Last night in Manhattan, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS announced the title and theme for their 20th anniversary “Broadway Bares” show June 20 — “Strip-opoly.”
The two shows at the Roseland Ballroom on that night will mark the official end of the current Broadway season and charity organizers are hoping for a $1 million haul this year.
Last year, the event raised slightly less than it did in 2008 — to be expected only a few months after the recession blew through New York City — but founder Jerry Mitchell is determined to set a new record this year.
In addition to the one-night, two-show evening in June, BC/EFA already had one mini-”Broadway Bares” at a downtown club last month and it was announced yesterday that there will be three “Solo Strips” shows in the weeks before the June extravaganza — on April 11, May 16 and June 6 at Splash (50 West 17th Street).
Splash is the dance club where Mitchell invented “Broadway Bares” two decades ago when he was a chorus dancer in “The Will Rogers Follies.” One night, while doing a near-naked American Indian dance atop a giant drum, he was hit with the brainstorm of a strip-tease charity event for BC/EFA.
Mitchell and a few of his friends went to Splash on their night off — raising $8,000 — and “Broadway Bares” has gotten bigger and better each year. Everyone involved volunteers their time – with the performers fitting rehearsals in between their work on Broadway shows. The event is always held on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. and midnight because that’s the only night all of the dancers have off from the jobs.
More than 200 Broadway dancers are expected to take part in the June show which is being directed by Josh Rhodes of “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “Fosse.”
“Broadway Bares” always features vaudeville-style comic sketches involving some of the top performers appearing on Broadway at that moment — everyone from Sutton Foster to Nathan Lane have brought down the house in past years.
BC/EFA offers a variety of VIP packages for the show, ranging from $250 to $650, but the cheap seats — $55 general admission — are fine. Make that the “cheap floor space” — there are no seats in the club space (but the show only runs about 70 minutes).
“Broadway Bares” is always terrific — with dance numbers as good as anything you’ll see in the musicals the performers work on six nights a week — and the strip routines never quite go all the way. (It’s R-rated rather than NC-17.)
For more information, ticket sales, and a great archive of material from past benefits, visit www.broadwaybares.com.
