The seventh annual auction to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will feature a host of teddy bears dressed as famous Broadway characters and will be held at B. B. King Blues Club & Grill, located in Manhattan at 237 West 42nd Street. The evening begins at 6 PM with cocktails and previews of the many glamorous bears; the auction commences at 8 PM. Lorna Kelly will be the event's auctioneer. Last year's auction raised $116,495 for BC/EFA, the nation's leading industry based, not-for-profit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization. To date, BC/EFA has distributed over $65 million for critically needed services for people with AIDS, HIV, or HIV-related illnesses.

Bryan Batt's theatre credits include Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast; Monty, the disco DJ, in Saturday Night Fever; the Cat in the Hat in Seussical the Musical; Sir Percy in Frank Wildhorn's The Scarlet Pimpernel; as well as principal roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express and Cats. The actor-singer-dancer also played Joe Gillis opposite Betty Buckley's Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and has appeared Off-Broadway in Forbidden Broadway and Jeffrey.

For more information about Broadway Bears VII or to make reservations for the event, call BC/EFA, (212) 840-0770. Visit the BC/EFA website at www.broadwaycares.org.