Costuming Broadway Shows

It’s all about costuming Broadway shows. This isn’t a fairy tale, by the way, it’s the real-life story of a Jersey City resident and owner of Leading Lady Costumes , a local company that rents and creates original pieces for shows on and off Broadway. For about 20 years, Crochet has been building” costumes (that’s apparently the lingo in the biz). He has designed for more than 50 productions in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, including 12 operas and 20 musicals. In one semester, I ended up building costumes and designing for my first opera in 1991,” he says.

He’s also an avid collector of Broadway costumes and will share some of his favorite pieces at the Landmark Loew’s Theater Festival for STAGEfest , a three-day festival with 18 music, dance and theater acts. Last year, Crochet started Leading Lady Costumes, which specializes in Broadway-quality period and historical costumes. Check out these current Broadway shows, two of the most popular shows on Broadway!

Depending on whether or not clients are ordering costumes they intend to keep or use and then leave in his stock, Crochet says he can have quite a bit of say in how the costumes are designed. It’s everything I’ve collected over the years and a lot of them are from specific Broadway shows. Some ran longer than others, a lot were worn by famous people, some by chorus members or by chorus members who later became Broadway stars. I have dresses worn by Angela Lansbury and costumes worn by Mandy Patinkin — it’s an oddball assortment!” he says.

The exhibit, which will be on display throughout the many halls and corridors of the Loew’s Theater movie palace, will feature costumes from Titanic on Broadway, The Secret Garden, finale costumes from the original 1975 production of A Chorus Line, the recent Broadway production of The Addams Family, revivals of The Music Man and My Fair Lady and more. Large scrim of the nine Muses, a hard flying XANADU sign, disco balls, lavish costumes for cast of 39.

One of Crochet’s favorites is an original costume for legendary actress Lillian Gish (often called the First Lady of American Cinema”) from the short-lived Broadway show Anya, which ran for only 16 performances. Another highlight of the exhibit are several costumes from the original production of the Tony-award nominated musical Side Show, a cult classic among musical theater geeks based on the lives of Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who became famous stage performers in the 30’s. The show’s costumes were designed by famed glitz and glamor costumer Gregg Barnes. Broadway First National Tour sets, props and costumes – complete and in excellent condition.

Some of the costumes were worn by stars Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner, who were nominated for a Tony as Best Actress in a Musical as a team for their work in Side Show — the first and only time such a thing has happened. Costumes: Complete, colorful, imaginative, designed for large cast including children’s undersea ensemble; inspired by film but wholly original Spectacular overall package, critically acclaimed and well-reviewed by the few companies who have used it. See dozens of color photos of sets, props, and costumes at Magical transformations are accomplished with video, which is included.

Costumes for Hollywood Musicals

Broward-based Costume World plans to open a producing theater company along with its museum at the former Caldwell Theater building in Boca Raton around September, CEO and President Marilynn Wick confirmed Thursday. She has worked with the biggest names in the industry and provided theatrical costumes to producing organizations all over the world. But let me assure those of you who are more optimistic folk, most of the neighbors of the nationally renowned Goodspeed Opera House have very little regard for the theater company that has brought great revenue to their little hamlet of East Haddam, CT. Musicals including ANNIE, SHENANDOAH and MAN OF LA MANCHA began there. All the costumes are displayed under the gleaming light from of the original chandelier from Tavern on the Green restaurant, of course.  Theater, of course, but also the huge demand for costumes for Hollywood musicals as well.

There were more than 500 boxes in all, newly purchased by Marilynn Wick to add to her multi-million dollar collection of costumes at Costume World which she rents to professional theaters and high school productions. The mother-daughter duo opened a museum in 2011, showcasing more than one million costumes from nearly 50 shows, guiding daily tours through a non-descript South Florida warehouse against a backdrop of hand painted sets and a marquee replica from storied Broadway theatres like the Winter Garden. In 1990, she made a deal to provide all the clown costumes to the legendary Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

The single mother said she fell in love with the theater decades ago when she saw her first Broadway play at age 7. Little by little, she purchased costumes and Broadway trinkets from auctions. She now runs four costume stores around the country, a division that rents costumes to theaters and the museum. They also receive frequent phone calls from the White House press secretary and handle costumes for shows at army bases around the world, as well as national historic libraries.

For many of the shows, the Wicks own multiple sets: the original Broadway costumes, the Broadway revivals and two or three that their own wardrobe company has recreated to rent out for school productions. The first real musicals were born under MGM with Broadway Melody later to be followed by The Wizard of Oz and Little Caesar. In the beginning, musicals featured similar themes, revamped versions of stage plays, and backstage tales.

When the song from The Wizard of Oz won an Academy Award, it opened the doors to other more spectacular musicals with extravagant, artistic sets and expensive costumes. Among those who followed the way to stardom in the musicals were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson, and Gordon MacRae. One of the most popular musicals of all time is highly praised for its music, sets, and costumes. Often there were 12 to 16 dancers to clothe, along with the principals’ costumes.

Some of the earlier musicals of note are: Show Boat, Singing in the Rain, For Me and My Gal, Ziegfeld Follies, Brigadoon, Oklahoma, The King and I, Carousel, South Pacific, Gigi, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and The Music Man. The most stunning costumes often include bright colors and fabulous sparkles and it’s not surprising that Priscilla won the Tony Award for Best Costuming in a Musical because the amount of color and glitter is astounding. There is so much glitter; the costumes used about two to three pounds of glitter a month!

The costumes are so detailed, there are incredible details you couldn’t even see if you wanted to unless you were half a foot away from the costume. It just goes to show how much work the costumes put in to make costumes look realistic and accurate. Fifties clothes, in particular 1950’s dresses, persist to serve as the impetus for a sizable number of 1950s costumes for Halloween night and all year long.