BROADWAY FLEA MARKET and GRAND AUCTION
Fundraising History / 1987 - 2009
Although today it’s the oldest and, for many, most-beloved of BC/EFA events, The Broadway Flea Market made an inauspicious debut. In 1987, the event began as two tables presented by the company of A Chorus Line outside their stage door in Shubert Alley as part of the first Equity Fights AIDS week, raising $7,000—a total staff and volunteers found astonishing.
Over the next four years, under the leadership of Ethel Bayer, Maria Di Dia, Stephen Falat, Arne Gundersen and Larry Hansen, the Flea Market grew with tables from more shows, theatre-related offices, unions and guilds – everyone recognizing a good cause and a great chance to clean house.
In 1988, an auction of eight lots was created, but without an experienced auctioneer to spur the bidding, it sputtered to a finish. Then, in 1989, Sotheby’s Lorna Kelly came on board as our official auctioneer and, with her expertise, a truly “grand” auction was born. Today, The Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction gets thousands from the theater community and still more fans out of bed on a Sunday morning—filling not just Shubert Alley but a cordoned-off stretch of 44th Street, too.
As they say, “from little acorns…” In over 20 years, this event has raised more than $7 million, and we’re still signing posters, gathering swag, cleaning out closets and auctioning one-of-a-kind theatrical experiences for a good cause.
|
|
YEAR
|
GRAND AUCTION:
Total by Year
|
BROADWAY FLEA MARKET:
Total By Year
|
|
1987
|
n/a
|
$12,000
|
|
1988
|
n/a
|
$32,000
|
|
1989
|
$ 5,000
|
$52,000
|
|
1990
|
$12,000
|
$62,000
|
|
1991
|
$33,000
|
$105,000
|
|
1992
|
$48,000
|
$182,000
|
|
1993
|
$89,000
|
$199,000
|
|
1994
|
$106,000
|
$277,000
|
|
1995
|
$195,000
|
$310,775
|
|
1996
|
$294,250*
|
$468,000
|
|
1997
|
$209,250
|
$432,000
|
|
1998
|
$229,100
|
$507,000
|
|
1999
|
$215,100
|
$551,000
|
|
|
$206,000
|
$574,000**
|
|
|
$94,200
|
$358,000
|
|
|
$134,325
|
$450,235
|
|
|
$260,000
|
$512,000
|
|
|
$172,400
|
$419,464
|
|
|
$228,700
|
$544,037
|
|
|
$175,000
|
$505,832
|
|
|
$203,700
|
$559,810!
|
|
|
$173,000
|
$496,380
|
|
|
$175,000
|
$403,929
|
|
GRAND AUCTION Total To Date: $3,267,925
22 BROADWAY FLEA MARKETS Total To Date: $7,758,752
* Highest grossing Grand Auction
(two walk-ons in LES MISERABLES sold for $25,000 each!)
** Highest grossing Flea Market
|
|
|
|
|