Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction to Celebrate 40th Anniversary of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES with Special Table

Collectors and wannabe Cagelles, the “Best of Times” is now: one-of-a-kind auction lots and a special table celebrating the 40th anniversary of La Cage aux Folles are set for the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction on Sunday, October 1, 2023.

The original production of La Cage aux Folles opened on August 21, 1983, at Broadway's Palace Theatre and went on to win six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score for Jerry Herman and Best Book of Musical for Harvey Fierstein.  Fierstein pushed gay and lesbian life into the spotlight on Broadway making it a lively, vibrant and thoroughly complex subject for contemporary theater, reflecting all that it is in life.

This year's Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction, the outdoor celebration of unique collectables, unparalleled experiences and celebrated stars, will honor the legendary show throughout the day. The event runs from 10 am to 7 pm and is produced by and benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Pre-bidding on these exclusive La Cage items, as well as more than 200 other spectacular live and silent auction lots, is open now at broadwaycares.org/auction. Among the distinctive and delightful La Cage aux Folles items up for bids are:

• The Tony Award for Best Musical presented to producer Fritz Holt, plus a trove of treasures: a silver embossed Playbill and invitation from the 1984 Tonys; Holt's own unopened La Cage original cast recording LP; a La Cage Tiffany & Co. crystal cube given to the company on opening night and an embossed leather La Cage script complete with choreographer's notes
   
• A quilt handmade by La Cage's beloved playwright, complete with Fierstein's own La Cage pin and button pinned to the quilt, an autographed photo of Fierstein wrapped in the quilt and an autographed copy of his bestselling memoir I Was Better Last Night
   
• An auction lot of fabulously unique treasures, including a one-of-a-kind signed collage gifted to Fierstein by the cast on opening night; an original 1983 Playbill; a 30-page souvenir opening-night-only program complete with fold-outs, pop-ups and more; a La Cage original cast recording signed by Herman and Fierstein; and a La Cage Tiffany crystal cube given to the company on opening night
   
• A lot featuring sets and props used onstage during the original Broadway production of La Cage, including a leg vase, a camel end table and a bullwhip made famous by “Hanna from Hamburg”

Early online bidding is open until 2 pm Eastern on Friday, September 29 at broadwaycares.org/auction, then the action shifts in-person and by proxy on Sunday, October 1. A set of La Cage lots will open the live auction at 4:45 pm and include a reunion of original Broadway and national tour cast members.

In addition to these spectacular auction lots, fans can relish all day in all things La Cage aux Folles by visiting a special table honoring and featuring original cast members, complete with collectibles, props and more from the show.

Plus, Fierstein will join the lineup of special guests at 1 pm at the fan-favorite Autograph Table, returning this year to the deck of Junior's restaurant on West 45th Street at Shubert Alley.

Find Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction tables on West 44th and West 45th Streets, the silent auction in Shubert Alley and the live grand auction wrapping up the day at 4:45 pm in the Times Square pedestrian plaza between 45th and 46th Streets. Bidding will continue for the silent auction items in Shubert Alley during the in-person event, with lots rotating every 30 minutes between 10 am and 4 pm.

The Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction is one of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' longest-held traditions. The 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. Now, the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction is one of the most anticipated events of the season for theater lovers.

Last year's event raised a record-breaking $1,043,825. Since 1987, the 36 editions of the event have raised more than $17.5 million.

The Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction is supported by Broadway Cares corporate sponsors The New York Times and United Airlines.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the philanthropic heart of Broadway, 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 theater community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the major supporter of the social service programs at the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund), including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts and the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative. Broadway Cares also awards annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., providing lifesaving medication, healthy meals, counseling and emergency assistance.

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