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Volunteer Spotlight: Fred Bracken
It’s no surprise that Fred Bracken’s favorite BC/EFA event is Broadway Bares; maybe the reason he’s so good at shining the spotlights for the show is that he’s attended our burlesque-style fundraiser every year since its inception. “I’d usually buy a ticket and be one of the first in line,” says Fred, “so, you know, I could be right there at the center runway for the show. Where else can you see 200 people on stage at the height of their (collective) talent, where the audience is so completely with them the whole time? The nudity is almost secondary.” In fact, he says, once the ticket prices started to go up, “I just started volunteering to help with the production so I could see the show for free. Now, ten years later, I just like to be a part of the whole thing -- from start to finish. It’s a great atmosphere. It’s teamwork.” Fred is no stranger to production. When he moved from Ohio to New York in 1983, Fred immediately took to the theatre, producing everything from “Miss Gulch Returns” to over two-dozen shows and tours, in addition to his work as a TV producer for both CNN and ABC. Then, when on holiday in Australia, a friend took him to see a show with “a bunch of people banging on things.” The show was called Stomp, and Fred loved it so much that he brought it to America, where it’s been running at the Orpheum Theatre ever since. So what brought Fred to our events? “I was drawn to a combination of things,” he states. “First, coming from a production background, I was so impressed with the quality of your shows. Second, I wanted to give back to the theatre in some way. And, of course, I believed in your mission. I moved here in 1983, before most of the treatments for AIDS were developed. Of course I knew people who were sick. I stopped counting at 70 deaths. I’d meet people who were totally healthy, and then in two weeks they’d be dead. I wanted to get involved.” Today Fred’s a Project Coordinator for American Express, and even though he’s taken on a more corporate role, he’s never too far from the theatre. Now, he’s a lot more hopeful about winning the fight against AIDS, and he stays involved with Broadway Cares because, as he puts it, “I get to be around you people who have such passion for what you do. You don’t know how lucky you are to have that.”
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