Marilynn A. Wick has devoted her life to amassing the nation’s largest collection of original Broadway wardrobes.

Hailing from a small town in western Pennsylvania, she learned early on the importance of hard work and forward thinking. This devotion has resulted in her becoming the Founder and CEO of Costume World, Inc. and the Managing Executive Producer of The Wick Theatre.

“Costume World started as a masquerade shop in 1977,” Wick said. “It has grown today to be the largest collection of American musical theatre wardrobes in the United States. We have seven fabulous stores around the country, and it has been an exciting adventure. I bought like 14 old costumes shop, renovated them, and made them into Costume World stores. I am here in South Florida and I have lived here since 1972. I started my company with five Santa Claus costumes when I was teaching my children how to sew one holiday. We loved it so much. We got more and more interested in it and started to collect, and now we have a 41,000 square foot facility here on Powerline Road in Pompano Beach.” Wick always had a love for theatre, but never thought she would become a costumer.

“As a young child, I was in community theatre and did several productions in high school,” she said. “I loved it. However, my most enjoyable times I can remember with my family was when my mother would make everyone gifts for Christmas and she would get my sister and I to help sew and cut. One year, we made 23 bathrobes for everybody in the family. I had so much fun doing it, and the costume industry is so interesting. I always loved history when I was younger, and it is really all about history when it comes to clothes. The periods and why we are wearing certain things at certain times. And then you cannot knock masquerade. I mean, you can be someone else and that’s fabulous.”

It is Wick’s vision and energy that has brought prestigious clients to Costume World, including the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, Busch Gardens, Coca Cola, the U.S. Army Entertainment and several regional and Broadway productions. “They come into our facility and we make them someone or something else,” Wick said. “What is your wildest fantasy?” Costume World is the largest supplier of theatrical wardrobe in the country, and even supplies costumes for high school theatre productions. In 2005, Wick bought the oldest fashion house in the United States that was founded in 1868.

“That turned a lot of things around for this company,” she said. “It was in New York City, and in that collection, we had exactly 67 original Broadway works. So, if you want to see Yul Brynner’s clothes from The King and I, it’s here. We also have the original costumes for 42nd Street, Titanic, The Producers, La Cage aux Folles, The Music Man. You name it, it is probably here.”

Wick and Costume World has only been at its current location on Powerline Road for about a year. “We want the public to come and see this place,” she said. “This is a brand-new facility for us. For years, we were on Federal Highway and our lease ran out, and of course Amazon has hit the market pretty bad with packaged goods. So, that really hurt us, but I am telling you, this place is worth coming to see. People walk in here and cannot believe it. It’s a large facility.”