The high cost of Broadway

After reading Nicole's rant on the commercialization of Broadway and the lack of original works, I was reminded of Monday's costume class. All of the costume faculty participated in a bidding session over previous costume designs we had developed. One show was bid as a regional theater production, one as if for the City Ballet, one for off-Broadway, and on Broadway with Gwyneth Paltrow as the lead....

The star on Broadway bid was my design for the Importance of Being Earnest. The day dress ensemble alone for Gwendolen was bid at $13,000. This price includes wig, millinery, labor, parasol, custom shoes, etc. This is assuming the fabric was milled in London especially for this production (though a fabric of a similarly exorbitant cost wouldn't be difficult to find here) and built in New York at a shop such as Eric Winterling or Parson-Meares. And this is low for Broadway, as both Ginny and David admit it has been about 5 years since they have bid costumes for a show such as this. I hope any actors who read this think twice before carelessly leaving their costume in a heap on the floor.