Ran into the Ballet Austins listing for one production of the Nutcracker on Ebay today. I think its hallarious and a wonderful idea. Only question, will anyone bid on it?

Ballet Austin Auction

Might be fun to make a sport of it? Anyone have predictions as to when and if it might be sold?

I am in Indiana, but the company my husband works for always spends upwards of 100k on their annual Christmas party for regional employees.

I imagine there is a company somewhere in Austin that would think hosting their annual Christmas party at an exclusive performance of the Nutcracker is a great idea! At my husband's company, the wives and kids would love it!

I hope Ballet Austin finds a bidder!

This is definitely a creative idea! However, how many e-bay members are going to type "ballet austin" into the search engine? Is this posted on the company's website so that word will get around?

Another link to another article on this topic, from June 14.

Here is the current listing for the same auction. The listing company has raised the starting bid by $5000 and added a "buy it now" option.

Current Listing of Auction

It is an interesring proposition. The article states that the same company has sold a marching band, twice

"One big surprise for your guests will be the role of Mother Ginger, the beloved figure who takes care of the Bon-Bons in the Land of Sweets.  This role has been played in previous years by Lance Armstrong, Tom Kite, Michael Dell, former Texas Governor Ann Richards and current Texas Gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman.  Should you be the winning bidder you will decide who will fill the role of Mother Ginger!"

One cannot help but notice the absence of another former Texas Governor, currently US prez, on this little list.

I like one of E-Bay's terms: "Will arrange for local pick up only (no shipping)." I can see all those snowflakes and ethnic dancers climbing into the trucks.

Thanks for Herman Stevens' excellent observation about the absence of "W" from this list of performers portraying Mother Ginger, a role involving art, self-deprecating humor, and cross-dressing. For those who imagine such an assignment might have been possible, the words "snowball," "chance," and "hell" come to mind.

Touche, bart!
Or 3,000 audience members, the conveyance(s) more likely to be limos.

I think this is more of a publicity project than probably a real sales deal! I thought it was amusing. It is not that there are potential buyers out there, but I cannot think of a reason other than publicity for such a venture. Yeah yeah ..it is possible that they will get a new sponsor out of it.

Can I tempt someone to bid after seeing the 2004 production photos? It was the first time I saw Nutcracker. So I now compare all others to BA's Nut. Direct URL is OK as I own the gallery.

I think this is a bit of both! In Austin it has become fairly common to use Ebay for fundraising. 2 different high schools have ebayed off their marching bands for private performances (at least one was successful) to help fund their competitions.

The newspaper always writes them up, so I imagine Ballet Austin would try their luck. I remember as a child seeing a IBM family day performance of Nutcracker where it was free to all IBM employees and family and not open to the public, so this is probably the same sort of thing.

Ooh, that sounds like fun!

When I was around 7 or so, I remember that Exxon would rent out Tokyo Disneyland at least once a year for all the employees+family; this sounds like a just slightly (just slightly) more cultured variant on that.

You'd be surprised at what people buy on ebay, & what people actually sell!! I wouldn't be suprised if someone went for it.