Broadway Cares/Equity Fights will hold their annual "Broadway Bears" charity event at 7 PM Feb. 15 at the Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th St. In Manhattan). As usual, the auction will feature dozens of stuffed bears, each decked out in the fashion of a particular theatre production or personality, and signed by the artist the bear resembles. In the weeks leading up to the auction, Playbill On-Line will feature a different Broadway Bear each day. For information on the auction, call (212) 840 0770, ext. 268. *

The Horse, from Equus

Original Costume Designer: John Napier
Bear Costume Designer: Costume Armour, Inc., with the assistance of Therese J. Stadelmeier

Clad in simple black slacks and long-sleeved black t-shirts, actors playing horses in Peter Shaffer's drama Equus were transformed into a young man's objects of worship by their stance and movement, by manipulating fabulous sculpted wicker masks and by wearing high platform-sandals. This striking visual image has been reproduced here for the species Ursus ("bear") from the wire platform "hooves" to the sculpted head, made of welded steel, heavy wire and leather straps.