Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has set a date for its 2024 edition of the “Broadway Bares” fundraising event. The 32rd annual fundraiser will take place on June 23 at Hammerstein Ballroom, with two performances, 9:30 p.m. and midnight. Produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares, the event features striptease-based choreography and burlesque-style musical performances.
Longtime “Bares” performer Kellen Stancil is set to direct, with Paula DeLuise as associate director.
“Bringing to life this exhilarating event that is part of the fabric of New York City theater is an honor and exciting challenge” said Stancil in a statement. “I’ve been a dancer, then choreographer, with ‘Bares’ for more than a decade. I’ve felt the show’s palpable energy course through my veins, both onstage and in the audience. I couldn’t be more thrilled to guide Bares’ electrifying performances, singular seductiveness and empowering sense of community this year.”
“From ‘Bares’’ humble beginnings of dancers stripping for a cause on top of the bar of Splash in Chelsea to the Herculean, show-stopping spectacle the show is today, at the core of ‘Broadway Bares’ is heart,” added executive director of Broadway Cares Tom Viola. “Every strut, strip and mind-blowing dance move at Hammerstein translates into meals and medication, health care and hope for people facing critical illnesses in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.”
“Broadway Bares” was created in 1992 by director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who was performing in the ensemble of “The Will Rogers Follies” at the time. Hoping to raise awareness and funds for those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, Mitchell and six friends raised $8,000 performing burlesque-style dances at a bar. “Bares” has only grown since, with the 2023 iteration raising $1.88 million. For his longtime “Bares” efforts and commitment, Mitchell was awarded the Tony Awards’ 2023 Isabelle Stevenson Award.
A theme and performers for the 2024 “Bares” will be announced at a later date.
“Broadway Bares” is being executive produced by Mitchell and frequent “Bares” director and performer Nick Kenkell.
