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"path": "/theater/broadway-bares-license-to-strip",
"publishedAt": "2026-04-22T15:00:03.000Z",
"site": "https://www.advocate.com",
"tags": [
"Broadway",
"Broadway bares",
"Broadway cares",
"Equity fights aids",
"Fundraiser",
"Hivaids",
"Lgbtq events",
"Theater",
"Tickets",
"broadwaycares.org/bares"
],
"textContent": "\n\n\n\nBroadway Bares is going undercover this year — and, as always, it won’t stay that way for long.\n\nThe long-running, anything-goes fundraiser has revealed its 2026 theme, _Broadway Bares: License to Strip,_ a spy-inspired spectacle that leans into intrigue, fantasy, and a whole lot of skin. Think secret agents and double identities, staged with out-of-this-world choreography that’s made the event a staple of New York’s queer scene.\n\nThe event takes over NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom on June 21, with more than 200 dancers moving through high-concept numbers that play with espionage tropes — from slick undercover moments to full-throttle reveals. Performances take place at 9:30 p.m. and midnight.\n\nFrom these first images, the vibe is spycraft turbocharged with high-glam fantasy: a red telephone booth centerpiece, leather harnesses, thigh-high boots, and characters pulled straight out of pop culture’s spy canon — and then pushed into something much less buttoned-up.\n\nTickets start at $75, with VIP options that include premium seating, backstage access, and even a private cocktail party hosted by Jerry Mitchell, the Tony-winning creative force behind _Kinky Boots,_ _Hairspray_ , and of course, Broadway Bares.\n\nBehind the spectacle, Broadway Bares continues its decades-long mission. Produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the annual event raises critical funds for people living with HIV and other serious illnesses. It has raised more than $31 million to date.\n\n**Take a look at the first images from _Broadway Bares: License to Strip_ below. And ****get tickets at****broadwaycares.org/bares**.\n\n### Michal Kolaczkowski as Sherlock Holmes\n\n\n\n\n### Khasan Brailsford as Dick Tracy\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n### Anthony Sanchez as Ethan Hunt\n\n\n\n\n### Jessica White as Trinity (The Matrix)\n\n\n\n\n### Benjamin Freemantle as Austin Powers\n\n\n\n\n### Alice Reys as Carmen Sandiego\n\n\n\n\n### Hector Juan Maisonet as Inspector Gadget\n\n\n\n\n### Inspector Gadget, Trinity & Ethan Hunt\n\n\n\n\n### Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy & Carmen Sandiego\n\n\n",
"title": "Broadway Bares goes undercover for its most seductive theme yet"
}