Broadway Bears VIII to Benefit BC/EFA

It's time for the fur to fly this year at the eighth annual BROADWAY BEARS auction on Sunday, February 20, 2005 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill (237 W. 42nd St), in support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Sure to out-do last year's collection, 40 one-of-a-kind BROADWAY BEARS - each dressed in original, handmade costumes representing some of the theater's most legendary performers and/or performances - will be put up for auction.

Once again this year's BROADWAY BEARS will be hosted by Bryan Batt (Beauty and the Beast, Jeffrey, and La Cage Aux Folles).

This year's cast of forty bears features autographed bears representing such shows as Avenue Q,, Dame Edna: Back With A Vengence, Thoroughly Modern Millie, A Year With Frog & Toad, Rent, Wicked, Cats, Bombay Dreams, I Am My Own Wife, The Frogs, A Raisin In The Sun, Movin' Out, Wonderful Town, Master Class, Tea And Sympathy, Sweeney Todd, Jelly's Last Jam, Beauty And The Beast, Anything Goes, Anna In The Tropics, Brooklyn, High Button Shoes and The Boy From Oz.

Once again, many of THE BROADWAY BEARS will be autographed by the stars they represent, including Hugh Jackman, Eileen Atkins, Dame Edna, Tonya Pinkins, Kristin Chenoweth, Audra McDonald, Vanessa Redgrave, Angela Lansbury, Glenn Close, Bernadette Peters, Sutton Foster, Stephen Sondheim, Melba Moore, Tovah Feldshuh, Beth Fowler, Nathan Lane, Tammy Grimes, Jefferson Mays, Phylicia Rashad, Idina Menzel, Donna Murphy, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, Alan Rickman, Sean Combs, John Barrowman, Barbara Cook, John Cameron Mitchell, Moisés Kaufman, Donna Murphy, Doris Eaton Travis, Anthony Rapp and Zoe Caldwell.

The entire Broadway Bears VIII collection can be previewed online at www.BroadwayCares.org.

Tickets for a private reception beginning at 6PM are $150 and include a VIP advance preview of all the bears to be auctioned, reserved priority seating, and open bar. General admission tickets (unreserved seating) are $35, and also include open bar. Doors open at 7PM for all general admission ticket holders, and the auction begins at 8PM.

Reservations may be made by calling BC/EFA at (212) 840-0770, extension 268. For those who cannot make it to the auction, but nonetheless want to take part in all the excitement, live telephone bidding will also be available as are pre-registered fixed bids by calling (212) 840-0770, extension 228. Internet bidding is available by visiting www.BroadwayCares.org.

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.