‘Broadway Bares’ aftermath: Double the pleasure, double the fun, double the take

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 | 5:29 p.m.

The seemingly endless night of entertainment did end, with Josh Strickland holding court at high volume, Tara Palsha moving with great grace and dynamism, and dozens of performers from adult productions in Las Vegas sharing the enlivened scene with Vegas impressionists and hypnotists.

And that was just the after-party.

The show was quite a jaunty affair, too.

In just its second year, “Broadway Bares” has bloomed into one of the best productions, charity or otherwise, in all of Vegasdom. Sunday night’s show, held again at Planet Hollywood’s “Peepshow” showroom, featured 15 scenes (16, if you count the rousing finale) and about 130 performers from mostly adult shows throughout the city. “Heat” or “hot” or “hinting toward flames” was the overarching theme. The performance, an offshoot of “Broadway Cares” launched in 1992 by Tony Award-winning choreographer and producer Jerry Mitchell, raised a little more than $20,000 for AIDS and HIV treatment and research. The 700 in attendance were about 200 more than last year’s estimated house count.

It was a rowdy time, to be sure. The night launched in befitting fashion, with “2 Hot,” and the powerful vocals of Strickland and Travis Cloer of “Jersey Boys.” Angel Porrino found herself in the middle of the action -- which has become something of a Porrino trademark lately -- and Cloer’s wife, Jen, a “Peepshow” cast member, was in the dancing ensemble.

So it was, by strictest definition, a family show.

Highlights included the Palsha-choreographed “Hit Me With a Hot Note,” as performed by cast members of “Vegas! The Show,” and “Hot Clowns,” a biting comedy number by members of “The 12:30 Show,” which is a bunch of Cirque du Soleil performers who occasionally release creative steam at Onyx Theater.

The highlight of that highlight were the gold-painted duo Golden Shower, Alberto Del Campo and David Underwood, who twisted around and clung to each other in much the same unsettling manner as Robert Smigel’s animated “Ambiguously Gay Duo” on “Saturday Night Live.” That piece of hilarity drew a standing ovation from the crowd, which likely deduced that if the paint covering the duo was genuine gold, it was a million-dollar performance.

The show was ruddered by the great Edie of “Zumanity,” whose show title is “Mistress of Sensuality” and whose real name is Christopher Kenney. Taking part in the madcap, overnight charity event were cast members from Disney’s "The Lion King” at Mandalay Bay, “The Viper Vixens” (soon of O’Shea’s), “Bite” at Stratosphere, Bazaar Entertainment, Desiree Productions, Feel the Music Entertainment, backing dancers for “Donny & Marie” at Flamingo Las Vegas, performers from PROPS Crew, members of “Centerfuge” at MGM Grand and “Jubilee!” at Bally’s.

Missing were planned contributions from “Le Reve” and members of “Zumanity” who are not the esteemed Edie. Both casts had to back out late in rehearsals. As event organizer Paula Caselton, dance captain of “Peepshow,” said, there is room for growth for “Broadway Bares.”

“We’d like to get all the Cirque shows involved,” she said during a chat at the theater entrance. “We’d like to have ‘Crazy Horse Paris’ involved, ‘Fantasy,’ ‘Crazy Girls,’ all of those casts take part.”

As it is, “Broadway Bares” is already rivaling Golden Rainbow’s “Ribbon of Life” production for high-quality entertainment for a noble cause. Maybe, one day, we’ll have those two shows combine for one giant AIDS benefit -- tied in with the AFAN Aids Walk in the morning and the Black & White Party at night.

Nah. That would be too … weird, wouldn’t it?

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.