SPEAKER: TOM VIOLA | ENTERTAINER: KAREN MASON

$52 admission includes a three-course lunch payable at the door by cash or check only

Tom Viola is the former executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the philanthropic heart of Broadway and one of the nation’s leading industry-based nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. During Viola’s 36-year tenure, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS provided more than $300 million for lifesaving medication, health care, nutritious meals, emergency assistance and more for people living with HIV/AIDS and other critical health issues. Viola led the organization’s growth into the single largest supporter of the Entertainment Community Fund, helping those in the performing arts and entertainment. His leadership helped establish the Fund’s HIV/AIDS Initiative, The Friedman Health Center, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative and The Dancers’ Resource, as well as the expansion of the Artists Health Insurance Resource Center; Senior Services; Addiction and Recovery Services and more. In 2024, Broadway Cares awarded $6.5 million, bringing its support of the Fund since 1988 to $142 million. Viola also championed the strategic expansion of Broadway Cares’ National Grants Program, which now annually awards grants to 450 social service organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Those grants reach food banks, health clinics, meal delivery programs, supportive housing residences, emergency financial assistance programs and more. In 2024, the National Grants Program provided more than $7.5 million to these agencies, awarding an additional $162 million since 1988. In 2010, Viola was recognized by the Tony Awards with the Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre for “the leadership, advocacy and creativity through which he has mobilized the theater community’s response to AIDS and other critical health issues” as executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Karen Mason is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has appeared on stage in Broadway theatre, notably as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, and is a multiple award-winning cabaret performer. She first appeared on Broadway in Play Me a Country Song in 1982. She took the role of standby to Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in the Los Angeles production in 1993, and went on to play almost 300 performances over two years both in Los Angeles and on Broadway. She originated the role of Tanya in Mamma Mia!, playing the role from October 5, 2001 to October 6, 2002. She took over the role of Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray on April 6, 2008. She was the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland in 2011 on Broadway and in the Tampa and Houston productions in 2009–2010. Mason appears in the US tour of A Christmas Story, The Musical! starting in November 2011. In 2011, Mason was scheduled to play Mrs. Danvers in the musical Rebecca on Broadway. In 2017, she sang, "It's About Time", written by her husband, Paul Rolnick (in 2011), to call for marriage equality. Mason appeared on tour in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies as Madame Giry. The tour ended on December 2, 2018. In December 2020, Mason appeared in The Doris Dear Christmas Special on Broadway on Demand, where her performance received a 5-star rating.