Shopping via the broadcast airwaves, a staple on television, comes to Baltimore radio for an annual one-day sale tomorrow with the 16-hour broadcast of the 18th "Auction for Center Stage," beginning at 8 a.m. on WBAL-AM (1090).
About 775 items, from Baltimore Orioles tickets to an autographed script from the cast of "Homicide," have been accumulated for the sale this year, says Sidney Wilner, who is completing her 14th year as auction coordinator. The sale, in which listeners telephone bids for items and stay tuned as offers mount, benefits Center Stage's annual operating fund, the portion of the theater's $4 million budget not covered by ticket sales. WBAL and The Sun are co-sponsors, and the full program of items for auction is printed tomorrow in The Sunday Sun.
Last year's effort raised $131,200, bringing the 17-year auction total to $1.3 million.
"I would have to say our response has been phenomenal. . . . We establish these relationships with people we talk to every year, but I haven't met maybe 80 percent of them in person," says Ms. Wilner.
She's most excited this year about exotic travel tickets, such as a $10,000, 12-day cruise of the Mediterranean offered by Royal Cruise Lines. Among other excursions are trips to Ireland, Iceland and Japan.
The "Homicide" script, from this season's first episode of the NBC show that is filmed in Baltimore, was donated after the series staged some scenes near Center Stage and used the Calvert Street theater for lunch.
Ms. Wilner was fretting yesterday about the large number of Orioles tickets in the sale, including two box seats to be offered each hour and a Camden Yards ticket to see Cal Ripken Jr. tie Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record. In the event the baseball strike drags on, she said, some of the offers might have to be extended into the following season.
She said each September she sends out some 1,500 letters to previous or prospective donors seeking items. Center Stage board members and a number of volunteers also are instrumental in acquiring donated items, she said.
What's coming on the air:
* Today's performance on the "Texaco-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network" broadcast, at 1:30 p.m. on WBJC-FM (91.5), is Verdi's "La Traviata." Veronica Villarroel, Frank Lopardo and Roberto Frontali star.
* Good Time Oldies WQSR-FM (105.7) offers a 31-year "Class Reunion" from noon to 7 p.m. tomorrow, playing nothing but hit songs of 1964. That was "a strange, transitional year in music," says the station, with everything from Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" to Lorne Greene's "Ringo."
* Host Buffalo Bob Smith, creator Milt Neal and others involved in TV's legendary "Howdy Doody Show" begin a two-week visit to "21st Century Radio's Hieronimus & Co." show at 7 p.m. tomorrow on WCBM-AM (680).
* WIYY-FM (97.9) morning man the Byrd plans three days of live broadcasts from Los Angeles next week, checking up on the "1995 Grammy Awards." His 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. show originates from the left coast on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and guests lined up include Melissa Etheridge, Slash of Guns N' Roses fame, and David Faustino of "Married . . . With Children." (The Grammy telecast is at 8 p.m. Wednesday on CBS Channel 13)
* "The Evening Show" with Zoh Hieronimus originates live from Towson State University at 7 p.m. Wednesday on WCBM-AM (680) in an edition titled "Generation X: Real or Hype?"
* "The Marc Steiner Show" marks its second anniversary on the air on Thursday. The thrice-weekly talk show welcomes a guest appearance by Cardinal William Keeler at 7 p.m. on WJHU-FM (88.1).