Dede’s Green Scene: The 5th Annual Broadway Celebrates Earth Day Concert Returns

Every year, Earth Day asks the same question: how do we get people to care? Broadway may have found one of the best answers: give it a stage!

On April 25, the 5th Annual Broadway Celebrates Earth Day Concert returns, and this year, it is going even bigger. Hosted by the Broadway Green Alliance and the Times Square Alliance, the free concert will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Duffy Square, right beneath the iconic red steps in Times Square. As part of Earth Day celebration, the event transforms one of the busiest intersections in the world into something a little greener, a little louder, and a lot more joyful.

There is something beautifully fitting about that. Times Square is usually associated with motion, bright lights, and constant consumption. It is probably the last place most people picture when they think of climate action. Yet for one afternoon, Broadway flips the script. Instead of advertisements and urgency, the space fills with music, performances, and conversations about sustainability. Climate action becomes public, emotional, and impossible to ignore.

This year also marks the concert’s fifth anniversary, and the celebration has clearly grown. For this milestone year, the concert moves to one of the most recognizable stages on Earth, bringing Broadway’s voice for the planet directly to the Crossroads of the World. More than 100 performers will take part, including Broadway stars like Jessie Mueller, Jenn Colella, Arielle Jacobs, and Jelani Remy, along with cast members from Wicked, Chicago, and & Juliet. In addition, there will bemore than 100 students and local performers joining Broadway veterans. With that,he event makes one thing clear: sustainability is not just a performance for today, but a conversation being handed to the next generation.

Sustainability is no longer staying backstage. With actors like Patrick Ball from The Pitt joining Broadway veterans on the Times Square stage, Earth Day feels less like an industry initiative and more like a true cultural crossover moment.

That may be the most important part. Earth Day is often framed around responsibility. Bring your reusable bag. Turn off the lights. Feel slightly guilty about your plastic coffee lid. Broadway offers a different kind of invitation. It makes sustainability feel less like homework and more like belonging.

The plaza will also feature a special exhibit from the Climate Museum, along with family-friendly activities from organizations like HeadCount, Materials for the Arts, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. It is not just a concert. It is a full public experience where art meets action, where people can experience sustainability instead of simply being told about it.

Last year’s concert drew more than 25,000 attendees, with another 75,000 people passing through Times Square during the event, proving that sustainability conversations are reaching far beyond the traditional theatre crowd. Even for those outside New York, the concert will stream live on the Stars in the House YouTube channel, expanding the audience far beyond Times Square and reminding us that climate storytelling does not need a ticket price.

And honestly, that feels like the future of Earth Day. People rarely change because they are handed statistics. They change because something makes them feel connected. Music does that. Storytelling does that. And community absolutely does that.

As Broadway Green Alliance Executive Director Molly Braverman put it, the goal is not just climate action, but “finding joy in building this movement together.” That shift matters. It moves sustainability away from guilt and toward participation, where people feel invited in rather than lectured from the outside.

Broadway understands this better than most industries. Theatre has always been about emotional investment, about making people care deeply in just a few hours under stage lights. Applying that same energy to climate awareness feels less like a marketing strategy and more like exactly the right approach.

Sustainability does not always need to arrive wearing earth tones and carrying a stainless steel water bottle. Sometimes it arrives in sequins, under the red steps, with a show tune and a 5,6,7,8!

If Earth Day is going to stay relevant, it cannot live only in policy papers and corporate pledges. It has to live where culture lives, in fashion, in festivals, in music, in public spaces, and in moments people actually want to show up for.

This year, Broadway is proving that climate action does not have to whisper from backstage. Sometimes, it deserves center stage. Click HERE for more information.