Madison Queen, costume director for Maine State Music Theatre, laughs as she pulls out a costume for “Mamma Mia” at MSMT Costumes in Brunswick. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

The dress has sequins in three colors, a gold ruffle at the waist, a white pleated skirt, a pattern of piano keys on the bodice. It was handmade in the costume shop at Maine State Music Theatre in Brunswick for women in the ensemble of this summer’s production of “White Christmas,” and it got just four-and-a-half minutes on stage.

“Each of these dresses took about 10 hours to make, from cutting fabric to finishing to fitting,” said Madison Queen, costume director at Maine State Music Theatre. “Eighty hours just right there, in just one number, for just the ladies.”

But those sparkly frocks are ready for an encore. For 14 years, Maine State Music Theatre has been building a giant warehouse of costumes available for rent. This practice is common, but the collection housed at Fort Andross in Brunswick is larger than most.

And this side hustle is more important than ever as arts organizations like Maine State Music Theatre continue to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in their budgets. This year, rental fees accounted for nearly $200,000 in revenue. But in 2019, costumes brought in more than $450,000. Queen is pushing hard to rebuild this revenue stream, researching programs across the country and cold calling venues to ask what they need for their upcoming productions of “White Christmas” or “Cinderella.” The website that catalogues available costumes is getting a redesign in early 2025.

“When no theaters are doing theater, then not a lot of costume rentals are happening either,” Queen said. “I’m happy to say that we are growing exponentially, at least from pandemic times.”

Dane Whitlock, director of marketing and communications, tries on a costume from “Mamma Mia” at MSMT Costumes in Brunswick. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Not every theater has the budget or the bandwidth to make their own teapot for Mrs. Potts in “Beauty and the Beast.” Rebecca Glick is the costume shop manager at North Shore Music Theatre in Massachusetts, which does six musicals every season. Glick said the team usually designs the costumes in house for one show and sources the rest from rentals. This year, they got “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Million Dollar Quartet” from Maine State Music Theatre. Queen sent extra rhinestones with the costumes for “Million Dollar Quartet,” knowing that they might fall off and need to be replaced during the run.

“She is so on top of it,” Glick said of Queen. “She knew what our next season was from our announcement and reached out to me. She is very well attuned to the theaters in her area and around her to be able to offer assistance before we even get to that step.”

PLAYING DRESS-UP

Behind unassuming doors at Fort Andross is a treasure trove that would cause the hearts of any theater kid or Halloween enthusiast to skip a beat.

In the main room is rack after rack of costume sets for 52 shows. Nearly all were made here at Maine State Music Theatre over the years. They are labeled by title and sorted by character. There’s “Mamma Mia” and “Spamalot” and “Oklahoma” and two sets of “Hello Dolly.” The rack for “Hairspray” has sections for Brad and Lorraine and Peaches and Shelly. There’s a towering wall with boxes labeled “Women’s Tan Tap Heels” and “Men’s White Dress Shoes” and a huge bin full of the namesake “Kinky Boots.” Hanging from the ceiling are racks of accessories from berets to cowboy hats. Awaiting repair is a boxy costume for the clock in “Beauty and the Beast.” (“I’m fixing Cogsworth,” Queen explained.)

An assortment of hats hanging at MSMT Costumes in Brunswick. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Across the hall is a smaller warehouse of what Queen calls general stock. These outfits aren’t attached to a particular show or character, but they can bolster a set or be rented individually by local theaters. Many of these items were thrifted or retired from larger sets, and they are now sorted by style and period with signs such as “Lab Coats” and “Petticoats, Hoops & Crinolines.”

Queen has a map, of course, but she navigated the racks with familiarity on a recent tour. She had a smattering of glitter on her cheeks and sparkly strands in her hair. She grew up in Oregon in a theater family and tagged along to rehearsals from a young age. The costumes were always her favorite part.

“I’ve been playing dress-up since I could walk,” Queen, 26, said.

In high school, she got into special effects makeup. In college, she studied costume design and makeup. Now, she has earned a master’s degree in costume design and technology. She first came to Maine State Music Theatre as a seasonal employee in 2022 and became the full-time costume director in 2023. In this role, she oversees costume production and rentals.

Dane Whitlock director of marketing and communications looks through costumes while sporting the bottom half of the Ursula costume for “The Little Mermaid.” Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

As she explores and catalogues, Queen likes to see how the designers have tackled tricky characters over time. Take Ursula in “The Little Mermaid,” an extremely popular set and one of her favorites. The actor’s own legs are hidden by a large purple skirt, and a deceptively light overlay adds the eight legs of an octopus. The accompanying bodice has a rock ‘n’ roll vibe, capturing some of the villain’s swagger and attitude.

“You can make people into anything, including creatures,” Queen said. “That’s why I’m especially attached to ‘The Little Mermaid.’ What do the fish people look like? What do the sea anemones look like?”

FINDING A SIDE HUSTLE

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre, a nonprofit with 155 organizational members and 60 individual members, maintains an online set and costume registry. Theaters can list sets, props and costumes for rent. Items are generally listed by show, but Maine State Music Theatre is one of six listed as having “extensive collections” and the only one on the East Coast.

Executive director Betsy King Militello said the service is extremely popular. Theaters source their costumes in many ways, she said, and the option to rent is an important one for those who have limited capacity to make or store their own.

“It depends on the show,” she said. “If you are doing a show that requires an entire battalion of identical 19th-century French army costumes, that may be much easier to rent. They are very labor-intensive to build. Somebody has done it, and it may be more economical to just rent them.”

Costumes for “Newsies” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” at MSMT Costumes. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

She also sees theaters looking for any extra income to supplement ticket sales and donations, whether by selling concessions or renting costumes.

“It’s pretty universal that everybody in theater is really trying to leverage any revenue streams that they can,” King Militello said. “Everybody is really having to think creatively and ambitiously about how to increase those alternative revenue streams.”

Only 60% of the $7 million budget at Maine State Music Theatre comes from ticket sales. In October, the costume shop at Maine State Music Theatre had a slower month, with three sets rented; some months have double or triple that amount. Queen’s goal is to have at least five out at any given time.

The prices range from $1,000 (“Always, Patsy Cline” with 40 total pieces, including accessories, for two principals) to $15,000 (“Cinderella,” 820 pieces total). Clients have to clean the costumes before they are returned.

BANKING ON IT

The warehouse also benefits local shows that have even fewer dollars to spend. Brunswick High School, for example, doesn’t rent full sets but is allowed to borrow costumes from general stock for free. (They do cover the cost of any dry cleaning.) Linda Gardiner, who directs plays and musicals at the school, said the pieces from Maine State Music Theatre help the students embody their roles.

“If you’re in a period-specific costume, like 1800s for ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ if you have a costume that is richly embellished as they were in those days, it just gets you into the character,” she said. “I think it helps you get into the mood and characterization.’ ”

Kat Wells, 17, is a rising senior and portrayed Mrs. Bennett in the fall play “Pride and Prejudice.” She said the costume loans add a level of professionalism to the shows that make her proud.

“High school theater is often brushed off,” she said. “Having these very beautiful costumes that are very intricate and breathtaking and detailed really helps bring an energy that we are a serious theater program. This is a very core part of our life. This isn’t a bunch of kids.”

A collection of boots for “Kinky Boots” at MSMT Costumes in Brunswick. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Maine State Music Theatre can also turn to the warehouse when planning for its own season, which helps with the cost of mounting a show. Not every production gets a brand new set of costumes. Maybe Fanny Bryce gets a makeover, but the ensemble of “Funny Girl” wears what is already in stock from the last time Maine State Music Theatre did it. But the appeal of renting a new set can factor into the decision to make new ones, even though they have to spend money to make money. For example, the costumes for this year’s production of “White Christmas” cost $50,000 to make. Now, the set will be available to rent for $10,000 per week. So a two-week rental will recover two-thirds of the cost of making that collection. So they’re hoping for a win-win situation.

“We’re banking on that,” said Dane Whitlock, director of marketing and communications. “Theaters do ‘White Christmas’ every year. Madison has a database right now of easily 30 theaters that are doing it between now and the end of the year. It really takes the onus off of these theaters across the United States to design and produce these.”

Whitlock said the theater is now “aggressively” marketing the costume shop to regional theaters, colleges, high schools and other potential customers.

“We don’t really know the possibility of this,” he said.

Whitlock and Queen with their large collection of costumes. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer