“Broadway Bares” Stripped Down For A Record-breaking $2.5 Million
More than 200 of New York’s fittest dancers peeled off their clothes for a good cause on Sunday 21 June, and the night ended with the biggest payday in the show’s history. Broadway Bares: License to Strip pulled in a record $2,534,428 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, beating last year’s record of $2,447,967.
A spy caper with very little left to the imagination
This year’s theme was espionage, and the plot was gloriously silly. A squad of secret agents had to stop a rogue artificial intelligence from destroying Broadway. Tony winner J. Harrison Ghee played master provocateur at “Mission MI69” and sent three spies-in-training, DeMarius Copes, Jimin Moon and Joey Taranto, off to compete for the title of Top Provocateur.
What followed across two sold-out shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom was a runway of barely-clothed pop-culture icons. A near-naked James Bond got tied up by Goldfinger in a number cheekily retitled “License to Restrain.” A battalion of fembots marched out for Austin Powers.
There was a purring Pink Panther, a parade of decoy Carmen Sandiegos, and a Josephine Baker tribute in the famous banana skirt. Frankie Grande even sailed in from the Titanique stage to start the show’s traditional tip-collecting “Rotation.”
Why the night matters
Strip away the feathers and this is serious money for people who need it. The total helps fund meals, medication, housing and counselling for people living with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses across all 50 US states, Puerto Rico and Washington, DC.
A record $1,251,972 of it came through Stripathon, the cast-led online fundraiser, with dancer Mark MacKillop topping the leaderboard at $227,371.
The whole thing started back in 1992, when Broadway dancer Jerry Mitchell rounded up seven friends to strip on the bar at New York club Splash and raised $8,000 for HIV/AIDS care. Broadway Bares has now raised $33.6 million across its run.
On the night, presenting sponsor M·A·C Viva Glam handed over a $200,000 cheque, lifting its total contribution to $5.4 million.
Sexy, daft and genuinely good for the world. We’ll take it.
