Many Stages Are Still Dark, But You Can Now See These Iconic Costumes Up Close

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/18/ [login to see] /costumes-showstoppers-frozen-hamilton-mrs-maisel
The costume industry in New York was hit hard by the pandemic — over 500 people who work as patternmakers, stitchers, beaders, milliners and painters were idled, as theater and film production shut down. A new exhibition called Showstoppers!: Spectacular Costumes from Stage and Screen has opened on 42nd Street, in the heart of the theater district, to show off their work.

When you see a Broadway show, the costumes need to be visible from the front row of the orchestra to the back row of the balcony. "People don't get to see them this close up," says Brian Blythe, one of the founders of the Costume Industry Coalition, a group of 55 costume shops and businesses that service Broadway and film. They've sponsored the exhibition. He adds, "They've never realized that every single bead and every single bauble that's on one of these costumes is hand placed."

There are over 100 of these couture costumes on display, from Hamilton, to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, to Frozen. Blythe points to one of Elsa's dresses from the Disney show. "When you look at the Frozen Ice Dress, the crystals involved and the mirrors and all of the beading that is on there, the weight of that dress is so heavy because it is so full of all of this ornamentation," he says.