Jerry Mitchell: The Naked Truth About Broadway Bares
Jerry Mitchell earned the first of six Tony nominations in 2001 for The Full Monty, which featured a lineup of would-be male strippers performing his witty choreography. By then, Mitchell was truly an old hand at putting together inventive striptease numbers: He'd spent the past 10 years honing his skills as the creator, director and choreographer of the wildly successful and beloved Broadway Bares fundraiser. In this unofficial annual kickoff to bikini season, Broadway's hottest dancers shed most of their costumes and their inhibitions to put on a show for an enthusiastic audience, with all proceeds benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Now in its 17th year, Broadway Bares has grown into a must-see event for Broadway insiders and fans. As Mitchell prepared to executive-produce this year's extravaganza, "Myth Behavior," a cheeky takeoff on Greek mythology—not to mention get ready for the Tony ceremony, in which his choreography for Legally Blonde was nominated—he paused to share favorite Broadway Bares memories.
Back in 1991, I was in the best shape of my life, dancing on Broadway in The Will Rogers Follies as "the Indian of the Dawn" in a loincloth costume that required me to be pretty much naked from the back. We were trying to figure out new ways to raise money for the annual Easter Bonnet competition benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and I got an idea: Why not dance in my costume at Splash Bar, and donate the money I raised to the cause?
I called five guys I knew who were in incredible shape and appearing in Broadway musicals, and in 10 days, I put together a little show with an opening number, individual strips and go-go dancing for tips. We charged $10 at Splash, which held about 400 people—and on a rainy night, the line to get in stretched around the block. Someone went outside and told the crowd, "If you stay, we'll do a second show," and we packed the place twice. That night, after the first show, a Broadway Bares tradition was born: the entire cast of six! enjoyed a tequila shot between shows.
Who would have thought that the 2007 edition of Broadway Bares would boast a cast of 220 performers—or that our 16 previous shows would collectively raise almost $4 million to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS? The growth and interest in Broadway Bares has been amazing. But one thing hasn't changed: My goal is always to put on a great show. No speeches, because no one knows better than theater people how important the cause is. Of my 10 closest friends at Webster College in St. Louis in the late 1970s, I have two left—not to mention the loss of Michael Bennett, who along with Bob Avian, gave me my first professional job with the national touring company of A Chorus Line in the summer of 1980.
The shows themselves are a modern-day burlesque in the spirit of Gypsy Rose Lee. Historically, some of the best stage shows in New York have been based in burlesque. It's not about what you reveal, it's about what you don't reveal as you build the audience's excitement. Our shows have to be clever, sexy and fun.
As we've climbed the ladder of success, we've worked hard to make Broadway Bares bigger and better each year. After the sixth show, which was held at the Palladium, composer Andrew Lippa called me and said, "Would you use one of my songs next year?" When I told him the theme for year seven, "The Bearest Show on Earth," he wrote an opening number, which took the evening to a different level. That same year, Spot Co ad exec Drew Hodges, who designed the fabulous Chicago campaign among many others, came on and created a new look for us for free. M.A.C Cosmetics also came on as a sponsor, so that was a big year for Broadway Bares.
Professionally speaking, Broadway Bares gave me a huge career boost—it's how I got The Full Monty, because the producers saw that I could choreograph a striptease. Three or four years ago, I decided to step away from directing the show to give opportunities to other young choreographers I believe in. Now, as the executive producer for Broadway Bares, I'm concentrating on trying to raise as much money as possible; calling in all sorts of favors! In 2006, we raised a record-breaking $659,000 and we aim to top that this year. Even thought we have begun offering a $10,000 VIP package, it's also important to us to offer a ticket that Broadway gypsies can afford to buy.
This year, Broadway Bares XVII: "Myth Behavior" will be produced by BC/EFA, Michael Graziano, and Anthony Latorella, directed and choreographed by my Legally Blonde associate Denis Jones, with an opening number by Gary Adler of Altar Boyz and a script by Jeffrey Lane of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Leslie Kritzer will play a leading lady who has seen it all and done it all. She's looking for a new thrill, which comes in the form of Greek gods ranging from Narcissus and Poseidon to Medusa and Bacchus. It's all happening at Roseland on June 17, and we expect to put on two tremendous shows.
The most important lesson I've learned from Broadway Bares is how important it is to be part of the community in which you work—and to give back. I eat, breathe and sleep the theater business, and there's no way to express the deep, deep joy I've gotten from this event and how grateful I am to be able to do it and live a full life as part of this incredibly talented and thriving community. The dancers I work with, the people I love do it full out. It's the only way to dance.