The annual Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction, benefiting Broadway Cares, is held in the New York City theatre district September 25. The day-long, outdoor celebration begins at 10 AM and continues through 7 PM.
The theatrical treasure hunt includes over 50 tables full of merchandise along West 44th and West 45th Streets. Among the shows scheduled to have tables this year are Aladdin, Beetlejuice, Come From Away, Funny Girl, Hadestown, Into the Woods, The Kite Runner, The Lion King, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, The Music Man, The Phantom of the Opera, SIX, A Strange Loop, and Wicked. Fans can also find mementos from recently closed Broadway shows Company, Dear Evan Hansen, POTUS, and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, as well as the forthcoming Some Like It Hot.
Among the theatrical organizations with tables are #BeltTheVote, The Actors’ Temple, ATPAM, Bardo Arts, The Broadway Crew, Broadway Green Alliance, Broadway Makers Alliance, BroadwayCon, Casting Society, Creative Goods, Dancers Over 40, DKC/O&M, Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund), Jujamcyn Theaters, Maestra, Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs, Michael Crawford International Fan Association, MUSE, New York Theatre Workshop, R.Evolución Latina, Rockers on Broadway and The PATH Fund, The Shubert Organization, Second Stage Theater, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Stage Managers’ Association, Stars in the House, Squigs’ “The Lights of Broadway,” Sweet Hospitality Group, Telecharge, Theatre World Awards, Triton Gallery and United Scenic Artists Local 829, plus TDF’s Pik-a-Tkt. For the full list of participants and map of tables, click here.
This year, Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth debuts Kristin’s Kloset. Wicked’s original Glinda is offering costumes, clothes, and a wealth of other items for fans to take home with a donation, plus a pop-up photo booth with cameos from guests Joel Grey, Victor Garber, Ann Harada, Marc Kudisch, Ilana Levine, Jennifer Simard, and Jessica Vosk. Chenoweth will be available for some limited photo opportunities as well.
The Grand Auction portion of the event is made up of the silent and live auctions. In Shubert Alley, fans have the opportunity to bid on 146 silent auction lots as they open every half hour starting at 10 AM. (Items in the silent auction were available for online bidding through September 23.) The live auction, which begins at 5 PM in the Times Square pedestrian plaza between 45th and 46th Streets, is hosted by two-time Tony nominee Christopher Sieber with Nick Nicholson as the auctioneer. Todd Buonopane and Stephanie Gibson co-host the silent auction.
Recent additions to the Grand Auction include:
- Two VIP house seats to the 35th anniversary performance of The Phantom of the Opera January 26, 2023, plus a framed vintage 26” x 46” front-of-house sign featuring the original lead actors and creative team
- One-on-one virtual meetings with current Little Shop of Horrors stars Lena Hall and Rob McClure, Into the Woods’ real-life couple Sebastian Arcelus and Stephanie J. Block, Spring Awakening stars Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele, plus Alex Brightman, Myles Frost, and Jeremy Jordan
- Classic lobby slider boards with complete sets of name plates from the original Broadway cast of Hamilton (with notable replacement plates included, too) and the 2022 Tony-winning revival of Company
- A Strange Loop celebration package: two VIP house seats to see A Strange Loop on Broadway followed by an in-person meeting with history-maker L Morgan Lee after the show and lunch with the Tony-winning musical’s writer and composer Michael R. Jackson
- The “One Singular Sensational Package” celebrating A Chorus Line: a 20-minute Zoom meeting with original cast member Baayork Lee, a silver-and-gold finale hat worn onstage during the show’s original run at the Shubert, and a commemorative 16” x 72” poster celebrating the milestone of A Chorus Line becoming the then-longest-running show in Broadway history
- An available-in-person-only special Sweeney Todd surprise lot at the live auction that will have attendees saying, “God, that’s good.”
Some of the other numerous items up for bids follow:
- Musical phrases handwritten and signed by Amanda McBroom and Bette Midler from The Rose; Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick from Mrs. Doubtfire; Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin from The Prom; Benj Pasek and Justin Paul from Dear Evan Hansen and from The Greatest Showman, which also features Keala Settle’s signature.
- Opening-night Playbills signed by the Broadway casts of Diana, The Musical; Funny Girl; MJ; The Music Man; Plaza Suite; POTUS; Take Me Out; and more.
- A faux fur coat, a bloody shirt, and pajamas worn and autographed by Daniel Craig from this year’s revival of Macbeth.
- Merrily We Roll Along poster, signed by Hal Prince and Stephen Sondheim.
- Show memorabilia autographed by Julie Andrews, Sara Bareilles, Denée Benton, Christian Borle, Kristin Chenoweth, Gavin Creel, Darren Criss, Billy Crystal, Tina Fey, Laurence Fishburne,Sutton Foster, Ira Gershwin, Jennifer Grey, Neil Patrick Harris, Heather Headley, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Bette Midler, Arthur Miller, Ian McKellen, Ruth Negga, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Rodgers, Lea Salonga, Stephen Sondheim, Gwen Verdon, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and more.
For Broadway fans who can’t attend the in-person event, Broadway Cares offers theatrical keepsakes and collectibles through FleaBay at BroadwayCares.org/fleabay. Most items are available for immediate purchase through eBay’s Buy It Now feature, rather than bidding through the typical auction.
The annual event had its humble beginnings more than three decades ago with two tables set up by cast members of A Chorus Line outside their stage door in Shubert Alley. Last year’s in-person return, which coincided with the reopening of Broadway, raised $753,321. Since 1987, the 35 editions of the event have raised more than $15 million.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and other critical illnesses across the United States.
Visit BroadwayCares.org.
