Broadway Bares: Top Bottoms of Burlesque Blows Previous Fund-Raisers Out of the Water

Last weekend's 25th edition of Broadway Bares celebrated the golden age of Broadway with Top Bottoms of Burlesque, with the event raising a record-breaking $1,598,501 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Broadway Bares: Top Bottoms of Burlesque featured hundreds of New York’s sexiest and most talented dancers at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Inspired by the golden age of Broadway, Top Bottoms of Burlesque featured an opening number choreographed by codirectors Jerry Mitchell and Nick Kenkel, and written by Andrew Lippa and Hunter Bell. The evening included guest appearances by Andy Cohen (Watch What Happens Live), Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black), Bianca Del Rio (Ru Paul’s Drag Race), four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, two-time Tony winner Judith Light, Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita, and two-time Tony nominee Christopher Sieber.

Broadway Bares was created by Mitchell in 1992 as a way to raise money to help those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. In its first year, Mitchell and seven of his friends danced on a New York City bar and raised $8,000.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. Since 1988 BC/EFA has raised more than $250 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.