Marilynn A. Wick, Founder & CEO of Costume World, Inc. and Executive Producer of The Wick Theatre and Costume Museum, is arguably one of the most fascinating individuals to emerge on the South Florida arts scene in the last 25 years.
The daughter of an immigrant Italian family, Mrs. Wick rose from humble beginnings in western Pennsylvania to become one of the most influential and remarkable entrepreneurs on the East Coast of the United States. Endowed with an innate curiosity and seemingly boundless energy, she fashioned an entire theatrical wardrobe empire from a kitchen-table sewing project and successfully molded that concept to become one of the largest distributors of theatrical wardrobe in the United States.
A licensed realtor in five states, Marilynn came to Florida during the construction boom of the early 1970s and single-handedly controlled a 66-man, union-organized, high-rise cleaning business as well as creating and managing an active international salvage company. Wick cleverly parlayed the proceeds from these two successful ventures to open Masquerade Designers in a small Pompano Beach storefront and subsequently laid the groundwork for the creation of Costume World. As time passed, Marilynn purchased a number of smaller costume companies in the northeast to supplement her growing costume inventory and now supervises stores in Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas. In any given year, Costume World supplies theatrical wardrobe to professional and amateur productions throughout the United States and maintains a healthy retail aspect of the company as well.
In 2005, Marilynn Wick’s monumental acquisition of Dodger Costumes of New York and Amsterdam allowed the costume collection to grow to over one million pieces that included the original wardrobes for over 40 Broadway musicals and revivals. Mrs. Wick shipped the wardrobe from New York to Florida and developed the Costume World Broadway Collection Museum, the first of its kind in South Florida, if not in the entire United States. Tours were given daily to allow eager South Florida arts patrons an opportunity to view this historically significant wardrobe in an interactive environment. The success of this project was beyond even her expectations and soon, the collection outgrew its current location prompting her to seek another location for the museum.
In 2013, Mrs. Wick acquired the former Caldwell Theatre Company space in Boca Raton, Florida and, in less than six months, completely transformed the abandoned building into the Wick Theatre, a professional theatre company. The sole mission of the company was to honor the achievements of the costume designers represented in the collection by presenting the finest productions the American musical theatre had to offer. Shortly thereafter, the Costume Museum at the Wick opened to sold-out audiences and conducted tours of the collection and the facility on a nearly daily basis.
Marilynn Wick’s fascinating story has been the subject of articles in both People and Vogue magazines. She has appeared twice on “The Today Show” as well as received the coveted Business Woman of the Year award. As a costume designer, Marilynn was nominated for the prestigious Jefferson Award in Chicago, Illinois for her design of Singing in the Rain. Costume World Theatrical has received numerous accolades for outstanding costume design.
The Costume Museum was featured in a documentary film by renowned photographer, Bruce Weber, and again in a short film for public television in 2013. In addition, the entire facility won the coveted Silver Palm Award for Best New Arts Organization. A charming and engaging speaker, Marilynn Wick is a much sought-after lecturer throughout South Florida and has been featured in articles in a number of newspapers and magazines.
Bravo to Marilynn Wick, a female entrepreneur who was ahead of her time in setting the stage for women to advance in the business world.
THE WICK THEATRE AND COSTUME MUSEUM
7901 North Federal Highway Boca Raton, FL 33487
www.TheWick.org
561-995-2333