By Brenna Corporal
A week ago, I wrote an article all about the upcoming annual BC/EFA Broadway Flea Market. Here is my follow up article- I’ll share my experiences at the Flea Market today!
The entire street is decked out in tables with merchandise and Broadway stars alike. There is even an area in the heart of Times Square dedicated to the Flea Market. There were tables for Les Miserables, Aladdin, Wicked, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Newsies, Cinderella, The Book of Mormon, Matilda, Pippin. The Phantom of the Opera, and many, many more. Cast and crew members from the shows were working behind the tables to sell merchandise and help raise money for BC/EFA.
It was a little overwhelming- there was so much to choose from! I ended up buying a Billy Elliot souvenir program, the updated 10th Anniversary Wicked souvenir program, The Glass Menagerie souvenir program (hey, they were only $5! I couldn’t resist!), a Billy Elliot folder, a Newsies magnet, some Sutton Foster temporary tattoos (because who wouldn’t want to have Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney on their arm?), “wooden nickels” from the final performance of Newsies, a limited edition piece of artwork, which is a smaller version of the piece that was given to Lesli Margherita and Gabriel Ebert which portrays them as Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood in Matilda the Musical (if you’ve seen Looks Not Books, you know what I’m talking about), and I spent $10 to take a picture with some Newsies: Tommy Bracco, Andy Richardson, Luca Padovan, Adam Kaplan, and, one of my ultimate Broadway crushes, Corey Cott. (insert fansie squeals here) If you read my Newsies article, you’ll know that I met him a few years ago, and that he even wrote me a letter, so you’ll know how excited I was to see him again. I even got to hug him!! I also found former Newsie and Maggot Clay Thompson (who I also couldn’t resist hugging) and “Breaking Down the Riffs” star Natalie Weiss!
My friends and I dined at Juniors, the restaurant which hosts the Autograph Table and Photo Booth, so we got some good views of a lot of stars: Lesli Margherita, Adam Jacobs, Alice Ripley, Sebastian Arcelus, and his wife, a very pregnant and adorable Stephanie J. Block, among others. So many fans were lined up to meet their favorite stars! And they were all so gracious and kind to the fans, as well.
After browsing around and shopping, we realized it was 5:30 and most of the shows around Shubert Alley were letting out, so we waited at the stage door of Pippin and met Rachel Bay Jones (MEGA ADORABLENESS) and Kyle Dean Massey (ALSO MEGA ADORABLENESS). Then we ran over to the Imperial where Les Miz is playing and I even got a picture with Jean Valjean himself, the amazing and extremely well-dressed Ramin Karimloo! (Seriously- he wore a suit and everything! After playing JVJ for 3 hours, you’d think he would be in sweats and a tee shirt, but nope! He’s so professional and adorable. Four for you, Ramin, you go, Ramin!)
All in all, it was basically one of the best days of my entire life. I got to spend a fun day with my friends, interact with my favorite Broadway performers, meet new friends, and shop for fun theatre merchandise! This year’s Broadway Flea Market was of course one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, and I cannot wait until next year!