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“costumes executed by This familiar theater-program credit represents a $2,000,000-a-year gross business, costuming everything from Broadway stars to circus elephants yutine sight at Brooks: a show girl hur- rying off to try on her next new costume. ple aN A wardrobe is born: designer Irene Sharaft with pro- ducers Ben Segal, Chandler Cowles in Stroock’s office. sare x 7 Tee 39-year-old Brooks Costume Com- pany is the biggest in the business. It is responsible for the eye appeal of 80 per cent of Broadway’s current musicals. It does a large part of New York’s TV-cos- tume business and will open a TV service branch in Hollywood shortly. Brooks’ big- gest regular customer is the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus, with its annual $300,000 wardrobe. And for $400,000, Brooks costumed Cecil B. de Mille’s movie about that circus. Arena skating shows like Hollywood Ice Revue, Sonja Henie’s Ice Show, Holiday on Ice run about $200,000 for costumes — three times most Broadway show budgets. The bulk of Brooks’ business, how- ever, does not come from its big customers like Roxy and Radio City shows, Guys and Dolls chorus lines, The King and I cos- Produced by PATRICIA COFFIN First, costumes are made in drab muslin, tried on for freedom of movement. Later, best materials ate used. tumes. It comes from the 175-odd shows Brooks outfits weekly for universities, drama clubs, church societies, junior leagues, civic pageants, summer theaters and municipal operas all over the country. Brooks has 135,000 costumes for rent, from $2000 ball gowns once owned by Mrs. Rob- ert Ogden Goelet to Indian costumes from Annie Get Your Gun. For $10 a night, the lead in a Northwestern University play gZ0es on in a gown once worn by Maude Adams, Bea Lillie or Mary Martin. This is possible because of suave, sil- ver-haired James E. Stroock’s policy of buying back the costumes he was origi- nally paid a fat fee to make. ‘‘He’s king of his own state,” says producer John Mur- ray Anderson. Famous for his nicknames, he calls Stroock, president of Brooks, “The Pope,” “because he is so omnipotent.” CONTINUED Irene Sharaff discusses Paul Hartman's vice-presidential pants for Of Thee I Sing.