About The Wick
In April of 2013, Marilynn Wick acquired the former Caldwell Theatre space in north Boca Raton.
Resurrecting the vacant property into the Wick Theatre and Costume Museum which opened for business in September with its inaugural production of The Sound of Music.
The production was heralded by the press and patrons alike, making the Wick Theatre a formidable contender in professional theatre in South Florida despite its newcomer status.The Costume Museum followed suit in November, opening its doors to nearly sold-out crowds in early November of 2013. Housing the original wardrobes from over 35 Broadway productions and revivals, the museum has entertained thousands of patrons in a relatively short period of time. The two facilities now function together making the Wick Theatre and Costume Museum an arts cornerstone in Palm Beach County.
Our Story
When the former Caldwell Theatre closed last year, it left what Marilynn Wick called “a gaping hole in the South Florida theater scene.”
Wick — owner of Costume World, the Costume World Broadway Collection and creator of a major theater gear rental firm — and her daughters, Kim and Kelly, are using their performance and business savvy to revive the Boca Raton cultural arts center.
The former Caldwell — shuttered and silent since spring 2012 when a bankruptcy receiver evicted the company and closed the doors on the $10 million North Federal Highway building — will once again resound with songs and dialogue. On Sept. 19, Marilynn and her daughters will reopen the venue as The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum with a production of The Sound of Music. Equity husband-and-wife duo Krista Severeid and Tony Lawson head a cast of 28.
The back end of the Caldwell building has been gutted to accommodate Wick’s Broadway Collection Museum, which “basically outgrew the space in Pompano Beach,” she said. “The idea of moving it to Boca and making it a true multipurpose arts facility was very exciting.”
Seeing the lifeless Caldwell touched the entrepreneur’s heart. “I drove by pretty regularly,” she said. “It was simply a tragedy to see that beautiful building sitting empty — particularly in light of the wonderful work the Caldwell had done for so many years. That’s when I got the idea to move my costume museum to the location and reopen the theater.” Refurbishing involved “a near-total renovation of the interior and exterior entrances for the new museum,” she said. “The frantic pace has been palpable.”
Items moved from Pompano to Boca include original costumes from more than 35 Broadway productions and revivals. In all, Wick has accumulated some 1.2 million pieces. The collection includes wardrobes from original Broadway productions of The Producers and Titanic; the Sarah Jessica Parker production of Once upon a Mattress, La Cage aux Folles and the Julie Andrews performance of My Fair Lady, with designs by Cecil Beaton.
-Article by Dale King