During the recent Broadway strike, the AIDS fundraising charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS lost an estimated $40,000 a day without its holiday fund appeal, which usually happens during shows’ curtain calls. That makes the group’s annual holiday CD, “Broadway’s Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure 9” (Rock-It Science), all the more vital.

Companies from nearly all the Broadway musicals contribute songs for what amounts to a wonderfully entertaining, occasionally inspired two-disc collection.

The best of the bunch is the cast of Spring Awakening singing a stunning “What Child Is This?” And the cast of Mamma Mia! harmonizes beautifully through “My Gift.”

For comedy, there’s the cast members of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (most of whom starred in the San Francisco production) singing an original variation on of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

You can find the CD at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Web site here, where there are many other fine shopping opportunities, all of which help the group catch up to its fundraising goals.

Here are some suggestions:

The annual Broadway Bares calendar. The 2008 edition is “Myth Behavior.” $20

The annual Broadway Cares T-shirt featuring logos of 24 musicals on Broadway in 2007. $20.

Now that the Tony Awards are behind us, you don’t need to go through withdrawal. You can order your very own Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS official Tony T-shirt, which features the signatures (silk-screened) of all Tony Award nominees. See for yourself. It’s a gorgeous shirt.

Order the shirt here. It’s only $20 ($25 if you want the extra-extra-large), and it’s for a great cause. The BC/EFA credo: “Imagine, demand, and work for a cure.”

Now how do I know this shirt is spectacular? Because some kindly person sent me my very own (the right size and everything) with the following note:

“For you, the main dog. From one of your adoring theater pups. I woof you.”

Clever and sweet. I hope I’m not betraying a confidence in sharing the note, but it was so enjoyable I had to share it with other Theater Dogs.

The shirt also comes with a handy guide to the signatures. Some of them (Billy Crudup, David Gallo, Jack O’Brien, Orfeh, Swoosie Kurtz, Brian McDevitt, Eve Best and William Ivey Long we’re talking to you) are a little hard to decipher.

So thank you, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and thank you for the tremendous work you do.

For more info visit the BC/EFA Web site.