Broadway Flea Market 2006!

It's already Tuesday and I haven't gotten around to this yet. Every year I attend and rhapsodize about the folks, finds, etc. So here it is!

Sunday turned out not to suck too badly, weatherwise, but since major storms were predicted, the 'let's get there early' strategy didn't work out and the place was thronged at 10 AM, when I met my college-and-theater/market buddy Jessica at the starting point, 44th and 8th. I kind of love meeting at 'the usual place' since there's so few things in life I'm consistent about; I can't remember when we started hitting the Flea Market. Every year, things are a little different, but basically the same...but in that good way. Before I get any cheesier, let's move on.

I think because of the rain, there were way fewer books then last year. Usually we come out with buttloads of dollar books and plays (that's where I scored my highly useful copy of "Glengarry Glen Ross") - I meant to pick up that extra copy of Shurtleff's "Audition" (highly recommended by Billy Merritt, and I've lent mine out twice), but I absently laid it down and forgot. I did grab "Writing the Broadway Musical," as we discussed how all the new ones happen to suck mightily. It's true! Which memorabilia sweatshirts are going to be $2 next year? Hmmm!


We browsed show jackets and bathrobes - nothing as fabulous as the Tony Awards robe she scored a few years ago. I made a huge find at the "Broadway Bares" stripper/fund raiser booth (I've never used the wrapping paper I bought long ago, it's still in my headboard drawer) - gold lame heels, gold sequin wristbands and a blue feather boa, all for $15. Hello halloween! I was highly tempted by the gowns on the "Hairspray" rack, but they were, pricewise (but not size-wise) out of my league. We avoided playbills, pored over kitsch, snorted at inflated prices ($100 for a Sweeney Todd pie plate? Indeed not!) and picked up a few odds and ends. A light haul, overall.

We caught a glimpse of Bebe Neuwirth in the non-cloistered 'celebrity photo booth.'

The quality find this year was post-fair-examine-the-stash breakfast at the coffee shop at the Edison Hotel , which I'd heard about but never seen. Wind your way through the lobby and fabulous heavy-duty old country food awaits you! I'm a sucker for restaurants that still have whiteboard with black letters pressed in them. "I thought the blintzes would be light..." said my dining companion, staring down a Dixie cup full of sour cream. I gazed over my pancakes and dish of bacon and noticed that they never charged me for that coffee refill after all.

Good times, once again. Let's hope they bring the drag queens back to the raffle wheel someday!