references to several theater favorites, including Phantom of the Opera and Wicked.
The opening number was directed and choreographed by Andrew Turtletaub, with music and lyrics by Chris Dimond and Michael Kooman.
The annual variety show, performed December 8 and 9, 2025, celebrated 55 Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies that participated in the fall RedBuckets fundraising for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Red Bucket Follies and the six weeks of in-theater fundraising raised $7,344,304 — the highest total ever raised in a Broadway Cares fundraising season.
Watch the opening number here!
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