A host of Broadway favorites will be part of Broadway Bares: Zoom In, which streams August 1. As previously announced, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is taking its annual striptease fundraiser online for the first time due to the ongoing pandemic.
Newly announced for the evening are special guests 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.
Produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares, the event will be available beginning at 9:30 PM ET in the video above.
Although the in-person 30th anniversary celebration, originally set for June 21, was postponed until 2021, the annual evening will live on digitally through streamed stripteases featuring New York City dancers. Viewers can expect new performances that make social distancing sexy, plus favorite numbers from years past.
Introducing the favorite numbers will be 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.
“We’re so excited to bring the heat of Broadway Bares to screens around the world for the first time with Broadway Bares: Zoom In,” Bares creator and Tony winner Jerry Mitchell, who will also make an appearance, said in an earlier statement. “This year’s performers have gone full-out in both their show-stopping dance moves and desire to make a difference. You’ve got to Zoom In, because it's sure to make your laptop tingle and your cell phone vibrate!”
Though the stream is free, donations are welcome and will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $200,000, by the Dream Alliance. Every dollar will help those across the country affected by HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and other critical illnesses receive healthy meals, lifesaving medication, emergency financial assistance, housing, counseling, and more. The donations also support and champion organizations focused on social justice and anti-racism.
Sponsorship opportunities, which include pre- and post-show virtual cocktails parties with performers and recognition during the show, are available at BroadwayCares.org.
Broadway Bares was created in 1992 by director-choreographer 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 29 editions of Broadway Bares have raised more than $21.2 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations.
