Broadway Bares: Zoom In, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' annual striptease fundraiser, raised $596,504 for the organization. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the fundraiser was held online; watch the stream above.
Although the in-person 30th anniversary celebration, originally set for June 21, was postponed until 2021, the annual evening was presented digitally through streamed stripteases featuring New York City dancers and footage from past editions.
Special guests included 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, and Wesley Taylor.
READ: 30th Annual Broadway Bares Postponed Until 2021
Introducing the favorite numbers were co-executive producer, past director, and choreographer Nick Kenkel, Bares director and choreographer Laya Barak, and choreographers John Alix, Al Blackstone, Armando Farfan Jr., Denis Jones, Michael Lee Scott, Kellen Stancil, Charlie Sutton, Andrew Turteltaub, and Sidney Erik Wright.
At the conclusion of the stream, Broadway Bares dancers and those behind the scenes launched their annual, competitive fundraising campaign, "Stripathon." Donate to your favorites dancers and crew members at BroadwayCares.org.
"The one word that popped up the most was 'community,'” Broadway Bares creator and executive producer Jerry Mitchell said during the stream. “I created Bares to bring the Broadway community together so we could understand our collective power to make a difference in the early days of the AIDS crisis. And today, we’re still using that power and our sexy dancing bodies to raise money for Broadway Cares—and our spirits, too.”
Funds raised will help those across the country affected by HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and other critical illnesses receive healthy meals, medication, emergency financial assistance, housing, counseling, and more. The donations also support and champion organizations focused on social justice and anti-racism.
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 its first year, Mitchell and six of his friends danced on a New York City bar and raised $8,000. The 2019 Broadway Bares: Take Off raised a record-breaking $2,006,192.
The numerous editions of Broadway Bares have raised more than $21.8 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations.
