Experiences With David Byrne, André DeShields, Patti LuPone, and More Added to BC/EFA's Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction

New auction lots and virtual guests have just been announced for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' much-anticipated Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction, which returns in person and online Sunday, October 3, 2021.

The live auction, always a capstone to the in-person celebration, will take place at 5 pm Eastern in the Times Square pedestrian plaza between 45th and 46th Streets. The first lots now available for pre-bidding at broadwaycares.org/fleamarket include:

a-? Private Zoom conversations with David Byrne, André DeShields, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Patti LuPone, Rob McClure and more, along with VIP tickets to see their Broadway shows this fall

a-? Tony Awards won by lighting designer Jules Fisher for Dancin' and Pippin

a-? Handwritten musical phrases from Beauty and the Beast, Coco, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen and more, signed by composers David Hein and Irene Sankoff, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Alan Menken, Justin Paul and Benj Pasek

a-? Virtual meet-and-greets with Kristin Chenoweth, Ben Platt and more

a-? Limited-edition Al Hirschfeld prints autographed by Cher, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Bruce Springsteen, Patrick Stewart and more

This year's live auction will be led by Will Roland (Dear Evan Hansen, TV's Billions), who comes from a family of auctioneers and has shown his own prowess at the craft during curtain call appeals for Broadway Cares. Joining Roland as co-host of the live auction will be fellow Dear Evan Hansen alum Sky Lakota-Lynch.

The fan favorite Autograph Table and Photo Booth moves online again this year with one-on-one video chats with Broadway favorites. The video chats, similar to FaceTime calls and handled through the Looped app, will be between 11 am and 4 pm Eastern. Limited space is available. Reserve slots now at broadwaycares.org/fleamarket.

The first round of special guests offering the video meet-and-greets are Patrick J. Adams (Take Me Out), Shoshana Bean (Waitress), Nadia Brown (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Ben Crawford (The Phantom of the Opera), Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!), Jennifer DiNoia (Wicked), Claybourne Elder (Company), Drew Gehling (Waitress), Thayne Jasperson (Hamilton), Jenny Jules (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Javier Muñoz (Hamilton), Eva Noblezada (Hadestown), Lindsay Pearce (Wicked), L. Steven Taylor (The Lion King) and Nik Walker (Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations) with more to be announced. Participants are subject to change.

This year's in-person event will again line Shubert Alley and West 44th and West 45th Streets, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Fewer flea market tables will be featured this year to allow fans a little extra elbow room while still featuring the plethora of theater treasures that regular attendees have come to love and seek out. Among the shows that will be represented with merchandise at flea market tables are Aladdin, Beetlejuice, Freestyle Love Supreme, Frozen, Hadestown, Hamilton, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Mean Girls, with more to come.

Throughout the day, silent auctions will be held in Shubert Alley, hosted by Broadway favorites Todd Buonopane and Jennifer Cody. Every 30 minutes between 10 am and 4 pm Eastern, new sets of theater memorabilia will be offered for in-person bids. More silent auction lots are available online now for pre-bidding at broadwaycares.org/fleamarket. Among the treasures up for auction are:

a-? Bette Midler-autographed, hand-painted hula girl Gucci handbag

a-? Autographed I Love Lucy script from 1956, signed by Desi Arnaz

a-? The Phantom of the Opera Playbill from 1988, signed by Michael Crawford

a-? Stephen Sondheim-signed Sunday in the Park with George 2017 Broadway cast recording CD

a-? "The New Divas" feature from Time Out New York magazine signed by Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Donna Murphy and Tonya Pinkins

In addition to the tables of theatrical treasures from Broadway shows and organizations lining streets of the Theater District, special "Fleabay" bundles in Broadway Cares' eBay store will offer unique memorabilia for fans who can not attend in person. These bundles of Playbills, posters and other theater mystery packages will be available beginning Monday, September 27.

The Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction helps fuel Broadway Cares' support of The Actors Fund, helping everyone in entertainment and the performing arts, and more than 450 social and medical service organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Every dollar donated in person and online during the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction will help those across the country affected by HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and other critical illnesses receive healthy meals, lifesaving medication, emergency financial assistance, housing, counseling and more.

Information on the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction is continually updated at broadwaycares.org/fleamarket.

All Broadway Cares staff and volunteers working the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction will be fully vaccinated and wearing masks. Everyone visiting the event is strongly encouraged to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status. Proof of vaccination and face coverings will be required to attend the live auction. The in-person event also will follow all other CDC, state and local COVID-19 safety protocols in effect at the time.

To get the early scoop on special guests, auction lots and table participants, join The Heart of Broadway Facebook group at broadwaycares.org/theheartofbroadway.