Broadway Costumes and Wigs

[dacvingwolf]

Posted: 8/19/08 at 10:00pm

After an actor leaves do they get to keep the wigs and costumes?

[esparza 333]

Posted: 8/19/08 at 10:04pm

no.

[cglaid]

Posted: 8/19/08 at 10:17pm

Where do they get the wigs from? I've seen some amazingly realistic ones (and obviously some, not so much).

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 8/19/08 at 10:42pm

Bitch, is you smokin' reefer?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 8/19/08 at 11:03pm

but is she actually allowed to?

[skb2010]

Posted: 8/19/08 at 11:04pm

Probably not, but since it's Patti, she does what she wants.

[Boq101]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 12:57am

I doubt she takes the everything, but she probably had a few things here and there.

They try to alter costumes they might use later, most of the time however they usually make completely new clothes for standys and replacements. I'm not sure about understudies.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 1:00am

On occasion an actor may be offered the opportunity to purchase their costume at the end of a run or when they leave a show. A lot depends on what the costume is and whether the producer thinks that by storing it they may be able to fit it on somebody else in the future. For instance, Sara Ramirez's Lady of the Lake costumes will probably never be worn by anybody else because her rib cage and shoulders are unusually broad. However, when people leave a show like Chorus Line, their costumes are more likely to be put on somebody else in the future, as many of the dancers going into that show are going to have similar body types.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 1:01am

Usually each performer has their own set of costumes for every part they cover.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 1:02am

Usually each performer has their own set of costumes/wigs for every part they cover. (There is little to NO sharing.)

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 1:05am

Let's talk some more about unusually broad rib cages and shoulders. For fun.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 1:10am

It's not really sharing. Producers can and will store costumes after somebody leaves the show as a cost saving measure. For example, somebody leaves Chorus Line. Their gold finale costume gets cleaned and put away, potentially handed down when somebody new comes in or there is some irreparable damage to one of the costumes currently in the show. It's a lot cheaper to pull that old costume out that is still in good repair than it is to send over to Barbara Matera and have a whole new one built.

It's part of the reason you may see different costumes and wigs on stand-bys and replacements (like Annie Funke having an older version of the You Can't Stop the Beat dress in Hairspray as I just saw posted in a different thread). Sometimes things that get cut or changed during previews still get saved for just such an opportunity.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 1:26am

I know some performers have it in their contracts to keep their wardrobe. Some examples include Sebastian Bach who kept ALL of his Jekyll and Hyde Costumes (he showed them off on Mtv Cribs), Fredi Walker kept her Joanne coat from Rent, I think Anthony Rapp has his original Mark costume.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 2:56am

Barbra Streisand kept all of her costumes from the Broadway production of FUNNY GIRL. Several years ago she auctioned off her "People" dress.






Barbra Streisand Funny Girl Gown

Funny Girl Theatrical Costume Gown for People" Winter Garden Theater, 1964 - 1965 World War I period gown featuring a pleated silk chiffon underskirt decorated with bugle beads. The outer shell is satin with a chiffon overlay. There is a bow at knee height which features an attached "brooch" encrusted with rhinestones at center. The skirt and waist band are gathered. The bodice treatment continues the underskirt motif of bugle beaded chiffon over satin with rhinestone accents. The sides of the bodice and the sleeves are decorated with flat rhinestones and "grape" style tassels made up of beads and sequins. The costume is "theatrically" constructed and features industrial hook and eye and zipper in back. No labels present. This gown was worn when Streisand introduced the song "People" live to Broadway audiences during the original 1964 run of the play at the Broadway Winter Garden theatre. Her image in this costume was used heavily in publicity for the play and featured on the cover of Playbill for a time during the run. The brilliant film and stage costume designer Irene Sharaff created the costumes for both the stage and film versions of Funny Girl. Minor repairs to chiffon overlay, overall fine condition."

Sold:$23,400.00

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 6:43am

When I saw Wicked (in London) this May, we got Kerry Ellis's stand-by.

What I found kind of weird was that it appeared they had just given Cassidy, the stand-by, parts of Kerry's costume. A few of the Elphaba costumes were far too big for her (not saying Kerry's 'broad' in anyway, because Cassidy is so petite) especially the 'green skin' top. Her wigs seemed kind of loose too now I think about it...

Before that performance I hadn't noticed that they used a green top over her arms, just assumed it was more make-up...but yeah you could definitely tell during that performance.

Wicked seems like the kind of show that would have the money to make costumes for everyone and store them until a similar size came along...so why would a stand-by (who has been there for a year+) not get her own costumes?

Unless her own costumes + wigs were mysteriously all out of service that one night...

[Weez]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 6:53am

Weren't the original 'Rent' costumes semi-based around what the actors had in their wardrobes at the time though? I know I read that somewhere in the big black book. It'd be kinda mean if they then weren't allowed to take their own clothes home with them once they left the cast...

[BroadwayBuff4Life]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 11:35am

According to Equity every performer needs to have their own costumes regardless of part. You may share jackets and other parts of costumes but nothing that touches a performers skin. When I shadowed A Chorus Line they had boxes and boxes of previously used costumes. They keep them in the case that a previous actor/actress would return to the show. Every understudy has an individual costume for every part that they cover.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 11:41am

I remember the replacement for Chester Gregory in Cry Baby clearly did not have his own wig. It looked so awkward and didn't match his skin tone/head size.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 12:07pm

"Weren't the original 'Rent' costumes semi-based around what the actors had in their wardrobes at the time though? "

In a case like that, then the theatre/producer actually pays a rental fee to the actor for any piece from their personal wardrobe that they are using. However, if I remember correctly, in the case of Rent this was only in the early part of the NYTW run. Once the Broadway money started coming in, the costumes started to change and I'm sure most of the personal items being used by the actors would have been phased out. Look at the pictures they show from the beginning of that run, and then the picture they have of the final night at NYTW before the Broadway transfer. A majority of the costumes looked very different from what they do now.

It's very odd that a standby would have things on that clearly did not fit her. But then, British Equity does have different rules, so maybe they don't care as much about sharing as long as it's been washed. Or maybe she hadn't been on in a while and had lost weight during the time since she had last worn the costumes. But nonetheless, a very odd occurrence.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 12:12pm

Patti steals hers (she admits to stealing the Merman jewels from Evita)

Glenn Close has it in her contract that she can keep all of her stuff. I think one day she plans to open The Glenn Close Museum and that's why she keeps them.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 12:16pm

I think the Mimi pants were originally Daphne's but obviously they recreated the pants for other Mimis.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 2:01pm

I don't think anything worn in the original NYTW production of RENT was a personal cast member's piece of clothing. I ushered that show many times Off Broadway, and the costumer was always coming in with different things to try. Some things may have been inspired by a personal wardrobe or what people wore to rehearsals, but that was still a major Off Broadway equity contract. People don't generally wear their own clothes in those situations.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 2:10pm

Very true. 95% of the rentals that happen in terms of the actors' personal wardrobe out there are shoes, especially on the bigger contracts such as the Off-Broadway and LORT. You are most likely to find that happening on the smaller contracts, SPT, the low tier CAT, etc. Another large portion of the rest of that percent are men's hairpieces. I know a few actors who are bald, either by nature or by choice, who have purchased a really good hairpiece for those situations where the bald/shaved head look would be wrong for a character. However, if an actor auditions wearing that hairpiece, then the theatre does NOT have to pay the rental fee for the use of that hairpiece.

[Rymes_With_Witch]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 2:11pm

Byron: "In a case like that, then the theatre/producer actually pays a rental fee to the actor for any piece from their personal wardrobe that they are using."

How does this work for [title of show]? Those are their clothes are they not? Were they bought specifically for the show, or do the producers pay them this rental fee? Anyone know?

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 8/20/08 at 2:15pm

^^^^ Wow, someone needs to tone it down. Too much coffee this morning?