BROADWAY BARES XXII: HAPPY ENDINGS, a fairytale evening of modern-day burlesque featuring 227 of New York's sexiest dancers, made history for the third year in a row on June 17, by raising a record-breaking $1,254,176 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
One of the evening's performances was the story of "The Ugly Duckling" called "Ugly Duckling (It Gets Better)" set to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way", which took on bullying as Brandon Rubendall helped Adar Wellington embrace both her inner and outer beauty in a moving piece choreographed by Nick Kenkel. Watch the performance below!
"Ugly Duckling" features costumes by Kevin Draves, lighting by Paul Miller, projections by Daniel Robinson, video by Jonathan Frank and photography by Matthew Murphy, Kevin Thomas Garcia, Greg Weiner, Peter James Zielinski, Tomas Vrzala, and Danny Roberts.
BROADWAY BARES XXII: HAPPY ENDINGS transformed our favorite fairytales into crazy-hot, spectacular come-to-life stories as told by a bevy of Broadway's best performers. From Snow White to Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio to The Pied Piper, BROADWAY BARES XXII spun the classics into contemporary fantasy as more than 6,000 people packed Roseland Ballroom for two sold-out performances.
BROADWAY BARES was created by Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell who serves as executive producer. It is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS led by Producing Director Michael Graziano. This year's edition was conceived by director Lee Wilkins with associate director Michael Lee Scott.
In all, 17 extraordinarily talented choreographers contributed to the evening's numbers. Also creating unforgettable numbers to make BROADWAY BARES XXII: HAPPY ENDINGS a record-breaking evening were Marc Kimelman and aerialist choreographer Brandon Perayda ("Sleeping Beauty"), Stephanie Klemons ("Rapunzel"), Lorin Latarro ("Pinocchio"), Josh Rhodes ("Snow White") and Charlie Williams ("Mirror, Mirror").
For more information, visit Broadway Cares online at broadwaycares.org.
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