My Day at the Flea Market

Expecting bad weather, my friends and I spent a good part of Saturday monitoring the New York City weather forecast.  It fluctuated between a 30% to an 80% chance. Ick, right?  Well, it turned out that all three of us bringing our umbrellas to the 25th Annual Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction not only kept the rain at bay, but the sun even made a few appearances!

Of course, the real success of the day was the over one-half a million dollars raised for Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS!  For details and more numbers, check out THIS.

For me, there is no other event where I feel so connected to the world around me.  I mean, think about it, thousands of people who share a love and passion for theatre coming together for a great cause, and also submerge ourselves in more than city block's worth of memories, history and art.  And the fact that right along with us are the artists themselves, volunteering time, and not just photo ops and autographs, but real time talking to fans.  How fortunate we all are to share such an experience like this. 

Here are a few of my impressions of the day:

• Best Trend: BRIGHT COLORS!  RED: Godspell; ORANGE: Lysistrata Jones; YELLOW: The Lion King  You couldn't help but notice them even in a tight 44th Street crowd or the sensory overload of Times Square.  The yellow beacon of The Lion King's booth tent... the orange sign, pom poms and basketballs of Lysistrata Jones brought life, and crowds to their simple booth, and the bright red of the t-shirts and hats of the street team, passing out fliers, and again on the cast members at their booth.
• Best Mini-Trend: Balls.  Yes, balls.  Both Lombardi and Lysistrata Jones had balls - foot and basket, respectively.  And what fun... squeezey stress relievers and fun bath toys both!
• Best Connection:  The cast and crew of Lysistrata Jones!  They did what all the best do: reach out and relate.  Not only did they cheer on every single brave soul who tried to win tickets by shooting baskets, but they took time to chat and laugh with anyone who wanted to.  Patti Murin and Teddy Toye are the very picture of grace, warmth and enthusiasm... their attitude alone would make me want to buy tickets.  (And I would have bought them then and there, but I already have them!)

• Best Freebies:  The free tattoos from Godspell and the free pom poms from Lysistrata Jones.  Free is great, even at a fund raiser, but these accomplished much more.  Every time a smiling face walked by with that show logo on it, I thought of Godspell, and every time I saw someone carrying one, or saw one left behind at another table, or even the two or three I saw on the street, the bright orange and the fun, fizzy plastic reminded me of Miss Jones and her jock friends!  (This show will go miles in bridging the gap between the jocks and the drama geeks!)
• Best High End Memorabilia: The goods at the War Horse booth.  Not just signed Playbills and posters, but unique magnets featuring all of the puppeteers, and beautiful sketches of the set, mounted and autographed.
• Best Memorabilia for the Everyday Masses: $1.00 posters at the Triton Gallery booth, $3 posters at the ITS booth, $10 dollar posters at The Book of Mormon table.  A savvy, patient shopper can find some real bargains... TIP FOR NEXT YEAR: Go back several times to the Triton Gallery booth.  The stock is constantly changing.
• Best Personal Find:  A mint condition Chicago window card featuring Sandy Duncan!  An actual board poster is probably very expensive, and only a photo reproduction of it is available from Triton Gallery for just $75!  My actual poster, sans flaws? $3.00!!!

My final haul: a Lombardi ball: $1.00; window cards: Lombardi: $1, Chicago:$3, Broadway Bares 19.0: $5, and a pristine Anything Goes: $10.00; a Sweeney Todd (LuPone/Cerveris) CD sampler $1, Lysistrata Jones pom pom: FREE.  $21.00 for a bounty of stuff I love and can't get anywhere else.  Not bad!

I am really looking forward to next year's event already.  And all shows should take note of the two shows who really stood out, Godspell and Lysistrata Jones.  And just think, neither of those shows have even opened yet!  I can only imagine how great those shows will be...

Rate this blog below and leave your comments here, by email at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com, or Tweet me!
Jeff
3.029

The 25th Annual Broadway Flea Market

Tomorrow, probably my favorite theatre charity event of the year takes place, the Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction.  And this year marks the event's 25th year! 

It takes place on W. 44th Street (home to The Phantom of the Opera, Memphis, Rock of Ages, and soon, Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) and will "spill out into Times Square.  The event will take place light drizzle or shine on Sunday, September 25 from 10AM - 7PM.

The Flea Market features booths from most of the Broadway shows, selling everything from home made baked goods to posters to props actually used in the show.  Other booths sell vintage souvenirs, one of a kind photos, and long out of print cast recordings on vinyl, cassette and CD.  The array of things would be impossible to list here.  But the best thing is that you don't have to be rich to find something from your favorite shows - items start at under $1, and the later it goes, the better the bargains!

The Wicked booth and Memphis stars Montego Glover and Chad Kimball

sign autographs at last year's flea market

For slightly more money, you can pay to go through the photo booth and have your picture taken with today's biggest Broadway and daytime TV stars.  Or you can pay a flat fee and get autographs from your favorite celebs as you walk the autograph line.  There are usually three or four sets of stars, and you pay each time you walk through.  But it is a chance to say hi and get signatures from almost 100 stars!

The Grand Auction

But if you do have extra cash and really want to contribute to the cause, there is the Grand Auction, where you can bid on huge prize packs from all the shows, one of a kind personalized items from Broadway legends like Bernadette Peters and Angela Lansbury.  Several shows are auctioning off walk on parts and backstage experiences.

If you've never been before, you really should try it.  It has become an annual tradition for Mike, a close friend of ours, and I.  We get there bright and early and check out all the tables before we buy anything Sometimes you can find the same thing, only cheaper, at different booths.  And we have also found that we've purchased an item we liked, only to find something we've LOVED later, but couldn't afford it or carry it!  Then we grab a quick bite and head off to a big Broadway show.  So far, it has always been a show we are re-visiting, or that one of the three of us somehow missed.  Previously, it's been The Lion King and Wicked.  I'll tell you all about it early next week!

There are always huge crowds of theatre lovers!

For more information, including pre-bids for auction items, a full list of celebrity autographs and times, as well as a look at the tables and auction items go to http://www.broadwaycares.org/home.


Rate this blog below and leave your comments here, by email at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
3.026

"It Gets Better": Broadway Stars Create Benefit Video and Download

The outcry in support of LGBT teens, and against the bullying of them which has resulted in several recent high profile LGBT suicides, continues.  Always up to support a worthwhile cause, the Broadway community has yet again come together. 

Putting their considerable talents together are such Broadway celebs as Jacob Clemente (Billy Elliot, Gypsy), Matt Doyle (Spring Awakening, Bye Bye Birdie), Ann Harada (Avenue Q, 9 to 5), Carly Jibson (Hairspray, Cry Baby), Jose Llana (Flower Drum Song, The King and I, Spelling Bee), Orfeh (Legally Blonde, Saturday Night Fever), Christina Sajous (American Idiot), John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek, Imaginocean), Marty Thomas (Xanadu, Wicked), Stephanie Umoh (Ragtime) and The Cagelles from La Cage aux Folles.

Recently, they came together to record a song called, appropriately, "It Gets Better."  Written by Jay Kuo and Blair Shepard, the catchy, meaningful anthem will be released as an mp3 on iTunes tomorrow.  All proceeds from this effort will benefit  The Trevor Project, an organization that provides help and support for LGBT youth who are contemplating suicide.  Available 24/7/365, this service has saved untold numbers of lives.  Recent events, unfortunately, show that it remains a large and pervasive problem.

A video of the recording session was also made:



In recent weeks, several members of the Broadway community (and others) have taped "It Gets Better" PSAs.  To read about these and to see a few, click HERE.

Please help The Trevor Project by supporting this effort.  Dowload the mp3 at iTunes starting tomorrow.  As someone who has suffered such bullying, I know all too well how important such help lines can be.  I was lucky (and still am) to have family and friends who helped me through the toughest time in my life.  So many kids - gay, straight, questioning, simply different - don't have that support.  So much more needs to be done to get these kids "over the hump" of the teen years, so that they, too, have the chance to know that life opens up way more possibilities than they can ever imagine, if they can just get through what feels like (and often is) the worst part of growing up.  It really does get better.

Think about what a much less exciting, creative and entertaining place Broadway would be had those bullies gotten the best of so many people that we, as lovers of the arts, have come to love and admire.  I can't even imagine. 

Thank you in advance for helping out this most worthy of causes.

Jeff
2.48

Bits and Pieces for 07.25.2010

Be sure to vote on the current poll!  This poll closes next Saturday at noon!

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED!

• Trends of the Decade: Boys Will Be Boys
• When the Show Goes On, But the Star Doesn't
• Fantasy Vacation via Broadway
• A Grand Entrance
• On the Radar: Leap of Faith
• Broadway Game: Where Am I On Broadway?

MORE SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR JKSTHEATRESCENE

As I slip further and further into the social networking abyss, I find myself more and more on Twitter, even if I don't always "tweet" myself.  You can see what I've said to the right of this blog, and you can even follow me.  I've learned from fellow bloggers and several Broadway folks who to respond to and who not to - generally, if you say you are someone from the theatre scene, you'd better be "verified" or have enough info on yourself that it is more than likely you are who you say you are.  And it is fun to hear from people I respect - Kristin Chenoweth's seal of approval on my Promises, Promises review still thrills me, and I've tweeted with Hair's Josh Lamon and Glory Days' Adam Halpin.  In fact it was one of Josh Lamon's tweets that got me interested in joining another social network, Formspring.  It appeals to me because it allows users (and visitors) to ask members questions.  Naturally, I don't have to answer every question, but if it is reasonable and interesting, I'll answer!  Mostly, I decided to join because it will be one more way for us to interact about Broadway and this blog. 

So, if you have questions for me, go to http://www.formspring.me/.  I can be found under "jkstheatrescene" or by my name, "Jeff Kyler."  I, as always, look forward to hearing from you!

VERMIN CREATE iPHONE APP!

Yes, folks, the "vermin of the theatre world," according to John Simon, anyway, have come together to create a great new iPhone application.  That's right, theatre bloggers (vermin) and those who follow us (verminites?) wrote into one of my favorite blogs, PRODUCERS PERSPECTIVE, and suggested theatre-related apps for the iPhone.  Producer/Blogger Ken Davenport and his staff selected the best choice and created one, wich is now available for download.  Read all about it by clicking here!

Now, I have to get an iPhone!

UPCOMING BROADWAY GIGS

As summer rapidly flies by (and with this disgusting heat, it can't go fast enough), more and more Broadway guys and dolls are figuring out and announcing their next moves.

Broadway's Favorite Pinup:

Nick Adams is Priscilla - bound

• Cutie pie Curtis Holbrook of Xanadu and West Side Story fame is starring in Footloose  as Ren at MUNY.  This is not his first time withnthe show - he was in it at one point on Broadway.
• Broadway great gal Dee Hoty of Footloose, Will Rogers Follies and Bye Bye Birdie fame will also be in that production of Footloose, recreating her Tony-nominated turn.
• Current Cagelle and always Broadway pinup boy, Nick Adams trades in his St. Tropez drag for some Down Under wonder as he has been cast as the third lead in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, which will be bussing onto Broadway pretty soon!

Sheryl Kaller (center) in rehearsal

for Broadway's Next Fall

• The brilliant (and Tony nominated) Broadway directorial debut of Next Fall's Sheryl Kaller will have her at the helm of the Broadway-bound play, The Great Game.
• Fellow director (and Tony nominee) Diane Paulus is readying a revival of The Capeman which will be presented in Central Park in Aygust.
• This very weekend, Andrea McArdle came full circle in the show that made her famous, Annie.  No, she's not playing the curly haired heartbreaker, this time around she's Miss Hannigan!   

She's not Annie anymore!

Andrea McArdle as Miss Hannigan

BROADWAY SETS MORE DATES

• August 16: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark actually begins rehearsals!  One week they lose their PR firm, the next they are getting ready to start the show.  Good for them.  Reeve Carney is still the only confirmed cast member - he's Peter Parker/Spidey.  Jennifer Damiano and Patrick Page are rumored to be Mary Jane and the Green Goblin, respectively, but the announcement has not been formally made.  I guess we'll hear before the 16th!
• September 26: The Broadway Cares Flea Market.  One of my favorite events of the entire season.  Rain or Shine!

Hearn, LuPone and Cerveris do

"A Little Priest" at Sondheim: The Birthday Concert

• November 24: Sondheim: The Birthday Concert will be aired on PBS.  The DVD of the event will also be released some time in November.
• March 10/April 7: Anything Goes, the full-scale revival from the Roundabout Theatre Company, begins previews/opens at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.  Only star Sutton Foster has been announced so far, but officials at Roundabout say this will not be a scaled-back revival.  They say the cast will be enormous and the production appropriately lavish.  I can't wait to see this!  The LuPone-McGillin revival in 1987 at Lincoln Center remains one of my favorite productions of all time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday last week to:

07/18: Craig Bierko (The Music Man, Thou Shalt Not, Guys and Dolls)
07/19: Campbell Scott (Ah! Wilderness!, Long Day'ss Journey Into Night)
07/20: Michael Park (Smokey Joe's Cafe)
07/21: Lillias White (Fela!, The Life)
07/22: Alan Menken (Leap of Faith, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast)
07/23: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Long Day's Journey Into Night, True West)
07/24: Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked, Promises, Promises)


Comments:  Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com.
Questions: Ask me anything at http://www.formspring.me/.  Look under "jkstheatrescene" or "Jeff Kyler."
Jeff

Broadway Bares at 20! The First 5 Years

THE CONTENTS OF TODAY'S BLOG MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED "WORK SAFE."

In honor of the 20th edition of Broadway Bares, each Monday in June (plus a WHOLE lot more when Broadway Bares 20 happens)  I'll blog about the history of this annual fundraising event.

Jerry Mitchell, founder and dancer in Broadway Bares

Back in the early 90's Jerry Mitchell was a dancer in The Will Rogers Follies and in the opening number, "Will-a-Mania" he did a dance on a giant Indian drum in a headdress and a barely covering the essentials loin cloth.  It was the talk of Broadway.  So Mitchell and his buddies from the show, and a few others, thought why not do a little more of that kind of thing and raise money for AIDS awareness, education, and outreach.

Broadway Bares I

Directed by: Jerry Mitchell
When:  April 8, 1992
Where:  Splash
How much was raised:  $8,000.00
Firsts: The end of show "Rotation" tradition began and remains today.  During this, the dancers get up close to the fans, who stuff donations into their g-strings.  Every few minutes, the dancers rotate around to different sets of fans.

Broadway Bares II


Directed by: Jerry Mitchell
When: October 28, 1992
Where: Shout
How much was raised: $17,000.00
Firsts: This was the first BB to feature Broadway's hottest girl dancers, who continue to be as popular with the boys as the boys!

Broadway Bares III: The Lusty Month of May


Directed by: Jerry Mitchell
When: May 9, 1993
Where: Club USA
How much was raised: $30,000.00
Firsts: The first completely "themed" show, and the first to add catwalks/runways to allow the dancers to do their thing even closer to the audience.  Also, this presentation became the first of an annual spring event.

Broadway Bares IV: Revival: A New Way to Do It


Directed by: Jerry Mitchell
When: March 14, 1994
Where: Club USA
How much was raised: $38,000.00
Firsts: The first show to feature a guest celebrity host, Rikki Lake.

Broadway Bares V: Knock, Knock!  Who's Bare?


Directed by: Jerry Mitchell
When: May 14, 1995
Where: Palladium
How much was raised: $100,000.00
Firsts: The New York Times mentions BB in an article.  The show, with the press (finally!), is a legitimate theatrical event.

• Information and photos for this series of blogs comes from http://www.broadwaybares.com/ and the book Broadway Bares: Backstage Pass from Universe Books.  Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended.  All photos and facts are from those sources only, and in no way is its authorship and photography implied to be by anyone else.

• For more information on the benefactors of Broadway Bares, go to: http://www.broadwaycares.org/.

Comments?  Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com.
Jeff