BROADWAY BEARS XII 'Bear A Day On BWW' For BC/EFA: Day One - EQUUS!

Broadway's cuddliest friends kick off a new year with the 12th annual BROADWAY BEARS auction on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill (237 West 42 St.), in support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Sure to out-do last year's collection, 40 one-of-a-kind BROADWAY BEARS - each dressed in original, handmade costumes representing some of the theater's most legendary performers and/or performances - will be put up for auction.

BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you a daily sneak peek of some of the wonderful creations that await you at BROADWAY BEARS XII, first up is the amazing "Broadway Bear" from EQUUS!

Alan Strang with Nugget
EQUUS
2008
Signed by: Richard Griffiths, Lorenzo Pisoni and Daniel Radcliffe
Playing one of modern theatre's most disturbing and haunting characters, young Brit Daniel Radcliffe earned the highest praise for his Broadway debut this season in the critically acclaimed revival of Equus - one of modern theatre's most disturbing and haunting plays. This ursine tribute to the young man and his trusted equine "soulmate" captures the two at a highpoint - on one of Alan's late-night rides. Recalling the choreographed physicality of Broadway original, Nugget Bear has been posed leaning over from the waist, with his arms pulled-back straight behind his back. He wears a body-hugging, long-sleeved brown-mesh shirt and brown corduroy pants. His hooves have been fashioned from metal and have brown straps across the top. That evocative, skeletal horsehead, too, is metal-crafted and trimmed with leather strapping. Atop Nugget Bear is a miniature jean-clad Alan Bear, riding topless. Oh - and Nugget's hooded eyes? Yes - they do light up!
ORIGINAL DESIGNER: John Napier
BROADWAY BEAR CREATED BY: Nicolas Putvinski AND TED SOUTHERN

Once again this year's BROADWAY BEARS will be hosted by Bryan Batt ("Mad Men," La Cage Aux Folles, Beauty and the Beast, Jeffrey) with long-time Sotheby's auctioneer, Lorna Kelly.

This year's BROADWAY BEARS auction celebrates its 12th year with a stellar cast of cele"bear"ties representing recent Broadway hits like A Chorus Line, A Man For All Seasons, Avenue Q, Billy Elliot: The Musical, Boeing-Boeing, Equus, Gypsy, Hairspray, In The Heights, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Legally Blonde, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Shrek The Musical, South Pacific, Spamalot, Spring Awakening, Wicked, Xanadu, Young Frankenstein, along with bears from Broadway classics like Beauty And The Beast, Camelot, Cats, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mame, My One and Only, Peter Pan, The Producers, The Sound of Music, Starlight Express, State Fair, West Side Story, The Who's Tommy, The Wiz, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown.