BC/EFA Flea Market Raises $544,037
By: BWW News Desk Sep. 26, 2005
The 19th Annual Flea Market & Grand Auction held on Sunday, September 25, raised a grand total of $544,037 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA). The previous year's Flea Market raised $419,800.
The Flea Market and Grand Auction is an annual outdoor fair in which Broadway, Off-Broadway and other members of the theatrical community donate and sell their wares to benefit BC/EFA. The event also included the Celebrity Table, where celebrities gathered throughout the day to sign autographs and pose for photos in exchange for donations. The climax of the day was the Grand Auction, in which truly unique and priceless items are auctioned off live to the highest bidder.
The booth that raised the most money this year was the booth hosted by the United Scenic Artists which raised $23,865. The show booth that raised the most money was Wicked which raised $7,854.
Among the day's highlights:
Broadway and daytime stars made appearances on the patio at Bolzano's Bar Cucina for the Autograph Table throughout the day including Joan Allen, Laura Linney, David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry, Marj Dusay, Rosie O'Donnell, James Mitchell, Bebe Neuwirth, Valerie Harper, Kathy Brier, Patti LuPone, Joanna Gleason, and Richard Thomas.
The booth representing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels sold autographed photos of their star Norbert Leo Butz taken at his high school prom.
Andy Karl, currently appearing in the Off-Broadway show Slut, caught a few people's attention. The actor spent an hour at his show's booth autographing posters from the show dressed only in chili pepper lights. In that hour, he helped raise $1,000 for BC/EFA.
At this year's Grand Auction, daytime star Robin Strasser ("One Life To Live") got into the spirit and purchased several items at the auction including the evening's final lot, an enormous photo that was taken during in the days following September 11, 2001 when Broadway community came together to film a commercial to help in the post-September 11 recovery.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) is the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fund raising and grant making organization. BC/EFA is the on-going, committed response from the American theater community to an urgent worldwide health crisis. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of this community, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes across the United States. Since it's founding in 1988, BC/EFA has distributed over $100 million for critically needed services for people with AIDS, HIV, or HIV-related illnesses.
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