Shoppers line up for rare Citadel Theatre costume sale
CBC News | Posted: October 13, 2018 2:13 AM | Last Updated: October 13, 2018
'We are here for glamour. Anything sparkly or dazzling or colourful or fabulous or sassy or outrageous'
For the first time in a decade, the Citadel Theatre is selling off a large swath of its costumes to the public.
On Friday, just in time for Halloween, theatre fans and folks who love to play dress-up lined up to purchase extravagant costumes from shows such as the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Wizard of Oz and a Midsummer Night's Dream. The sale also runs Saturday, noon until 5 p.m.
The most expensive piece is $750 — a six-layer quick change wedding dress from Spamalot. But there are also racks filled with pieces priced at $5 and $10 each.
Patsy Thomas is the head of wardrobe at the Citadel. She says there's an amazing story behind each and every piece created. The Citadel simply doesn't have the space to keep them all.
"We've got multiples of things and we have to be really tight with our storage because it costs a lot of money and we have very, very limited storage," she says.
If the clothes are modern and functional, they'll often donate to the Bissell Centre or the Salvation Army.
"But the special ones we've really kept a lid on," she said.
"Wizard of Oz and Beauty and the Beast and Spamalot and Rocky Horror as well... there's several pieces that we [originally] thought we might try and sell, or rent them ourselves, but we just don't have the staff to do that."
Shoppers hoping to score Belle's yellow dress or Dorothy's ruby slippers are out of luck— those iconic items aren't necessarily in the sale.
But there are munchkins, winkies and crows from Oz; wolves from Beauty and the Beast; horse heads for Equus and colourful oddities galore.
Linette Smith, who teaches theatre at Strathcona High School, came in search of wardrobe for the ambitiously costumed musical she's staging this year, Big Fish.
"The costumes are crazy, and I figured, if anyone was going to have them, the Citadel would. For example, I know there's a mermaid tail in there — I need a mermaid for Big Fish. I know that there's some stilts in there and a really large costume from Spamalot. I need a giant for Big Fish."
Others came to peruse for their own personal collections.
"We are here for glamour. Anything sparkly or dazzling or colourful or fabulous or sassy or outrageous," said Farley FouFou.
"When you're going grocery shopping, you want to be wearing something ridiculous. Especially a week before or after Halloween, because, then, people are always like, 'Oh Halloween's not til next week!' or 'Halloween was last week!' and you can be like, 'What's Halloween?'"
Lilith Fair was also looking for dramatic pieces.
"I'm a drag queen medium, so I'm really just looking for haunted things that I can use to put in my enemies' homes."
As for Patsy? She's got some practical advice for anyone coming to peruse the collection — for costumes, hauntings or otherwise.
"Wear comfortable clothes, bring some water, bring bags, bring your donation for the food bank. Just have fun, you know? Ask us as many questions as you can and we'll answer as many as we can," she said.
"You never know what you're going to find -- so keep digging."