|
 The "Tarzan" bear, designed by Bob Crowley  Bustopher Jones from "Cats"  The "Little Edie" bear is modelled after Edie Beale from "Grey Gardens"  This is the cuddliest Grinch ever  The "Mary Poppins" bear by Susan Bolt  The "Jiminy Glick" bear is designed after Martin Short's famous character  "Lucy the Slut" from Avenue Q Broadway Cares Bears Auction 10! B.B. King's Blues Club
Feb. 11th 8PM
bbkingblues.com
To buy tickets click here
Broadway Bears is an auction featuring a cuddly chorus line of one-of-a-kind teddy bears, each meticulously outfitted in original, handmade costumes by Broadway’s leading costume designers and representing memorable characters from plays and musicals, past and present.
The skill and imagination devoted to the creation of these coveted collectibles has been recognized worldwide, from The Museum of The City of New York – where 10 bear alumni reside as part of the permanent costume collection – to media acclaim as far away as England and Japan. In addition, noted designers such as Bob Mackie have created original bears for these auctions.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (the recipient of this event's proceeds) is very grateful to the creative and talented artists who designed, outfitted, costumed, draped, frocked, dressed, shod, hatted, painted, armored, tattooed, stuffed, “lipoed,” wigged, bejeweled and feathered the Broadway Bears – and in doing so created truly one-of-a-kind, museum-quality pieces for auction. BC/EFA is also indebted to The North American Bear Company for generously donating now hundreds of bears – each of which went out a bare bear and came back a star!
To see this year's "chorus line" of bears up for auction, and even place a pre-bid click here.
***
Why "10" is a very special number this year for the long-running auction...
10 longest running Broadway musicals of all time:
Phantom Of The Opera, Cats, Les Misérables, A Chorus Line, Oh! Calcutta, Beauty And The Beast, Miss Saigon, Rent, Chicago and The Broadway Bears – each of these is synonymous with long Broadway runs. This year’s Broadway Bears Auction will celebrate it’s 10th anniversary with a stellar cast of celebrity ursines joining the previously auctioned alumni. This landmark auction will bring the total of bears representing Broadway’s biggest and brightest to over 400!
10 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10. . .HOW WE RATE ‘EM:
Liza, Barbra, Chita, Bernadette, Cher and Oprah have all participated over the years as has such royalty as Dame(s) Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Edna along with Sir(s) John Gielgud, Ian McKellen and Elton John. Memorable characters such as Tevye, Dolly, Lumiere, Javert, Mame, Hamlet, Eliza and Cervantes have all found happy homes after being sold at past auctions. The guest stars may change but the leading players will remain largely the same in 2007 with Lorna Kelly, a BC/EFA stalwart and long-time Sotheby’s auctioneer, yielding her gavel for her 10th consecutive year and one of Broadway’s favorite leading men, Bryan Batt, once again hosting the festivities.
10 times the fun!
The evening is certain to include many surprises such as the annual opening number featuring many of Broadway’s finest talents in a show-stopping original parody musical number as well as last minute auction add-in surprises brought in by many of the celebrities in attendance. Last year stars from Movin’ Out, Hairspray, Rent, Phantom Of The Opera, Jersey Boys, Dear World, and The Color Purple…to name a few, escorted their various representative bears to the auction block. Tony Award® nominee and Avenue Q original cast member John Tartaglia helped bring in a whopping $8,250.00 while auctioning the show’s mini John accompanied by an even more downsized Rod. He threw in a tour of his new television show, with lunch on the set accompanied by himself and a personalized recorded greeting sewn into the bear’s hand.
10 x $100,000.00 =
Over one million dollars has been raised since the first Broadway Bears auction back in 1998. All of this is the end result of a combined effort between two very distinct but also very different communities, that of Broadway designers and design teams as well as acclaimed doll and teddy bear artists. Each bear is outfitted in museum-quality costumes based on the Broadway originals of such Tony, Emmy and Academy Award® winning designers as Irene Sharaff, Martin Pakledinaz, William Ivey Long, Susan Hilferty, Jess Goldstein, Ann Hould-Ward and Patricia Zipprodt.
10 of the chosen:
Forty bears will be making their debut on this special anniversary and among those will be Jersey Boys, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, The Drowsy Chaperone, Grey Gardens, Wicked, The Color Purple, Sweeney Todd, The Boy From OZ, The Pajama Game and Mary Poppins! These very much sought after cubs will serve as a reminder of a favorite performer or theatrical experience and they will only become more precious since this is the final year of the very popular tangerine color which will be officially retired after the final gavel goes down at this year’s event.
No matter how you participate, these one-of-a-kind collectibles are certain to become a valuable investment for you in years to come. Not only are they an appreciable asset, they’re also a fun way to help Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS as we continue to help people in need across America and around the world.
To see this year's "chorus line" of bears up for auction, and to even place a pre-bid click here.
|
