Stream of Broadway Bares: Zoom In Raises $596,504 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Produced by and Benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Tens of thousands of fans around the world “Zoomed In” to watch sensational striptease when the first-ever digital edition of Broadway Bares streamed August 1, 2020, and raised $596,504 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Broadway Bares: Zoom In featured all-new opening and closing numbers, performed and filmed individually by socially distanced dancers during the pandemic. The show highlighted unforgettable moments, insider stories and special guest stars across the event’s 29 spectacular years.
Zoom In also featured favorite production numbers, some never seen outside of Hammerstein Ballroom: Ground Crew and In-Flight Entertainment from 2019’s Broadway Bares: Take Of, Battleship and Ouija from 2018’s Broadway Bares: Game Night, Feminist Studies, Lacrosse and Psych from 2017’s Broadway Bares: Strip U, The African Mask from 2011’s Broadway Bares: Masterpiece and Pan from 2007’s Broadway Bares: Myth Behavior.
At the conclusion of the stream, Broadway Bares dancers and those behind-the-scenes launched their annual, competitive fundraising campaign, called Stripathon. You can donate to your favorites dancers and crew members now at broadwaycares.org/stripathon. Here are a few of the dancers you can tip in the Stripathon:
Ricky Schroeder
Ben Ryan
Josh Cotham
Jay Armstrong Johnson
Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola said: “Since first joining seven of his friends dancing on the bar at Splash in the now-iconic first incarnation of Broadway Bares, Jerry Mitchell has had a remarkably unique and extraordinarily generous vision of how Broadway Bares could be much more than hot and sexy fun. Jerry foresaw and made certain that Bares could also be a celebration of health, shared well-being and, indeed, life. Over the last 30 years, many hundreds of others across the community have joined him in a similar commitment. Broadway Bares: Zoom In will mark the brilliant legacy of Broadway Bares for years, well beyond its presentation as an online fundraiser in the midst of these very challenging and deeply troubled days.”
This year’s online production was led by Mitchell, with special guest appearances by Nick Adams, Charles Busch, Lea DeLaria, J. Harrison Ghee, Nathan Lee Graham, Debbie Shapiro Gravitte, Jane Krakowski , Nathan Lane, Beth Leavel, Judith Light, Andrew Lippa, Lesli Margherita, Angie Schworer, Marc Shaiman, Miriam Shor, Christopher Sieber, Wesley Taylor and hundreds of NYC’s best and sexiest dancers.
The celebrity guests dished never-before-shared stories and secrets from Broadway Bares. Krakowski, who appeared in Bares during her Tony Award-winning run in Nine, talked about her experience defying gravity as she twirled upside down in silks, describing it as the closest she’s ever come to a “rockstar moment.”
The first $200,000 donated to the stream was generously matched dollar-for-dollar by The Dream Alliance.
Broadway Bares was created in 1992 by Mitchell, then a Broadway dancer, as a way to raise awareness and money for those living with HIV/AIDS. In Broadway Bares’ first year, Mitchell and six of his friends danced on a New York City bar and raised $8,000.
Last year, Broadway Bares took stars and fans alike on a romp around the world at Broadway Bares: Take Off . The tantalizing twist on travel raised a record-breaking $2,006,192. Broadway Bares has raised more than $21.8 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people affected by HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and other critical illnesses across the United States.
For more information, please visit Broadway Cares online at broadwaycares.org , at facebook.com/BCEFA , at instagram.com/BCEFA , at twitter.com/BCEFA (Featured Photo by Billy Bustamante/Broadway Bares)
Last modified: August 11, 2020
