Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction 2010

BC/EFA auctioneer Lorna Kelly and actor Bryan Batt (TV’s “Mad Men”) at the Grand Auction in Shubert Alley

Broadway memorabilia flea market at West 44th Street

The 24th Annual Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction took place last Sunday, Sept. 26 in Shubert Alley in Manhattan’s theater district. Playbill.com reported that the event raised a total of $476,917 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Since its debut in 1987, the 24 editions of The Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction have raised a grand total of $8,638,669 for BC/EFA. A total of $239,342 was raised by 72 tables: Highest earners were the booths hosted by the Broadway show Wicked ($19,834) and ”Broadway Beat” ($12,171).

This year's Silent Auction included 114 items and raised $55,925. The top item sold was an A Little Night Music “Soon” musical phrase, handwritten and signed by Stephen Sondheim that went for $3,500.

This year’s grand auction, with BC/EFA auctioneer Lorna Kelly and actor Bryan Batt (TV’s “Mad Men”), featured 44 “lots,” which raised $126,650. The top-selling item was a walk-on role in the Broadway show Wicked that sold for $16,500.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 BC/EFA has raised over $195 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

BROADWAY FLEA MARKET AND GRAND AUCTION

The 21st Annual Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction was held earlier today, Sunday, September 23 in Shubert Alley & West 44th Street. In this event, theater fans were able to pose with Broadway stars for photos in exchange for donation, buy that lost cast recording, signed Broadway memorabilia such as show posters and Playbills, rare costume sketches or special gifts one can’t find anywhere. Participating artists included Vanessa and Lyn Redgrave, Bernadette Peters, Bebe Neuwirth, David Hyde Pierce, Sir Ian McKellen among others. Proceeds from the event go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Photos above were taken at the flea market at Shubert Alley and 44th Street.

From http://www.broadwaycares.org/events/auction.cfm -

The Broadway Flea Market, held each September in Shubert Alley, brings out the biggest and brightest stars from Broadway, Off-Broadway, Dance and daytime television to greet fans and sell memorabilia. Casts and company members of dozens of shows are joined by theatrical unions and guilds, producing organizations, local merchants, and many other groups to sell costume pieces, autographs, original scripts, rare photographs, and so much more. The event also includes the Celebrity Table, where celebrities gather throughout the day to sign autographs and pose for photos in exchange for donations. The highlight of the Flea Market is the Grand Auction, in which singular items and opportunities such as walk-on roles in Broadway shows, television programs and films are available to the highest bidder.