"Broadway Bares: Greetings from the United Strips of America." (photos: Andrew Eccles)

Forget Gypsy Rose Lee… the men of the Great White Way were greased, sprayed, tanned and buffed last week for a special preview performance of Broadway Bares, the notorious burlesque-style show that raises money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA).

This year’s edition, Greetings from the United Strips of America, will play June 23 at 9:30 p.m. and midnight at Roseland Ballroom — but you better snag tickets quickly as the late-night show is already sold out.

If you’re headed to Fire Island this summer, you can catch a special island edition. Fire Island: Calendar Girl, a co-production with the Fire Island Pines Arts Project, will have performances on June 1 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets will be available in the harbor Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Of course, if you can’t see the real thing, you can always visit the BC/EFA website to keep up with eye candy. The site posts a “Stripper of the Month” and also has an online gift shop perfect for those naughty minds. My favorite find is a vintage DVD of the original 1992 Broadway Bares featuring Tony award-winning Jerry Mitchell, the event’s founder executive producer.

Mitchell’s goal was to draw upon the immense talent — and gorgeous bodies — of the Broadway community to raise funds and awareness for HIV/AIDS. To date, the 22 editions of Broadway Bares have raised more than $9.8 million. So head to the ATM, and withdraw some Andrew Jacksons. That’s a $20 for those of you used to tipping less, but these hotties will be worth it and all of the funds go toward a great cause.

Now… the video you’ve all been waiting for:

Want to see more?
CLICK HERE for tickets.

The theater season is kicking into high gear, not just on Broadway but also with special performances and benefits popping up all over town. File your taxes early and use that refund to snag seats to one (or all) of these unique events:

Megan Hilty (photo provided by Dan Dutcher PR)

Luck Be a Lady: Megan Hilty Sings Sinatra and More
March 8
Carnegie Hall

The New York Pops continues its 30th season with an evening of swinging favorites in “Luck Be a Lady: Megan Hilty Sings Sinatra and More.” Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke – described by The New York Times as “young and vigorous, with a playful attitude” (and who doesn’t love that?) – will lead the orchestra as it tips its hat to the Rat Pack, Ella Fitzgerald, Marilyn Monroe and other stars from the golden age of entertainment. The performance features Broadway and TV starlet Megan Hilty and Ryan Silverman, one of Broadway’s favorite leading men. The program will include “Luck Be a Lady,” “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” music from “Smash” and more.

Tickets $18.50 – $112
Click here for tickets.

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Annie Funke & Jake Gyllenhaal in "If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet". Photo by Joan Marcus.

You’ve heard of friends with benefits? Well, this is a post with benefits so pucker up and get ready for this week’s theater news round-up…

• Part theater geek garage sale and part outdoor fan convention, the annual Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction takes over Shubert Alley & Times Square this Sunday from 10am – 7pm. In addition to the popular autograph table (this year featuring the likes of Cheyenne Jackson, Bebe Neuwirth, Steve Kazee, Bernadette Peters, Jeremy Jordan and more), the marquee event is an auction of priceless memorabilia and events including lunch with Angela Lansbury…with all proceeds going to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Start bidding now!

• Still jonesing for a big ticket reward? The Drama League is sponsoring an online auction of their own with some amazing items including tickets to see If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet including a VIP backstage photo with star Jake Gyllenhaal. Just keep your hands to yourself when you get that picture taken with my boyfriend.

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  David Schwimmer in "Detroit". Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

  There are lots of benefits (ouch, that transition gave me whiplash) to seeing shows beyond Broadway. Check out the glowing reviews for two big, starry Off-Broadway openings this week. First, David Schwimmer and Amy Ryan headline “the superb” new play about downward mobility Detroit at Playwrights Horizons. Then the transcript-based, wrongly accused prisoners docudrama The Exonerated, returns in a revival that “still has the power to unsettle” with its rotating cast including Stockard Channing and Brian Dennehy.

• Broadway Cares isn’t done yet; they’ve got a benefit — that’s like butter — planned for October 12 titled Hello Gorgeous: A Salute to the Streisand Songbook. Performers scheduled to belt their tuches off include Lorna Luft (Grease 2 again!), Ann Hampton Callaway, Daisy Eagan (The Secret Garden), Nick Adams (Priscilla: Queen of the Desert) and Jim Caruso (“Cast Party” at Birdland).

• The New York Times is reporting that Scarlett Johansson will slip out of her superhero leather and into a slip when she returns to Broadway as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof this winter. Her equally fetching, though perhaps not in a slip, co-stars will be Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson himself Benjamin Walker, Ciaran Hinds and Debra Monk.

• Finally, start planning your Christmas Day trip to movie theaters now because the big budget adaption of Les Miserables has been moved back two weeks to December 25. Not sure if it will be goodies or coal in your stocking? After the jump, check out a juicy behind-the-scenes preview that made the rounds yesterday. Color me very, very impressed with how some of the singing, recorded live on the set, sounds…

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Every third Wednesday of the month, a fabulous actor/singer/dancer will fill out my nosey little questionnaire and offer a glimpse of what they look like from a bit closer than the mezzanine. For September, our buff is a real high flyer with a heart of gold…

Reed Kelly. Photo by Richard Gerst.

Name:  Reed Kelly / @thereedkelly

Hometown:   Saint Paul, MN

Current Show/Role:  Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark as the debut Spider-man, the evil villain Swiss Miss, and the u/s for the Green Goblin flyer. Also, a dancer on the upcoming second season of Smash on NBC.

The best part of the show I’m in now is:  With Spider-Man I get to do such a wide variety of things every night; from playing a superhero and a villain, dancing, singing, to flying and puppeteering. It’s kind of like getting paid to just go out there and have fun every night doing crazy things, not to mention the amazing people I get to work with over there at the Foxwoods. Smash is a blast because what dancer wouldn’t love to dance great musical numbers with your friends, choreographed by Josh Bergasse and recorded to be broadcast to the nation?

The most challenging job in show business I ever had was:  Likely it would be the preparation and filming of the movie I Am Legend staring Will Smith. I was one of the actors hired to play the infected. They put us through a very rigorous month-long training camp to get us in shape for the movie, which included everything from yoga, pilates, calisthenics, stunt training, parkour and endurance training to dealing with live explosions. After we finished our training we shot for the next six months in all sorts of crazy conditions, like two weeks of night shoots in the middle of February down in Washington Square Park wearing essentially nothing. Physically it was probably one of the most demanding jobs I had ever had the opportunity to participate in … but it was so much fun.

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Yosvani Ramos. Photo by Danny Roberts.

Sun, sand and soutenu.

That’s the enticing combo served up at last week’s Fire Island Dance Festival, the annual fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS via the amazing talents of Dancer Responding to AIDS. This 18th edition of the event raised a record breaking $374, 260 and featured ballet, modern, tap, hip-hop, Broadway, and contemporary dance performed against the backdrop of the Great South Bay.

I could try to describe the event — including new works choreographed by Rob Ashford, Monica Bill Barnes, Rennie Harris, Edwaard Liang, and Lizzie MacKenzie — but in this case a picture is definitely worth a thousand words. So take a look at these gorgeous images…

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We tapped actor Andrew Glaszek to give us a personal report (talk about going undercover or, in this case, under covered as a performer in the show) from Sunday night’s Broadway Bares extravaganza. Check out his blow by blow coverage, backstage pics and some cheeky links (just click on the highlighted words for some surprising finds)…

Andrew Glaszek & Dave August. Image via Andrew Glaszek.

Do you believe in fairies, Mary? Well, with the amount of clapping (+ hootin’ & hollerin’) at Roseland Sunday night, Tink & the whole fairy kingdom must be flyin’ high. Hopefully, the cast & crew, designers, volunteers, and the team at BC/EFA can rest well and enjoy the afterglow of HAPPY ENDINGS - Broadway Bares XXII. The show produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has been the buzz for months as those involved took part in a Strip-a-thon to add $300,000+ to the total raised in ticket sales, corporate sponsorship ($250,000 from M•A•C VIVA GLAM!), and cash tips at the event for a grand total of $1,254,000 – a new record.

On the stage and runways, over 200 dancers & actors titillated the full house with revealing new takes on classic Fairy Tales that would’ve made Mother Goose wet her feathers and The Brothers Grimm… very, very… happy. When you are out exploring FB and YouTube for pics and show clips, say “bottoms up” with a shot of tequila in honor of Jerry Mitchell, the creator and Executive Producer, Michael Graziano, Producing Director and Lee Wilkins who conceived and directed this year’s show with associate director Michael Lee Scott.

The skinny on the show sounds like a segment on SNL - so cue Wayne Wilcox’s ”Stefon” impression & trust that every year the hottest show in town is Broadway Bares.  Here’s a taste of a few of my favorite tips and assets from Happy Endings:

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Broadway Bares. Photo by Andrew Eccles.

Get your tickets now for one of Broadway’s hottest nights: Broadway Bares XXII: Happy Endings! The annual night of burlesque and fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS arrives this Sunday at 9:30 and midnight to make all your fairy tales (and fairy tails) come true.

I could go on and on trying to describe it but, really, isn’t a picture worth a thousand “Wohs!”? See more sensational photography that  might be a little NSFW, after the jump…

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Sure, the Tony nominations were the big theater news this week, but there were a lot of other stories to get hot about as Broadway dropped some shows — and some clothes:

Nick Kenkel for "Broadway Bares: Happy Endings". Photo by Andrew Eccles.

• If the weather is getting warmer than you know it’s time for Broadway to bare it all. The run up to the big burlesque night of all nights, Broadway Bares, begins this Sunday at 9pm with a curtain raiser, so to speak, of Solo Strips. This one-night-only fundraiser will feature ten of the hottest men of Broadway (including Theater Buffs Nick Kenkel and Sam Cahn) shaking their money makers to make some money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

• As sure as some producers are popping champagne on Tony nomination morning, others are dropping the axe. Without Tony love to build audience awareness both Seminar and Magic/Bird posted closing notices. While Bird never found its box office magic, Seminar completes a fairly healthy run, suffering only from a drop in sales after the loss of its original marquee star, Alan Rickman.

• That fiery gal Rebecca is actually making it to Manderlay via Broadway as the on-again, off-again musical announced an October 20 start date for previews. Unfortunately, the presumed leading lady Sierra Boggess has moved on to another Broadway production slated for the same period, Prince of Broadway.

• Two “hotties” making theater related news this week: two-time Tony nominee (and Sutton Foster main squeeze) Bobby Cannavale will return to Broadway in a revival of Clifford Odets’s The Big Knife and indie-film pin-up Joseph Gordon-Levitt is developing a movie remake of the classic Menken & Ashman musical Little Shop of Horrors. If you’ve seen this little number from 500 Days of Summer, you know that Gordon-Levitt has some dance moves in him…so this might not be a bad thing.

• The anniversary of an important milestone in the history of musicals passed this week, but no one seemed to notice. Well, no one but my good friend and amazing writer at large (yes, Jason, amazing as in awe-inspiring) Jason Cochran in this insightful article about the film version of Chicago and its “justified” musical numbers. I couldn’t agree more with his analysis and have to say that the box this has created is constraining the musical imagination, even on stage.  Will the film version of Les Miserables swing the pendulum back?

• Finally, two very interesting articles this week about Broadway reaching out to specialized audiences: one detailing special “autism friendly” performances and another reaching out to faith-based organizations.

Audra McDonald & Ricky Martin & the Cast of "Mary Poppins" at the 2012 Easter Bonnet Competition. Photo by Monica Simoes.

It’s time to dress you up in our love of theater with a very fashion forward news roundup…

• Broadway put on one heck of an Easter Bonnet this year as the proverbial hat was passed to the tune of $3,677,855 raised for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The winning chapeau went to the company of Mamma Mia during a song and dance packed event featuring big stars like Audra McDonald and Ricky Martin.

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  John Carrol. Photo by Kevin McDermott.

  In any sort of clothes (or out of them) our very own Theater Buff John Carroll is a special guy. And now the Advocate magazine has named him one of their Forty Under 40, “leaders in media, politics, sports, and science, [who] are facilitating our future”.

• Cinderella is getting another makeover…and we aren’t just talking a snazzy dress made by mice. A new version of the classic fairytale is headed to Broadway next season using Rogers & Hammerstein songs from their various TV incarnations and from their catalog and featuring a new book by Douglas Carter Beane (Lysistrata Jones). Laura Osnes (Anything Goes) and Santino Fontana (Brighton Beach Memoirs) will star and Mark Brokaw (The Lyons) is slated to direct.

• The 2011-2012 Broadway season officially came to a close this week with three more openings. And what did the all-powerful New York Times have to say about the final arrivals (in the spirit of our sartorial roundup theme): Don’t Dress for Dinner feels like hand-me-downs, Leap of Faith might need to head back to the tailor and The Columnist lays star John Lithgow bare. (I’m seeing Leap this weekend so I’ll have my take next week.)

• Feel like getting decked out in gold? How about just lining yourself with the latest awards nominations from the Drama Desk. Their list is out and features a mixture of Off-Broadway and Broadway, a bunch of shows not eligible because of previous consideration (to confuse you Tony predictors) and a pack leading 10 nominations for Follies and Death Takes a Holliday.

• Everyone’s favorite theater-inspired web series Submissions Only ends its second season today with a totally bedazzled final episode, embellished with some serious spangly star power. Guest stars included Jessie Tyler Ferguson, Nick Jonas, Harvey Fierstein, Lin-Manuel Miranda and the dancing boys of Newsies.

Photo by Andrew Eccles.

This Sunday, more than 200 of Broadway’s most stunning dancers will strip down for an auction-themed burlesque show at this year’s Broadway Bares XXI: Masterpiece at Roseland Ballroom. Produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), the sizzling performance features stars and starlets of the stage engaging two crowds of theatre enthusiasts (9:30pm and midnight) with their interpretations of the scantily clad subjects of famous art pieces.

Special guests will include Tony and Emmy nominees and winners from a number of Broadway shows, including Judith Light, Rory O’Malley, Jim Parsons, David Hyde Pierce, Roger Rees, and Christopher Sieber, as well as New York Post columnist Michael Riedel. Tony Award winner Beth Leavel will perform the opening original song and the show will end with a number by Tony nominee Patina Miller.

Broadway Bares has become one of the signature events of BC/EFA, with 20 editions of the show raising more than $7.5 million. BC/EFA is a nonprofit fundraising and grant-making organization devoted to helping people with AIDS and other critical illnesses throughout the United States.

Don’t miss this chance to see Broadway’s most talented dancers bare it all!

(And after the jump, get a little video preview of what’s in store…)

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