Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will hold their annual "Broadway Bears" charity event at 7 PM Feb. 15 at the Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th St. In Manhattan). A private reception and VIP advance preview will begin at 6 PM. The auction will commence at 8 PM, with Lorna Kelly wielding the gavel. As usual, the auction will feature dozens of stuffed bears, each decked out in the fashion of a particular character from a theatre production, and signed by the artist the bear resembles. (In recent weeks, Playbill On-Line has featured a different Broadway Bear each day.) Among the featured bears are "Atlantic City Band Girl," from Ragtime, "Mimi," from Rent, "King Herod," from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Norma Desmond," from Sunset Boulevard, "Rizzo," from Grease! The Horse, from Equus, "Billy Buck Chandler," from My One and Only, "Anna Leonowens," from The King and I, "Lancelot," from Camelot and "Loveland Showgirl," from Follies.

The bears are signed by the likes of Glenn Close, Rosie O'Donnell, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Robert Goulet, Stephen Sondheim, Julie Andrews and Bernadette Peters.

Last year's top-selling bear was Rafiki from The Lion King, which fetched a whopping $5,250. The entire event brought in $154,450. For information on the auction, call (212) 840 0770, ext. 268.

--By Robert Simonson