Entitled Broadway Bares 18: Wonderland, Broadway's sexiest night of the year is set for June 22 at the famed Roseland Ballroom. Two shows will be presented that evening at 9:30 PM and midnight.
Created and executive-produced by Tony winner Jerry Mitchell, the fundraiser will feature Fame Becomes Me and recent Hairspray star Mary Birdsong as Alice. Newcomers to the evening include Tituss Burgess as The White Rabbit with appearances by Xanadu's Cheyenne Jackson, South Pacific's Matthew Morrison and Tony winners Nathan Lane and Andrea Martin.
The evening, according to press notes, will boast "over 200 of Broadway's hottest bodies traveling 'through the looking glass' to bring some of 'Wonderland''s classic characters to life . . . Along the way, Alice [Birdsong] will encounter a White Rabbit [Burgess] that will make audiences blush, a Mad Tea Party featuring a sexy Mad Hatter and a tempting March Hare, and a Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum that only Broadway Bares] could deliver."
Shrek's Christopher Sieber and Jennifer Cody will be this year's rotation masters.
[title of show]'s Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen are both contributing material to the show: Bowen has written the opening number, and Bell has penned the scenes. The bawdy evening will also feature special performances by NATEkid, the acrobatic troupe AntiGravity and the aerial performance group The Living Art of Armando. Denis Jones (Legally Blonde, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) will once again direct the production.
A little Bares history: Nearly 20 years ago, Legally Blonde's Mitchell, who once danced nearly naked on a drum in The Will Rogers Follies, found himself inspired to take it all off to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and Broadway Bares was born. The first year, he and seven other Broadway dancers raised $8,000 for the charitable organization.
The 17th annual Broadway Bares, which was held June 17, 2007, was another record-breaker, raising $743,787 for BC/EFA. To date, Broadway Bares has raised nearly $5 million for BC/EFA.
"Broadway Bares: Backstage Pass" is the title of a new book that is described as "a titillating photographic chronicle" of the annual fundraiser. Penned by Tony winner Mitchell, the new book is available from Universe Publishing.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the nation's largest industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization. Since its founding in 1988 the organization has distributed over $130 million for services for people with AIDS, HIV or HIV-related illnesses.
Tickets to the Bares fundraiser are on sale by calling (212) 840-0770, ext. 268 or by visiting www.BroadwayCares.org.
The Roseland Ballroom is located in New York City at 239 West 52nd Street.
