The striped suit from An Italian Straw Hat (1964). A giant puppet from The Light in the Piazza (2004). The black-and-red gown worn by Emily Rohm in The Matchbox Magic Flute (2024). Tiny Tim’s (Ava Rose Doty) jacket from the 47th annual production of A Christmas Carol (2024). These are just a few of the dozens of items available at The Goodman’s Costume Sale, a free event open to the public that was last offered in 2018. Just in time for Halloween costume shopping season, the sale features modern and vintage items from productions spanning over 60 years of The Goodman’s century-long history. The Costume Sale takes place on October 11 from 10am to 4pm (doors open at 9:30am) at 170 N. Dearborn. Items range in price from $0.50 to $300, and visitors are asked to bring their own shopping bags. Only credit/debit card payments will be accepted; all sales are final. Funds raised from the sale support Goodman Theatre programming. For more information, visit GoodmanTheatre.org/CostumeSale. For media arrangements: Press@GoodmanTheatre.org.
In addition to dresses, suits, wigs, novelty costume pieces and other bespoke clothing for children and adults, the sale includes accessories, jewelry, footwear, craft supplies and props. Other notable items on offer include:
• A child’s pumpkin costume, an American flag dress and a corn dress—all with matching accessories—from The Music Man (2019)
• Prince Tamino, Papagena and Papageno costumes from The Matchbox Magic Flute (2024)
• Crumpet’s Elf costume from The Santaland Diaries (2018)
• Two elegant floor-length gowns from The Little Foxes (2015)
• A beaded, corseted red showgirl dress from Turn of the Century (2008)
• And much more!
Other productions showcased in the sale include A Little Night Music (1994), A Christmas Carol (2017-2019), A Winter’s Tale (2019), The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci (2022) and The Penelopiad (2024). Most available items were designed by Anna Kuzmanic, with others designed by Jenny Mannis, Heidi Sue McMath, Mara Blumenfeld, Donna Grenata, Rachel Lambert and Catherine Zuber.
ABOUT THE GOODMAN
Since 1925, The Goodman has been more than a stage. A theatrical home for artists and a gathering space for community, it’s where stories come to life—bold in artistry and rich in history, deeply rooted in the city it serves.
Led by Walter Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director John Collins, The Goodman sparks conversation, connection and change through new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musicals. With distinctions including nearly 200 world or American premieres, two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and nearly 200 Joseph Jefferson Awards, The Goodman is proud to be the first theater to produce all 10 plays of August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” In addition, the theater frequently serves as a production partner—with national and international companies to Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters—to help amplify theatrical voices.
But The Goodman believes a more empathetic, more connected Chicago is created one story at a time, and counts as its greatest legacy the community it’s built. Generation-spanning productions and programs offer theater for a lifetime; from Theater for the Very Young (plays designed for ages 0-5) to the long-running annual A Christmas Carol, which has introduced new generations to theater over five decades, The Goodman is committed to being an asset for all of Chicago. Education and Engagement programs led by Clifford Director of Education and Engagement Jared Bellot and housed in the Alice Rapoport Center use the tools of theater to spark imagination, reflection and belonging. Each year, these programs reach thousands of people (85% from underserved communities) as well as educators, artists and lifelong learners across the city.
The Goodman stands on the unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires—the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations—and acknowledges the many other Nations for whom this land now called Chicago has long been home, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten. The Goodman is proud to partner with the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum (Gichigamiin-Museum.org) and the Center for Native Futures (CenterForNativeFutures.org)—organizations devoted to honoring Indigenous stories, preserving cultural memory, and deepening public understanding.
The Goodman was founded by William O. Goodman and his family to honor the memory of Kenneth Sawyer Goodman—a visionary playwright whose bold ideas helped shape Chicago’s early cultural renaissance. That spirit of creativity and generosity endures today. In 2000, through the commitment of Mr. Goodman’s descendants—Albert Ivar Goodman and his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton—The Goodman opened the doors to its current home in the heart of the Loop.