BC/EFA Annual Report 2005 - Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

oadway cares/equity fights aids
BROADWAY
BARKS VII
July 30, 2005
how it all began
The Broadway Flea Market had an inauspicious start. In 1987,
the event debuted as two tables presented by the company of
A Chorus Line outside their stage door in Shubert Alley as a part
of the first Equity Fights AIDS week, raising what was thought
to be an astonishing $7,000. Over the next four years, under
the leadership of Ethel Bayer, Stephen Falat, Arne Gundersen
and Larry Hansen, the Flea Market grew with tables from more
shows, theatre-related offices, unions, and guilds – everyone
recognizing a good cause and a great chance to clean house.
In 1988, an auction of eight lots was created, but with no
experienced auctioneer, sputtered to its finish. In 1989,
Sotheby’s Lorna Kelly came on board as our official auctioneer
and with her expertise a truly “grand” auction was born. Today
the Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction brings thousands from
the theatre community and audiences to Shubert Alley and
along 44th Street. As they say, from little acorns… or more
specifically, over 16 years from 1987 to 2005, this event has
raised over $6.4 million, and we’re still signing posters,
gathering swag, and cleaning closets and auctioning one-of-akind
theatrical experiences for a good cause.
The indomitable cast members of The Phantom of the Opera in front of
the Majestic Theatre where they have presented a crowd-pleasing table of Phantom
memorabilia for the last 18 of 19 Broadway Flea Markets; before there was
Spamalot, there was Frasier, both starring the delightful David Hyde Pierce,
here auctioning a signed script from the show now-classic television show; the stars
of All Shook Up, Jenn Gambatese and Cheyenne Jackson.
celebrating its 7th successful year,
Broadway Barks has become as much of a part of BC/EFA’s Shubert
Alley tradition as the Annual Flea Market and Grand Auction.
Barks VII brought out Broadway Barks Founders Bernadette
Peters and Mary Tyler Moore, and the hottest stars from
Broadway to introduce animals from 26 New York City
shelters.
As always, the celebrities who took time out from their
busy schedules to drop by Shubert Alley to present animals for
adoption (and show off their own prize pets) drew enthusiastic
crowds. Among the presenters were Victoria Clark, The Light in
the Piazza, Maureen McGovern, Little Women, Denis O’Hare, Sweet
Charity, Brad Oscar, The Producers, David Hyde Pierce and Chris
Sieber, Spamalot, Joanna Gleason and Gregory Jbara, Dirty Rotten
Scoundrels, Harvey Fierstein and Andrea Martin, Fiddler on the Roof,
Bill Irwin, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Cheyenne Jackson
and Alix Korey, All Shook Up.
The event included a silent auction featuring 40 packages
of celebrity-autographed memorabilia with proceeds of over
$50,000 benefiting the 26 participating shelters. It was a
wonderful Saturday afternoon with over 40 dogs and cats
finding homes as the message behind the event – the importance
of spaying and neutering – made a positive impact.
The founders of Broadway Barks, Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore,
admire a particularly handsome young Lab; Bebe Neuwirth with one of the cats
making a brief appearance in Shubert Alley; one of the most personable dogs of this
or any day. Happily, all three animals and many more found safe new homes.
events
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