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Photo by Bob Pennell Members of the Rogue Valley Men's Gay Chorus sing "Hail Britannia' Monday during an fund-raiser aimed at battling the AIDS virus. Last year the Daedalus Project raised more than $52,000 for various AIDS groups. Arts, music boost AIDS auction OSF fund-raiser features theater memorabilia By BILL VARBLE Where else could you get your pick of a signed Jerry Turner translation of Ibsen, George Clooney's "ER" scrubs, also signed, and a signed silk-screen by famed San Francisco underground cartoonist R. Crumb? The Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 12th annual Daedalus Project was held Monday on the Festival grounds in Ashland. Mixing entertainment, art and an auction of theater collectibles, the Daedalus Project has been raising money for the battle against AIDS since OSF associate producer James Edmondson started it in 1988. Last year the Daedalus Project raised more than $52,000 for the Alan F. Collins Memorial Foundation, a program of OnTrack, and other AIDS groups. Monday the Angus Bowmer Theatre lobby and the courtyard outside filled with AIDS activists, theater buffs, bargain hunters and the curious. "Nine-tenths of it is the spirit," said Alice Rutter of Ashland as she bought a raffle ticket on a quilt in the lobby of the Bowmer. Outside the Rogue Valley Gay Men's chorus sang "Scarborough Fair." Created by Ann Stephens of the OSF's costume shop, the quilt shows a winged Icarus (Daedalus' son in Greek mythology) and a wave of feathers. "It's a community endeavor in a common cause," Rutter said. Booths set up on the bricks included ones by the Abdill-Ellis Community Center, Adam's House, Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians of Southern Oregon and Shakespeare Condoms ("a gift of prevention"). A new wrinkle this year was the elimination of bidding on theater props and artifacts. If you wanted a men's robe with a dagger clasp from the OSF's 1995 production of "Macbeth," it was $300, period, no bidding. A big wooly Golem suit from last year's "Vilna's Got a Golem" was $200. Hippolyta's gown from 1998's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" could be had for $100. Art objects were still sold through a silent auction, with winning bids collected later in the day. Items ranged from a CD of Todd Barton's soundtrack to "Othello" to a set of King Louis XIII playing cards. Not all the items for sale had an obvious link to the Festival. A poster of a young, leggy Katharine Hepburn in "As You Like It" was tagged at $30. On the other hand, a signed play poster of Sian Phillips as Dietrich was going for $50. A model ship built in 1993 invited a minimum bid of $800. Later highlights Monday included a reading of David Marshall Grant's play, "Snakebit," and the climax of the day, an evening of music. Then there were the pieces from the AIDS quilt with photos of AIDS victims and messages such as "Always in Our Hearts," "God Blessed Us With You" and "You're In God's Hands." "It's just the most caring thing that happens in the Valley," Rutter said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA