Although, I Did See Chita Rivera & Brian Stokes Mitchell!

This past Sunday was one of those annual events the Broadway community eagerly looks forward to: the Broadway Care/Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market. The Broadway Flea Market is basically theatre geek heaven: tables upon tables of Playbills (ranging from rare and ancient to last season's); scripts; sheet music; t-shirts, hats, mugs, window cards, and any other show merchandise you can possibly think of; signs and props from recently closed shows; costumes; random backstage items (I now own a scale from someone's dressing room at Wicked); and of course, baked goods.

I missed last year's because I'd been out of state, but the year before had been my first time there, and I'd gone a little crazy. Did I really need the conductor's score of Ballroom from the original Broadway production? Considering I've never heard a song from that show...not really. Did that stop me from bidding $70 on it in a silent auction? Of course not. This year's Ridiculous Silent Auction Bid, by the way, was the Starlight Express Broadway Bear, which I put down $65 for (I lost...and I can't decide if I'm happy about that). Starlight Express aside (seriously though, there was no way I could have resisted that...it's STARLIGHT EXPRESS. The bear had ROLLER SKATES. And it was Dinah!), I was drastically more controlled this year, partly because I've been saving my money for my (rapidly approaching!) week in Grenada, and partly because there really wasn't much that grabbed me.

In all fairness, I didn't look that hard. Usually, the Broadway Flea Market is held outside, in Shubert Alley and I think on 45th Street (I never remember what theatres are on what streets; I function entirely by sight in that area). This year, due to the apparently 100% chance of rain, it took place indoors: specifically, Roseland Ballroom on 52nd St. I'm glad they moved it indoors instead of cancelling it, but I really didn't enjoy that very much. Outside, the Flea Market didn't feel nearly as crowded as it actually was; it was easy to get away from the mobbed areas, and more importantly, everything could breathe--people and items like. I felt like I had enough space to flip through boxes of Playbills for fifteen minutes, even though four other people were flipping through the exact same box. I was able to dart in and grab an item I could barely see but knew I had to have. I could find people I knew easily, and I could have conversations with them.

None of those things were true this year. I like Roseland a lot--it's got a kind of older feel to it that I respond to--but the lighting was horribly dark, making hunting through boxes more of a challenge. Since everything and everyone--including the non-silent auction--was confined to essentially one big room (there was barely anything in the downstairs area when I was there), making the place very loud and very cramped. It was difficult to find a place to stand and have a conversation without being in everyone's way, and it was hard to find people in general or keep from losing them in the crowd. The tables were spread out enough so they didn't feel like they were on top of each other, but the smaller space and poor lighting made browsing through items a less than pleasant experience. I think part of the problem was the nature of the flow of people, which really couldn't be helped due to the table setup, which was due in turn to the spacial limitations.

I've been to indoor ComicCons--one huge (New York) and one significantly smaller (Boston)--but both had far better lighting, and even Boston felt far more spacious. I'm almost positive that Boston ComicCon had more tables and items (and possibly people--I was at the Flea Market in the afternoon, when it had thinned out), but it didn't feel as cramped because there were multiple rooms, including ones with far fewer people. Honestly though, just having the space be brighter would have done a lot to make Roseland feel more open.

I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I'm not at all. I love the Broadway Flea Market, and I am always happy to give BC/EFA my money--it's an important cause and one that I particularly feel connected to, given that I write musicals for a career. It's pretty amazing the Flea Market staff was able to get everything moved to Roseland and set up on time when they literally had a day to do it, and as far as I could see, everything went smoothly. I'm glad I went, and I'm already looking forward to next year's. Only, can we please have it outdoors from now on? Or at least turn up the lights?