Actor Christopher Reeve Auctions Off Valuable Oddities to Benefit the ART

The champagne flowed and the checkbooks groaned at the annual silent auction benefitting the American Repertory Theatre (ART) last night.

Master of Ceremonies Christopher Reeve, the mild-mannered actor who donned tights for three "Superman" films, auctioned off items donated by businesses and celebrities to about 450 black-tied and bejeweled bidders at the posh Charles Hotel in Harvard Square.

Most of the high-priced lots consisted of dinners, artwork, trips, and jewelry, but a few items garnered special interest. The highest price paid last night was $6600 for an original 11-page shortstory manuscript by bestselling author Stephen King, bid by an agent for a future pop culture museum. One woman paid $3500 for the privilege of being included in the next "Spenser" mystery novel by Cambridge resident Robert B. Parker.

Actor Ken Howard anted up $700 for four tickets to the next Harvard-Yale game, after declaring that "If there's one thing I hate, it's a Harvard fairweather fan." Another couple forked over $2500 for an eight course gourmet dinner for eight.

As he cajoled more than $3000 for investment fund shares worth only a $2000, Reeve kept up a constant flow of jokes, telling the crowd, "You came her to give generously, with the feeding frenzy of sharks."

ART director Robert Brustein sparked a frenzy of bidding on the last auction lot, when he substituted an afternoon with Reeve on Martha's Vinyard for the original prize--a tennis match with Art Buchwald and Brustein. The bidding immediately went up another $1000 dollars, peaking at $2700. "I went to a clairvoyant last week who told me I would marry someone with a name that begin with an R," said Jo Anne Kennedy, the lucky buyer.

A 15-minute breakfast at the State House with Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and his wife, Kitty, went for $400. ART officials said last night they did not know how much the annual auction netted for the regional theater company, though the 1985 extravaganza raised approximately $60,000.