"Stage Holding and Dodger Theatricals have jointly determined to end their ownership of Dodger Costumes and are working to pass on the business and its inventory to another management," the two companies who own the outfit said in a statement on Feb. 28.
The shuttering was sudden and caught some renters off guard. Phone calls to Dodgers Costumes were met with a recording messages stating the company had shut down.
Dodger Costumes came into existence in spring 1998, when the Dodgers and Stage Holdings, the Amsterdam based company run by Joop van dan Ende, acquired the Eaves-Brooks Costume Company, Inc.
The Eaves Costume Company was founded in 1863 on East 12th Street, Manhattan. It went on to become the most famous costume company in America The Eaves-Brooks Costume Company emerged in 1981 when Eaves acquired the Brooks-Van Horn Costume Company. The new conglomeration then moved to the company's current home in Long Island City.
The Dodgers organization has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months. Last October, the company cut back on its staff amid reports that the producing company, a force on Broadway for more than a decade, and Stage Holding were discussing the restructuring of their producing partnership. Additionally, the Dodgers' Broadway offerings this season, such as Dracula and Good Vibrations, have not fared well with critics. The Dodgers, made up of American partners, "originated at BAM in 1978; migrating to the New York Shakespeare Festival and then off and on Broadway where they have shared in a host of Tony and Obie Awards." Dodger Broadway productions include Urinetown, Into the Woods, The Music Man, Blast!, Titanic, Wrong Mountain, Footloose, Mandy Patinkin: Mamaloshen, High Society, 1776, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The King and I, The Who's Tommy, Ralph Fiennes' Hamlet, Guys and Dolls, Once Upon a Mattress, How to Succeed in Business..., Jelly's Last Jam, The Secret Garden, Into the Woods (original), Big River, Prelude to a Kiss, The Gospel at Colonus, Pump Boys and Dinettes.
