Last night I attended my first Broadway Bares – a one night burlesque performance by 200+ of Broadway’s most talented dancers and singers.
The sexy event raises money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. I’ve heard about read about the event for years but have never gone. One of my neighbors, a Broadway dancer from hit shows like Movin' Out, has been in the show several times and has told me about, but I'd yet to go.
Ticket prices are all across the board, with the cheapest tickets starting at $50. On my budget that's still a lot to lay down for a show - even when everyone in the show is working for free and all the money goes to charity. Saturday night I found a ticket online that was being sold by someone who wasn’t about to go and was selling their ticket at a marked down price.
I scooped it up.
There are two shows – a 9:30 and a Midnight – and I was in line by 10:30 for the Midnight show. The line to get into the Roseland Ballroom stretched down the street and around the block. I was glad I got there when I did.
At 11:30 they let us in and the show started a few minutes after midnight. I didn’t really know what to expect…but whatever expectations I might’ve had were blown away.
I have never seen anything like it. Raising over $600,000 – Broadway Bares is an amazing collection of original music, sexy dance number, celebrity appearances and more all infused with unbridled creativity and sexuality.
Each year the show has a theme, this year’s being New York Strip…with the emphasis on the word “strip.”
The show is a continous flow of hotter than hot dance numbers - with each number, for this show atleast, dedicated to NYC. Stripteases, arial acrobatics, comedic sketches...the show has everything.
Half way through the show the crowd heard, “Ladies and gentlemen, Cyndi Lauper.” The native New Yorker (who is on Broadway for the first time in Three Penny Opera) came out and sang a beautiful, acoustic version of her 80’s hit, True Colors. As the song ended and she sang to the audience, “You’re beautiful…like a rainbow” she stood up, and in the spirit of the evening’s burlesque nature, let her black, silk robe fall to the ground.
It was a bold statement of both shock and empowerment.
Many other Broadway names performed and danced, making it one spectacular evening. Because of the nature of the show, I won’t be posting photos (except for the show's naughty poster which is hanging all around town) here in my Journal, but you can visit their website to find out more about the event and see sexy images from past shows.
Visit: www.broadwaybares.com
