Laverne Cox Helps 'Broadway Bares' Raise $1.6 Million for Charity

On Sunday night, stars of Broadway and beyond collectively shook their moneymakers for the 25th edition of the annual charity burlesque show Broadway Bares -- and raised nearly $1.6 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA).

This year’s show -- Broadway Bares: Top Bottoms of Burlesque -- featured 222 dancers, plus star turns from actors and personalities like the Emmy-nominated Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black), Bravo TV’s Emmy-winning Andy Cohen, 2014 RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio, four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein and two-time Tony winner and two-time Emmy winner Judith Light. (Watch a highlight of Cox dancing up a storm with Casey Lee Ross, below, to a medley of Jennifer Lopez's cover of "Venus" and Ciara's "One Woman Army.")

The one-night-only 2015 Broadway Bares show played two performances on June 21 at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, and brought in $1,598,501. The show’s creator, two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell, returned to direct the show. Broadway Bares has now raised $14.3 million for BCEFA.

Broadway Bares is one of a number of events produced by BCEFA, which, according to the organization, has raised more than $250 million since 1988 for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the U.S. In 2014, they awarded nearly $10.7 million to AIDS and family service organizations and continues to be the largest single financial supporter of The Actors Fund -- a human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment.