what happens after a show closes?

[children&art]

Posted: 2/28/06 at 11:17am

How does it work on Broadway when a show closes?

I know how it works down in Dallas, each theatre company has their own warehouse (some small and cramped, others large and spacious) where old costumes and props and set pieces are stored to be perhaps refashioned and reimagined for other productions.

But when a big honkin' extravaganza closes on Broadway where do all the set pieces and costumes and props go? It's not like they can reimagine Millie's red "Gimme Gimme" dress for another show. Or the tire from the end of "Cats" isnt going to show up somewhere else, is it?

At least with Hollywood, each film has a studio attached to it and that studio has a warehouse, but each show on Broadway has different producing partners, so who gets the stuff and where does it all go?

And what happens to all the posters and window cards and marquees?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/28/06 at 11:19am

A lot of the posters and whatnot get sold at the Flea Market for BC/EFA or given away.

Props, costumes, set pieces, etc often go on to subsequent touring or sit-down productions, in the U.S. and abroad.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 2/28/06 at 11:24am

When "A Chorus Line" closed on Broadway, they held a sale backstage and in the lobby of the Shubert and sold costumes and posters to the public.

[children&art]

Posted: 2/28/06 at 11:25am

ok, yes that makes sense but once a tour or sit-down is over and the show is dormant for a while, where does the stuff stay? and why keep it in storage if it can only be used for that one particular show?

do designers, costume designers in particular, do they keep the clothes they make? like does william ivey long have Zaza's dresses from the "La Cage" revival in his closet at home that he can just slip on whenever he wants?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/28/06 at 11:38am

Usually, most of the set is dismantled because the hardware is expensive and reusable. If you want a unique Broadway souvenier - go by the theatre the week after the show closes - you'll usually find pieces of the set in dumpsters outside.

Sometimes, the set is preserved and kept in storage for subsequent touring and international productions. And in rare, bizarre situations the set is purchased by a producer or otherwise interested party. Streisand famously bought the set for the stage production of YENTL and kept it for years in a warehouse in the city.

Most costumes are sold to Costume Houses that rent entire show wardrobe to regional theatres. I, for example, have known a couple of different "Mrs. Annas" who've worn Constance Towers' gowns and just last year I had most of the Broadway revival costumes when I played Harold Hill in the MUSIC MAN.

Most stars don't keep costumes, unless they are Patti LuPone, and designers might keep a few things - but because there are usually duplicate costumes made for every performer - most get sold.


Updated On: 2/28/06 at 11:38 AM

Posted: 2/28/06 at 11:39am

The producers own these things and if there is no tour, etc. they do what they please. Sometimes they put them in storage facilities, sometimes they get demolished. (In terms of sets...)
Costumes and props are probably held onto until no other shows are being produced (tours, etc) but sometimes they sell them to prop and costume rental houses wherein Community/Regional/Educational theatres can rent them for future productions.

[bryan]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 9:29pm

some shows disapper forever. and no cast recoreding is made.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 9:32pm

That's theatre for ya'

[C is for Company]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 10:05pm

In a nearby Catholic school production of Into the Woods, they had Bernadette's staff and the real Milky White. Strange they'd allow a show with a witch in it though right?

[DramaQueen700]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 8:11am

someone mentioned the costumes get "sold". Where exactly? Can the general public purchase them, or is it exclusive to producers, wearhouses etc?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 8:15am

I know that my high school used the original set of Hello, Dolly! after it closed on Broadway.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 9:58am

Some of the stuff from The Vertical Hour ~ Nadia's desk I know because I saw them loading it into the truck ~ was rented from Cort Furniture and it went back after the show closed.

I'd love to know what they did with that tree. It was spectacular!

[2373]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 12:00pm

I wore one of Bernadette Peters' corsets (from George M, I think) in a production of Hello Dolly.

Her name was still in it and I felt so blessed and honored to wear it.

It was very cool.

[winston89]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 12:22pm

I think that if a show has closed and they are planning a tour of it then they would use eiather some or all of the set for the tour to save money. And in some cases they burn the set down.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 12:37pm

Set pieces have to be sold/rented to regional/college/community theatres or destroyed. A producer cannot use sets or costumes for one show for a DIFFERENT show in the future. In other words, if you produced a Broadway revival of THE MUSIC MAN, you can't use a backdrop from a production of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS yo did a few years earlier. The set builders/painters' union forbids this, since it would be taking work away from them.

[DramaQueen700]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 3:14pm

im pretty curious about costumes. Id love to get my hands on some old broadway costumes, simply for nostalgias sake. is it possible?

[Lorelai]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 3:21pm

go to the bc/efa flea market. there's usually a lot.

[Dover]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 3:48pm

If the producers don't plan to re-mount the show, they sell the stuff to whoever will buy it. If it's in good condition and has a likelihood of being profitable as a rental, rental companies will often buy the costumes, props, even entire sets, so they can continue to rent them out for regional, stock, high school, etc. I'm doing a production of The King and I right now that's using some of the costumes from the last Broadway production. We just started fittings this weekend and I've only gotten a few quick glipses, so I don't know if Anna is wearing Donna Murphy's dresses and that sort of thing.

As far as the public buying stuff, it would be cool, but I'm sure the rental houses can make much more money renting them to other productions for the next several decades than they could make from selling items to an individual, so it doesn't happen often. IMO your best bet to get actual items from shows is the Broadway Flea Market, where you can often find stuff from currently running shows if you get there early. It's in late September.

[winston89]

Posted: 7/2/07 at 9:50pm

I know cats sold their sets and costumes after they closed as a way to say thank you to the fans who kept it open all the years. I do know that if a show closes and is planning a national tour a la the wedding singer they might use some or all ofthe sets from the broadway production to save money that would go into building new sets for the same show.

[DramaQueen700]

Posted: 12/4/07 at 7:28pm

anyone know what happened to the light in the piazza costumes? now that the tour is over...just curious

[artscallion]

Posted: 12/4/07 at 7:38pm

I remember them selling the huge light bulb covered "SHOOT TO WIN" sign from the Assassins revival on EBay. I don't recall what it sold for. But I remember it wasn't near what I expected. I guess people didn't really have anyplace to hang it.

[The Boy From Ohio]

Posted: 12/4/07 at 8:00pm

Back to Michael Bennett's post. Does Patti really make a habit of taking costumes?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/4/07 at 8:14pm

Not only does Patti know how to sell a number, she also knows how to sell memorabilia on eBay.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 12/4/07 at 8:40pm

Afer the show closes, people cry.

And then they grab whatever isn't nailed down.

[Juliash]

Posted: 12/4/07 at 8:49pm

I have been affiliated with NSMT in the past and I know last summer when their YPA did Thoroughly Modern Millie they had some of the original costumes. Mostly the stenog suits...