Broadway celebrated its sexiest night of the year June 18 with Broadway Bares: Pleasure Park at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom. The evening featured Broadway favorites baring all in burlesque production numbers. The event featured more than 190 dancers presenting "unrivaled fantasy lands, animal queendoms, and magic kinkdoms that will leave you dreaming of a fast pass for more." The charity event benefitted Broadway Cares, and raised a staggering $1,887,014, all of which will go to Broadway Cares.
You might think that what happens in the Hammerstein Ballroom would stay in the Hammerstein Ballroom for an event like this—but thankfully we've got video and photos from the evening. See video highlights from the event above, and photos in the gallery below.
The event, Pleasure Park, took inspiration from theme park attractions, such as the opening number with the lyrics "It’s a world of glitter, a world of pecs." There was a magic-themed number featuring Cameron Jackson (Aladdin) as a wizard whose pants vanished in a disappearing act. Another number featured Jamie Patterson (Aladdin) as a patron being waited on by sexy servers Tyler Eisenreich (Moulin Rouge! The Musical) and MiMi Scardulla (A Beautiful Noise) at the Meat Rack restaurant, where the waiters are dressed in black vests and not much else. A waterpark-themed number featured acrobat Zongoli and seven aerialists performing from high above the stage.
Making appearances at this year's show were J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot), Alex Newell (Shucked), Joanna “JoJo” Levesque (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Nick Adams (Hulu’s Fire Island), Kyle Brown (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Stephen DeRosa (Mr. Saturday Night), Taurean Everett (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Justin Prescott (Funny Girl), Constantine Rousouli (Titanique), Aléna Watters (Bad Cinderella), Jonathan Burke (The Inheritance), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Parade), as well as Broadway and recording vocalists Mykal Kilgore, Marty Thomas, and Jessica Vosk.
Laya Barak again directed the fundraiser, joined by co-director Kellen Stancil and associate director Jonathan Lee. Jerry Mitchell, recipient of this year's Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, and Nick Kenkel executive produced.
Choreographers included Barak, Stancil, Lee, John Alix, Mike Baerga, Nicholas Cunningham, Chloe Davis, Armando Farfan Jr., Billy Griffin, Amber Jackson, Monica Kapoor, Bo Park, and Michael Lee Scott.
Broadway Bares was created in 1992 by Mitchell as a way to raise awareness and money for those living with HIV/AIDS. Mitchell and six of his friends danced atop a New York City bar and raised $8,000 in Broadway Bares’ first iteration. Last year’s 30th anniversary edition raised $1.9 million, bringing Broadway Bares’ total to more than $21 million for Broadway Cares.
The evening helps provide meals and medication, health care, and hope to people across the country living with HIV/AIDS or facing other life-threatening illnesses and personal crises.
Broadway Cares 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 has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and other critical illnesses across the United States.
Visit BroadwayCares.org.