Seventh Annual "Broadway Bears" Auction Scheduled

The seventh annual “Broadway Bears” auction will be held on Sunday, February 15 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill (237 West 42nd Street). In support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, 40 one-of-a-kind Broadway Bears — each dressed in original, handmade costumes representing some of the theater’s most legendary characters — will be up for auction.

Once again this year, the event will be hosted by Bryan Batt (Beauty and the Beast, Seussical, Saturday Night Fever). Bears representing such shows as Avenue Q, Hairspray, Flower Drum Song, Dreamgirls, Carnival, Dancin’, The Lion King, A Year With Frog & Toad, Mame, Rent, Wicked, and The Producers will be auctioned.

Many of the Broadway Bears will be autographed by theater luminaries associated with the shows they represent, including Angela Lansbury, Glenn Close, Bernadette Peters, Celeste Holm, Carol Channing, Antonio Banderas, Peter Palmer, Julie Taymor, Marin Mazzie, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Mark Linn-Baker, Sutton Foster, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Stephen Sondheim, Melba Moore, Cady Huffman, Judy Kuhn, Lucie Arnaz, Boy George, Rosie O’Donnell, Denis O’Hare, Daniel Sunjata, Jai Rodriguez, Jerry Orbach, Bebe Neuwirth, and John McMartin.

General admission tickets, including open bar, are priced at $35. Doors will open at 7pm for general admission ticket holders and the auction will begin at 8pm. Also available are $150 tickets that will gain the “bear”-er admission to a private reception with open bar (beginning at 6pm), an advance VIP preview of all the bears to be auctioned, and reserved priority seating. Reservations may be made by calling BC/EFA at 212-840-0770 ext. 268.

For those who can’t make it to the event, live telephone bids will be taken during the auction; to pre-register fixed bids, call 212-840-0770, ext. 228. Further information, including details on Internet bidding, may be obtained by visiting the website www.BroadwayCares.org.