Costume World: The Wick Family's Journey Through Theatrical Design

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Episode Transcript

Voice Over (00:00):
This is iDesign Lab, a podcast where creativity and
curiosity meet style and design.
Curator of interiors,furnishings and lifestyles.
Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, aninterior designer and a style
enthusiast, along with herserial entrepreneur husband
Scott, idesign Lab is yourultimate design podcast where we
explore the rich and vibrantworld of design and its constant

(00:23):
evolution in style and trends.
Idesign Lab provides industryinsight, discussing the latest
trends, styles and everything inbetween to better help you
style your life, through advicefrom trendsetters, designers,
influencers, innovators,fabricators and manufacturers,
as well as personal stories thatinspire, motivate and excite.

(00:43):
And join us on this elevated,informative and lively journey
into the world of all thingsdesign.
Today, on the iDesign Lab,we're joined by the
extraordinary Kimberly Wick,co-owner of Costume World, the
largest theatrical costumeoperation in the country.
A visionary in set and costumedesign, kim also serves as
artistic director of the WickTheatre and has led every

(01:06):
costume museum exhibition since2010.
From Broadway to Boca Raton,her work preserves theatrical
history while inspiringaudiences through immersive
design and storytelling.

Tiffany Woolley (01:17):
Welcome to the iDesign Lab podcast.
Today we are having an amazingconversation.
It's already kind of began, butwe have Kimberly Wick here who
has designed a reallyfascinating career around
costume and theater.

Scott Woolley (01:36):
Costume theater.

Tiffany Woolley (01:38):
And a family business and a lot of other
juxtaposition that happened tostart at their kitchen table
having to do with a Santacostume.

Scott Woolley (01:47):
So let's kind of start there.
Tell us how your family starteda costume business at the
kitchen table On the kitchentable.
How old were you?
You?

Kim Wick (01:54):
were kids.
We lived in Boca Raton alreadyand I was about nine years old.
And you had a sister, kelly, andmy sister, kelly, and my mother
and I and it was a little bitschool project, right, a little
bit my mother's significantother companion needed something
for this Christmas event, right?

(02:16):
He used to kind of pass out hisbonus checks every year dressed
as some crazy costume.
So he needed a Santa, and Kellyand I needed a project, and so
Mom said, well, we're going tomake one, make her a Santa
costume.
So he needed a Santa, and Kellyand I needed a project, and so
mom said, well, we're going tomake one.

Scott Woolley (02:28):
I mean, I think, make a Santa costume, make a
Santa costume.

Kim Wick (02:31):
I mean, the best part is that my mother can't sew.
Well, I was going to wonderwhere even any of the sewing
background came, Nor did I but Iliked to fiddle around with,
you know, making littlepotholders and silly little
stuff.
You know, when you're nineyears old, Right.
And that Santa suit that hewore.
When we laundered it and put iton our clothesline in Old

(02:51):
Floresta, all the neighborswanted to borrow it.
And lo and behold.
Back then the Boca newspapercame by, took a picture of the
Santa suit on a clothesline outin the Like, santa lives in.

Tiffany Woolley (03:04):
Boca Like he's retiring in Boca.

Kim Wick (03:10):
And everybody wanted to borrow it.
My mom's like, for 25 bucks youcan rent it and Kelly and I
really like kind of had fun withit.
Like you know, we were reallylittle but we knew.

Tiffany Woolley (03:25):
You know what was up.

Kim Wick (03:25):
Well, that entrepreneurial spirit was very
yeah.
My mother was involved and rana very successful construction
cleaning business at the timewhich is you know, all guys you
know beat the pavement every day, construction sites, you know,
blah, blah, blah.
So this was kind of like a funlittle diversion slash hobby and
we did have a housekeeper atthe time and she was a pretty

(03:47):
capable seamstress.
She actually taught me to sew alittle bit more than my
grandmothers had, and so we kindof my mom dove in with two feet
.
Obviously we weren't makingdecisions at that age, but my
mom loved it and it was uniqueand we took my mother's
construction cleaning office inPompano on Powerline Road, which

(04:09):
back then was a gravel road.

Tiffany Woolley (04:11):
Right.

Kim Wick (04:12):
And she moved the little office where the girls
were in the front, moved them tothe back of the building and in
this front room which was maybe20 by 20, she set up a store
and she called it HolidayShowcase and in it we had our
Santa suits and then at Eastertime we had Easter bunnies.
And we had all little noveltiesand things and we would go to
the New York show.
I remember the first time mymother ever went to the New York

(04:35):
show to buy stuff for our store.
She went with a girlfriend andthey drove in a big wagon
Station wagon.
Station wagon Right and filledup the car with all this stuff
and brought it back.

Scott Woolley (04:49):
But what kind of stuff?
Costume stuff?
No, no, trinkety things.

Kim Wick (04:52):
Trinkety things Like gimmicky stores.
Some costumey things likenovelty nose for Rudolph and
antlers and stuff.

Tiffany Woolley (05:00):
There was no Target back then.
There was no like and nobodysold costumes.

Kim Wick (05:04):
There was no such thing as Party City and all of
that insanity.
Yeah.
So, sure enough, we turned thatlittle store, our 20 by 20
store, and people would line up.
And then we had this thingcalled Halloween Uh-huh, which
was until then.
You bought your costume at theFive and Dime and it came in a

(05:28):
box with that little thing withthe mask on the top and you put
the mask and the jumpsuit on andyou tied it around your neck
and you went out dressed as arobot or this or that.
Well, my mother's idea and ofcourse it was starting to happen
was to have a real cape forDracula and a pair of fangs and
a medallion for your neck andall the little parts and pieces.

(05:49):
And I mean, she's not the onlyperson that was thinking of it
at the time, but it was kind oftransitioning then.
So that's what we filled ourstore up with at Halloween, and
I'm not exaggerating, I swear toyou, people would line up on
power line road.
Oh, I believe it in the dirtwith the trucks going by and all
that white dusty nasty flyingeverywhere, and my mother would

(06:13):
have entertainment outside,really god she bought.

Voice Over (06:17):
So I mean, this is one of the things we missed.

Kim Wick (06:20):
She literally would buy from a manufacturer
somewhere little clear bottleswith a lid and we would put
water in the bottles and givethem out for people waiting in
line because it was hot.

Scott Woolley (06:34):
The line was that long.

Kim Wick (06:36):
Oh yeah, it would be 100 people deep all the time we
had entertainment outsideentertaining them.
We usually would have a clownon Saturdays and a juggler or
something.
One time my mom rented this guy, came in like a Batmobile and
did like a little Batmobilething while people were waiting
outside.
They loved it.
It was like a party.

Scott Woolley (06:56):
Right.

Kim Wick (06:56):
And eventually, you know, things just grew and grew.
We ended up having a showroomand starting to make our own
things.
We started buying costumehouses around the country and if
they were in a decent locationand had some potential, she
would turn that store into oneof our stores, A Halloween store
.

Scott Woolley (07:14):
Well, costume stores not just for Halloween.
I got you, but did it startwith Halloween first?

Kim Wick (07:19):
Well, it started with Christmas first obviously Santa
and then it grew to Halloweenand then it just kept on growing
and back then at one point wehad nine stores open across the
country and our store in Dallas,texas, just closed a year and a
half ago.
It was 10,000 square feet.
Our Austin, texas store was10,000 square feet.
There's a lot of theater.

Scott Woolley (07:40):
You had one in Philadelphia.

Kim Wick (07:42):
Two in Pittsburgh, yeah.

Scott Woolley (07:42):
I remember that.

Kim Wick (07:44):
We had a store in Atlanta for a very short period
of time, but we ended up sellingit and somebody else, so it
became like the biggest costumestores in the country.
You'll love this.
Sears didn't have Halloween.
So Sears tried hiring my motherto set up Halloween stores and
all the Sears stores around thecountry and she was like that
sounds like too much work.
So instead we opened nine ofour own stores.

(08:11):
It makes no sense, but remember, we were collecting all this
wardrobe from around fromdifferent costume houses and we
knew and my mother was had a lotof foresight always um that the
, the rental business couldn'tjust be halloween, it couldn't
just be christmas, it couldn'tjust be easter, it had to be
theater, sustainable andsustainable throughout the year,
or else she'd never be able toget out of the damn cleaning
business.
You know, the window cleaningbusiness.

(08:31):
Was she still doing that?
She was.
She did both of them for years.
We used to have jokes she hadlike a painter's hat.
My uncle was in the paintbusiness.
His office was there too.
We were all under one roof andthat was on Copens Road, and we
eventually named the companyCostume World.

Tiffany Woolley (08:49):
I was going to ask you.
So where did that begin and howfar from the little Copens Road
office to become Costume World?

Scott Woolley (08:57):
It was Powerline Because in Copens it was a big
place, a big store, yeah, and mymother's office was upstairs
and she oversaw everything.

Kim Wick (09:06):
It was probably around 10 years in that we became
Costume World and she basicallytold all the staff to come up
with a name.
And one of our employees,bonnie Catt, got arrested.
She passed away during COVID.
She was just full of energy.
She's like Costume World shouldbe the name, and of course that
became the name.
She was just full of energy.
She's like Costume World shouldbe the name and of course that
became the name.
She got $100 for naming thecompany.

Voice Over (09:29):
But, and were you always along since you started?

Kim Wick (09:35):
this at nine years old , like this, just became
something as a hobby.

Tiffany Woolley (09:38):
I mean, you spent your weekends probably
doing this.
We were the three musketeers.

Kim Wick (09:42):
So after school our housekeeper or my aunt would
pick us up from school and wewould go to Costume World, you
know, then, or before then even,and we each had our own little
space where we would do ourhomework and all that stuff and
then we would help pricemerchandise and we got to
merchandise.
You know the walls and you knowthe stuff that kids just you

(10:03):
know we, I mean she was our mom,we didn't our father was.
You know the stuff that kidsjust you know we I mean she was
our mom, we didn't our fatherwas.
You know they had been divorcedfor many years.
So she was our mom and our dadand we spent all of our time
with her.

Scott Woolley (10:12):
And we really were the three musketeers.
We grew up in it.
You almost had two businesses.
You had the costume for peoplewho wanted costumes to go to
parties and so forth, but thenyou grew it into a business of
costumes for Broadway andperforming arts and theater and
that itself became a very hugeaspect of the business and now

(10:36):
has an enormous amount of valuein terms of the collections that
you've, you know.

Kim Wick (10:41):
We bought our first.
Well, first of all, just toclarify, because I don't want to
mislead your listeners um, wedon't do broadway shows.
What?
We do is buy the broadwaywardrobe when the show closes,
and we're one of several peoplethat really you are.
Bid on those wardrobes.
Okay, sometimes we get it andsometimes we don't right um and

(11:04):
often.
Now we have such a relationshipwith many of these designers.

Tiffany Woolley (11:07):
Are they auction houses, or how does that
happen?

Kim Wick (11:10):
Well, it's usually just kind of the producers.

Tiffany Woolley (11:12):
Okay.

Kim Wick (11:13):
They kind of put it out in the marketplace.

Voice Over (11:15):
Okay.

Scott Woolley (11:16):
You know the show is closing, so a Broadway show
is closing.
What's the reason why you'rebuying?

Kim Wick (11:24):
Because once it closes now, the regional market gets a
chance to do that show.
Okay, all these professionalequity theaters around the
country, country, right.
So now is an opportunity for usto jump in and grab that
wardrobe and put it in ourwarehouse and then we facilitate
renting it to theaters all overthe country.
We own Beautiful the Broadwaywardrobe now.

(11:46):
Of course we just did it at theWIC, but we have it rented
several times already to othertheaters around the country.
So they all send us theirmeasurements.
By the way, we've been doingthat since 1978.
Other rental houses have neverdone that.
We have seamstresses.
The measurements come to us.
We measure and alter thewardrobe, make sure that it will

(12:06):
fit the cast member, take alittle tuck here, tuck there, of
course, repair, make sure thateverything's in beautiful order
and then ship it out to.
Pressed, bagged, inventoried,and it goes to the theater.
And when the costumer at thetheater opens up that box, she
says oh well, this is for PeggySawyer, it's got her name on it.

(12:26):
What scene she wears it?
Blah, blah.
This is her second costume,this is her third costume, this
is her finale, and it's likethat with every character.
So we really are a tool for a,a theater around the country,
and that's also why it is suchan effective tool for high
schools, because we also do highschool these days.
Why would with?

Tiffany Woolley (12:43):
oh, it's an effective tool for high schools,
because we also do high schoolWell, I'm impressed these days
with the costumes from theseSome of the high schools.
Their shows are like Areunbelievable oh my God, better
than our show.
I mean, it's crazy, it's crazy,and they have.

Kim Wick (12:55):
There's so many talented kids, we're really
lucky.
We're in a fortunate market.
We are With supporting family,family members that love their
kids being in the arts.
It's true, so it's contagious.

Scott Woolley (13:05):
It is the kids just thrive.
Last night we were at an awardsceremony for our kids that was
coming into school and it wasthe Performing Arts Awards.
So it was all the kids thatbest singer, best actor, best
actress.

Tiffany Woolley (13:18):
Best spins, all of that.

Kim Wick (13:19):
And your girls won every award, not every award.
They got a couple, they got acouple, but yeah.
But you know we are reallylucky.
You know we are surrounded witha community that loves the arts
many of them from former NewYork City natives True true when
?
they're surrounded by the besttheater in the country maybe in

(13:40):
the world and they come here.
They demand the best, but whentheir children and grandchildren
are excited about it, theynurture it, they support it.
It's so important and it makesthe arts really great here.
Because of it, and even if theydon't have children and
grandchildren involved in thearts, they support the art

(14:01):
that's in our town, and it's notjust the Wick Theater, it's
also Delray Beach Playhouse andKravitz and the Maltz and
Broward Performing Arts and ofcourse.
Slow Burn and all the way downinto Miami.
I mean, I have patrons that arepatrons at the theater, have
been subscribers for 10 years,but they also subscribe to the

(14:21):
Art Center.

Tiffany Woolley (14:21):
All of the other ones.

Kim Wick (14:22):
I mean they drive all the way to Miami to see art, to
see what they love.
They also go, you know, to allthese other theaters all around.
I mean we're really lucky.

Tiffany Woolley (14:31):
We're really lucky to have so many supportive
members of our community.
So how did this costume worldbring you to like owning a
theater?

Kim Wick (14:47):
bring you to like owning a theater.
Well, um, we have beenpurchasing broadway wardrobes
starting in about 2000.
Um, I think our first show wasbells are ringing 2002 or
something like that, and we putit in our wardrobe and we
solicited the professionaltheaters and it got booked like
five times, paid for itself,like very quickly.
So my mom's a numbers girl,like you know most business
people, you have to have some ofthat.

Voice Over (15:06):
You can't just all be for fun.

Kim Wick (15:08):
And she said well, the math here makes sense, so we
got to just keep on buying.
So we kept on buying.
Our largest acquisition was in2005, when we bought 28
wardrobes from Dodger Productionand Holding Company in New York
.
They are the folks that had won, you know 50 Tony Awards.

Tiffany Woolley (15:22):
How many items is that?

Kim Wick (15:24):
I mean it's 15 semis.
I was just going to say 15tractor trailer semis Of
wardrobe Of wardrobe 600 boxeson each semi.
It's insane.

Scott Woolley (15:35):
Wait.
So you have to inventorycatalog organize.
Oh Scott, we don't do any ofthose inventory things.

Kim Wick (15:43):
We just throw it in a box and get it here and then we
kind of sorted it as we unpackedit.
It was a mess, it really was amess up there.

Tiffany Woolley (15:51):
How long does something like that even take?

Kim Wick (15:53):
It took us about a year and a half to unpack it
properly, sort it.
So we had a warehouse inPompano, off of Powerline Road
and right across the street wehad another warehouse, the one
warehouse we set up with theproper racking system and so on.
And then we so we had two.
For about six months or eightmonths we had two spaces and we,

(16:16):
everything from the semis wentinto the one space and then we
tried to take all of quote, youknow, guys and dolls out and
hang it on new hangers and freshhangers and, you know, put it
into the new space.

Tiffany Woolley (16:28):
That's where design and proportion and
branding and all that stuffcomes in.

Kim Wick (16:32):
So obviously, you know , I designed the space and we
set it up like a bigcheckerboard so that we would
have like one checker of racksand the next checker was blank
so we could put a vignette and adisplay or something in that
and then the whole building waslike a big checkerboard, okay,
and so the clients meanderedthrough and it was really cool.

(16:54):
We had little vignettes of eachshow and dracula, the broadway
musical, was hanging there andpassion was there and guys and
dolls was there.
All these amazing shows and thewardrobes are all just works of
art Made by artisans in New YorkCity that are just.
There's just none like themNothing like it.

Scott Woolley (17:14):
So how many different plays do you think you
have?

Kim Wick (17:18):
We have about 110 original Broadway wardrobes.
Some of those pardon me, someof those are revivals, but most
of them are the originals 99%.

Scott Woolley (17:28):
Is any one a favorite or it stands out in
your mind my Fair Lady'sfavorite wardrobe.

Kim Wick (17:33):
And I have to tell you , just having done the current
exhibit running in the museumright now, which you know people
can come and do a luncheon anda tour is dressing the
Edwardians and the Edwardianshighlights the wardrobe from
Titanic, and that wardrobe isequally spectacular.

Tiffany Woolley (17:49):
It is so cool that era the Edwardian era, the
Gilded Age, they say.

Kim Wick (17:54):
Yes, it's just very unique in all the details.
But back to what I was saying.
Back to what I was saying, sothat once we opened that, once
our warehouse, we movedeverything into the new space,
into the better space, which wasthe plan all along.
Then we started my mom's likeokay, the rent here is $15,000 a

(18:17):
month.
Maybe if we had a tour everyMonday you know people that are
theater people would come on aMonday.

Voice Over (18:24):
All the actors in town.

Scott Woolley (18:25):
I would think even schools could find it.

Kim Wick (18:27):
Maybe you know, we could do like a tour walk
through the space, like a tour,so like an admission yeah, have
a little admission and see whathappens, so we did.

Scott Woolley (18:34):
We had our first tour on October 10th of 2010.

Kim Wick (18:39):
So it was 10, 10, 10 was our first tour and it was a
group of ladies from BellagioCountry Club, and by the time
they left, every single one ofthese 40 ladies had booked a
date to bring their group of 50people.

Tiffany Woolley (18:59):
And within two weeks, our calendar was sold out
.
Well, there's so much historythat goes along with not just
the show, but the period piecesyou just mentioned, like all of
that, and there's a lot ofreally historic special
individual pieces.

Kim Wick (19:10):
I mean Yul Brynner's jacket.

Tiffany Woolley (19:12):
I mean from the King, and I, yeah, I mean it's
just crazy.

Kim Wick (19:16):
So now we had a museum .
I mean, who knew we were goingto have a museum?
So now we had a museum.
I mean sometimes luck and goodfortune just kind of happens and
hard work and hard work, I meanthere's hard work along the way
.
So now we have this museum andyou know we had all these
displays.
We were featured on the TodayShow.
Vogue magazine sent Bruce Weberhere to do a piece on us.

(19:38):
That was like 12 pages in Voguemagazine.
All these crazy things, pagesin Vogue magazine, all these
crazy things.
We won the piece that he didactually won the fashion video
award.
I had to go to La Jolla andaccept the thing on our behalf.
The trophy it was.
I mean it, just like all of asudden this world just opened up

(20:00):
and you know it was just so, socool.

Tiffany Woolley (20:04):
It is so cool, it really was so cool, it really
is Such a wild story, such acrazy story.

Kim Wick (20:09):
So we operated there for two years and the fire
marshal was always on us becausewe were in a warehouse and we
had a business license, ofcourse, but we did not have an
occupancy license to assemble.
And you must have an assemblylicense.

Tiffany Woolley (20:27):
Who knew I wouldn't know?

Kim Wick (20:28):
that I mean at this point, we were having like 75
ladies every day.

Tiffany Woolley (20:33):
How did they know?

Scott Woolley (20:34):
How did they find out what?

Voice Over (20:35):
I mean Well 75 ladies.

Tiffany Woolley (20:36):
Were they busing there no?

Kim Wick (20:38):
they would park, were they?
Meals and all that, Let me tellyou how the only bad fortune
that we had at the In ourbuilding, in our facade of our
building, the corner unit wasthe fire department.

Scott Woolley (20:53):
They saw everybody coming in and out all
the time.

Kim Wick (20:54):
I mean, we became very good friends, but they would
walk down there like Lady hereyou are again.

Tiffany Woolley (20:57):
You're not allowed to do this.
I need to remind you that youare not allowed to do this.

Kim Wick (21:01):
You're not allowed to have people sit down and
assemble in this building.
So we eventually just startedlooking for a new space.
Of course, my sister Kelly is acommercial realtor and
residential.
But she looked around and wewent to look at three spaces one
afternoon, to move the museumone afternoon and to move the

(21:31):
museum, and we looked at one inPompano and another one in West
Pompano or something.
And then she said let's go upand look at the Caldwell Theatre
, let's just see there must be away.

Scott Woolley (21:39):
It was empty at that time it was not empty, it
was not.

Kim Wick (21:44):
They had.
The Caldwell folks had closed,basically, and the building was
available.
The bank is who we were dealingwith.
I mean just, I mean magic,really.

Voice Over (21:53):
Yeah, so we go up there thinking my mom.

Kim Wick (21:57):
We walk around the building.
Oh well, we could do the diningroom in here and we could this
the auditorium, I mean it couldbe totally set up like a viewing
thing to view all the thecostume, um, history of costumes
.
And I mean we started goingaround and around and around and
around.
We were there for probably anhour and a half and we walk back
into the auditorium for likethe fourth time and it's my

(22:19):
mother, my sister and I and thereal, the other realtor, and she
says girls, this is it, I'vealways wanted to own a theater.
And my sister and I and theother realtor and she says girls
, I've always wanted to own atheater.
And my sister and I looked ateach other and we said, well,
there's no stopping her, she's adynamo.
I mean, there's no, she's theenergizer.

Tiffany Woolley (22:33):
When she wants something her mind's made up,
there's no stopping it.

Kim Wick (22:37):
And of course we were excited about it too.
And I mean I've workedbackstage at 100 theaters across
the Northeast.
I mean that's what I've done asa seamstress and a costume
designer and all that.
It seemed like a naturalprogression you know, of course.
So they gave us a lease and itall happened very, very, very

(23:00):
quickly.
They gave us a lease and wesigned it and about a week later
this was with the bank RightLegacy Bank.
We were going to call thetheater the Legacy Theater.

Tiffany Woolley (23:12):
The.

Kim Wick (23:12):
WIC Theater to me is just.

Tiffany Woolley (23:14):
Well, our ladies, Like your name actually
seems magical to me.

Kim Wick (23:18):
I don't know, but it's like a candle.

Tiffany Woolley (23:19):
Yeah, that's what I mean, it's like you just
want to like take it and you seethis, well, the truth is the
ladies, like the staff atCostume World named it Costume
World.

Kim Wick (23:28):
Yeah, we had a group of ladies for an event about
like one of our last events atthe old warehouse and my mom
said, well, we bought thistheater, so now what are we
going to name it?
And we sat down with like 70ladies.

Scott Woolley (23:46):
And between them myself, my mom.

Kim Wick (23:46):
We talked about Legacy , because it was owned by Legacy
Bank.
We talked about all thesedifferent things and they all
unanimously voted for the WIC.
And we were not.
We really didn't want to callit the WIC.

Tiffany Woolley (23:57):
Oh, I think that's a legacy there.

Kim Wick (23:58):
Yeah, it was just too.
It was just too much too highprofile, but I don't know, it
just happened.
But I have to share with youthat like a week after we you
know signed everything and nowwe had this lease, the guys from
the bank came in like over tothe building and they saw us
like pulling carpet out anddoing all this renovation.
I mean it was dreadful.

(24:18):
I was like okay, I said to ourcontractor guys, I said the
first thing we have to do is getrid of this green carpet.
Paint out just primer theseyellow mustard walls and rust.

Voice Over (24:30):
That was the color scheme.

Kim Wick (24:32):
All of these images that are all over the walls and
framed need to all be collected.
We're going to donate those tothe Historical Society and or
the local cast members that werein these shows.
So we put out a thing for themto all come and take these
images, photos and the framesand, you know, take everything.
And then we sat down to designthe theater.

(24:54):
But the guys from the bank camein and they're like so tell me
some of the shows you'veproduced.
Mom and I looked at each other.
We were like we've neverproduced a show.
He was like you've neverproduced a show.
We're like no, he goes well,well, what makes you think you
can do it?
We're like well, you know,we've been at the table for all
these production meetings overthe last 20 years.

(25:15):
We've worked backstage.
We trust me, we got, we got it,we got it so we hired all the
directors and we started havingauditions, and and we produced
our first show, which was thesound of music, and the rest is
history and you know what yearwas that, how long ago that was
2013 september so you, the wick,has been.

Tiffany Woolley (25:36):
When did you?
When was the wick theateressentially created and
purchased?
What year?
Uh, 2013, 2013 yeah, wow, yeah.

Kim Wick (25:45):
so, um, it does go to show you and of course I often
give a little bit of this littlespeech, quote unquote, to our
patrons when they come to thetheater and when we have these
luncheons and stuff with themuseum and I say I think one of
the best takeaways that we allcan take from my mother's story

(26:06):
and she's very much alive andvery much making more of her-
life story every day every dayvibrant and and going to town.
Um is that my mother said hassaid to my sister and I a couple
of times we've thought of theseideas for businesses and stuff.
And she'll say, girls, what'sgoing on with that?
And we're like, well, we werethinking about such and such,
and she always says the samething stop thinking, do it and

(26:29):
just do it.
I know that's how I feel, andthat you know, and that the
worst that can happen is youfail and you try something else.
I mean as long as you don'tsink your children's you know,
uh, college education into it.
You know I mean, as long as youdo it with passion and vitality
and don't, you know, destroyyour life.

Tiffany Woolley (26:52):
And she hasn't done that.

Scott Woolley (26:53):
No, I mean, it's been nothing but growth and
stepping stones, but youoriginally purchased the theater
because you were looking for aplace for a museum for all the
costumes For people that come inand see.

Tiffany Woolley (27:03):
It was going to be a store open to the public
Timing being everything Peoplethat come in and see it was
going to be a store open- to thepublic Timing being everything
I mean when you realize thatthat magical place was ready for
you guys.

Kim Wick (27:12):
I mean it really.
It was beautifully designed bya gentleman named Don McLeod,
from Miami.

Voice Over (27:18):
Yeah.

Kim Wick (27:18):
Who does a lot of theaters and so forth.
I believe he's retired now, buthe designed an incredible
building and the folks it is.
But he designed an incrediblebuilding and the folks, michael
Hall at the Caldwell Theaternurtured with passion and
commitment to make that buildinghappen.
And then, sadly, he eventuallyretired after a couple of years
and it just programming changed.

(27:41):
The economy went bust in 08.
It was just a little bad stringof events and it ended up being
closed.
It sat empty for two years.

Tiffany Woolley (27:50):
Which isn't great.

Kim Wick (27:51):
Literally the coffee pots had dried coffee in it when
we got there.

Tiffany Woolley (27:55):
What an undertaking.
So I have been to the WickTheater and I know, like your
mom and you have an office thatyou share for the most part.
Kind of Kind of.
Sometimes that's complicatedwhat your family was able to
achieve together.
I mean, what was that like?
And yeah, I mean you've givenus a little glimpse of it, but

(28:16):
how did you communicate whatwere like any you guys are?

Kim Wick (28:20):
clearly we're Italian is the first part.
I'm gonna I know you wouldn'tknow that by the last name, Wick
.
Right, but my mother isfull-blooded Italian.
We were raised like goodItalian girls.
We're not Catholic, buteverything but with all the
guilt and everything included,and we, just, we were always
like a family unit and there'snever I don't know, there's just

(28:45):
never any doubt that we can doit.
And my mom just is always go,go, go, go go.
I don't know, I mean, it's notalways perfect, right?
You know we have screamingmatches, trust me, she usually
wins Always.
But you know, I mean, I thinkshe respects me, I certainly

(29:10):
respect her, and you know it'snot all peachy, I mean like
anything, nothing ever is.

Scott Woolley (29:18):
But you're designing four or five plays a
year.
You're creating.

Tiffany Woolley (29:24):
But a lot of them is also an experience too,
right, but then you're alsodoing.

Scott Woolley (29:29):
You know you have the museum that's been going on
for years and years.

Kim Wick (29:33):
Yeah, every summer we reinvent it, so that's always a
challenge.

Scott Woolley (29:36):
A year or two ago , you really reinvented it with
creating an immersive theater,which is an experience, and that
came out of both you and yourmom went to the van gogh yes,
experience with, with many ofour staff.

Kim Wick (29:50):
We were this was, you know, eight months into covid
and we were just so tell usabout that you go to in miami.
We loaded everybody up, youknow masks and hazmat, suits,
practically, and gloves and thewhole bit.
And we went down to miami, wewent to the van gogh, we were
like the, oh, we were our groupwas about seven people Maybe
there were another 10 in thewhole building and within five

(30:12):
minutes of being in there, weall said the same thing we could
turn this into, we could takethe museum and reinvent that.
I mean, we don't have the 20foot ceilings that they have,
but we have 15 foot ceilings.
So it's, you know, pretty clear.
It really will feel immersive.

Scott Woolley (30:29):
So for people listening who don't understand
immersive.
That's basically walking into aroom where all four walls
you're completely surrounded byhigh-definition video footage of
whatever the story.

Tiffany Woolley (30:42):
Isn't it amazing.
You created that there.

Kim Wick (30:44):
I'm very proud of it.
I really am.

Scott Woolley (30:46):
I mean, I think my mother would be believing it,
but you see it in the Van Gogh,which is LED walls, you go back
to your theater with a very bigroom.
It's a big risk, a bigundertaking yeah, we did it with
projections.

Kim Wick (31:00):
Actually, the original one was not LED walls, it was
fabric Projection and fabricProjection and fabric Projection
and fabric yeah.
Big Christie projectors andcloth and we bought all the same
stuff.

Scott Woolley (31:12):
But it's a huge risk at the same point.

Kim Wick (31:14):
Oh yeah, it was a $700,000 risk and an educational
aspect of it.
Sure, and it took us a year tomake it happen.
The night before we opened ourfirst exhibit, the grand opening
gala which I think you guyswere at for my Fair Lady, which
was fabulous, it didn't work.
No One more.
We could not get it to nothiccup for lack of whatever

(31:39):
layman's terms.

Tiffany Woolley (31:40):
I remember you saying that, but I didn't
experience that.

Kim Wick (31:43):
No, it didn't do it by the time it happened.
Oh, as coincidence and luck.

Tiffany Woolley (31:47):
I remember that night, you telling us yeah.

Kim Wick (31:49):
The software that we use is a German-based software
company, and it allows you tomeld all of these flat images
and make them seamless.

Scott Woolley (32:01):
Around a room 360 degrees.

Kim Wick (32:04):
And the technology has now been around for a little
while.
They're not the only peoplethat do it, but this is one of
the better, you know, one of thebest companies supposedly.
And you know when we talked tothem?
We talked to some people inWashington State and then in
Germany.

Tiffany Woolley (32:22):
Did you bring a team in to like set it all up?

Voice Over (32:25):
No, we learned, taught ourselves how to do it,
because there wasn't anybodythat knew it well enough to come
in and teach us.

Kim Wick (32:33):
Actually, that's not true.
We did hire a professor fromGainesville, from University of
Florida.
He came down and gave us aboutthree days and then, like a
month later, he came down andgave us a week, and we did learn
a lot from him as well, but westill couldn't work out some of
the kinks and I finally wecalled um the company on one of

(32:55):
our panics you know, and theysaid well, tell me where, tell
me where you are, again withtheir german accent.
I said, well, we're in a towncalled Boca Raton, florida, and
he goes.
Well, you know, you must bevery lucky.
I said why he goes.
As it turns out, the developerof the software from Germany

(33:15):
retired in Boca Raton.

Tiffany Woolley (33:17):
That's insane.
Like this is all heaven sent.
This is kismet stuff.

Kim Wick (33:22):
I know, and he like gives you goosebumps a little
bit, it does.
He literally drove over andassisted us and made it work.
He goes oh no, you can't.
It was our audio, the audio theway we had it recorded and
developed it, because obviouslyit's multi-layers, it was like

(33:42):
32 channels or something he saidthe system won't support any
more than eight.
It was like 32 channels orsomething he said the system
won't support any more thaneight.
So you have to manipulate thatone and manipulate that, and
manipulate both of them, right,and then marry them and then
through this specific software,it will run and that's all it
took it's all it took.
I mean, it took us two hours todo it, but um yeah, I was a

(34:03):
little frazzled when we my mom'slike put some makeup on.
I'm like, I'm just so glad thatit's going to work.
I mean, it was something.

Tiffany Woolley (34:13):
So what does the immersive experience like?
How do you develop that andcreate that each season, and who
do you create it for?
Obviously, you have yourpatrons.

Kim Wick (34:23):
Yeah, but then anybody can also come.
Anybody can come.
I mean, we really do kind ofdevelop it every summer, keeping
our patrons, the ones that havecome year after year after year
.

Voice Over (34:33):
I mean the same group of 70 that came to the
first exhibit over in thewarehouse and beat up Pompano
are still coming annually.

Kim Wick (34:43):
They come once a year.
It's like an annual outing.
A lot of our groups.
I find that they you know, thePAP Corps, the fundraisers, orts
, hadassahs, the churches, Imean all these different
organizations that raise, youknow, do fundraising.
It's a perfect venue for them.

Tiffany Woolley (34:58):
It really is.

Voice Over (34:58):
And it's not just for ladies by the way, right.

Kim Wick (35:01):
Men, come all the time and love it come all the time
and love it.

Tiffany Woolley (35:08):
I try to put enough history and enough.

Kim Wick (35:09):
And you do.
That's what always captivatesme.
I usually write it.
I start writing it in my headas the season is winding down.

Tiffany Woolley (35:14):
So that's your process.

Kim Wick (35:15):
Yeah, In my head I have it already going now that
the season just ended just aweek ago.
I will now sit down and writethe script.

Tiffany Woolley (35:25):
And do you incorporate the costumes that?

Kim Wick (35:27):
you own within that.
Yeah, Then I go pull what Ineed to tell the story that I'm
trying to tell, and thensometimes I'll see a different
costume and I'm like, oh,there's a way to tie that into
the story if I rewrite thissection.
So I spend usually a couple ofmonths playing that producer,

(35:48):
director, writer, like playingall those parts and then I
present it to my cohort, mysidekick, my mom, and then I
present it to my other sidekick,Mark.
Actually, sometimes I presentit to Mark Bally first, because
he and I usually are on the samepage, and then we sell it to
mom, Because you know she hasher own opinion too and

(36:12):
sometimes she doesn't alwayslike everything I do, nor do I
her.
So we usually come to a nicecommon spot.
For example, this year my motherreally wanted the exhibit to be
Titanic only Right.
This year my mother reallywanted the exhibit to be Titanic
only Right.
And you know I know fromwriting these now 14 times I
think this is my 14th exhibitthat you can't.

(36:35):
It's hard to do it just on onetopic, To keep people's
attention and to make it fulland feel like we've learned a
little something, maybe giggledalong the way, reminded us of
something else.
I mean, I want it to bethought-provoking as well as
intriguing about the costumesand so on.
So I took her Titanic idea,which we talked about, and I

(36:59):
brought in some of the historicvintage clothes.
Then we go into the costumesand then we kind of talk about
this Edwardian era and what wasgoing on, which is such a
fascinating era, and you know.
Victoria was dead and now Edwardwas king and now everybody was,
you know, like let's have aparty.
He was the playboy king andthat's kind of the wardrobe kind
of went by way.

Tiffany Woolley (37:19):
So do you have to do any of your own research
along the way too, oh sure.

Kim Wick (37:23):
And then Titanic is the highlight and the you know
the highlight at the end and theback room is totally set up.

Tiffany Woolley (37:34):
There's like a boat and the whole bit.

Kim Wick (37:36):
The staircase, yeah, and it's really cool.
But doing the research for that, because it's the entire, the
Broadway show is based on reallife people.
The Broadway show is based onreal-life people.
When you're doing research of ahistoric piece, it's so easy to
jump down the rabbit hole,totally.
I mean, it took forever for meto write it, it took nine years

(37:56):
for the writers to write theBroadway show.

Scott Woolley (37:58):
Right.

Kim Wick (37:59):
And every character is based on a real person.
So the history, I mean, I couldgo on for days.
Oh, I know.

Tiffany Woolley (38:06):
Even when you go to the little.

Scott Woolley (38:08):
But you started doing these museum exhibits and
it was a walking talking, andhere's some costumes.
Now you've added video, You'veadded sound.

Kim Wick (38:19):
Immersive yes, and there's still the walking
talking element which.
I think is cool, me too, andpeople like it, and you know I
have a couple of people thatgive to it.

Scott Woolley (38:27):
But some of these you add singing into it, you
add music into it.
We have entertainment for everyevent.

Kim Wick (38:31):
So when they sit down at the tavern at the Wick down
in our main dining room which is, you know, on the wall, is a
photograph of the Crystal Roomat Tavern on the Green.

(38:55):
And the chandelier from Tavernon the Green is over your head
that we bought at auction.
So I mean that room feelsreally magical because so many
of our guests have had a wedding, an anniversary, a bar mitzvah,
something at that beautifulrestaurant and now it's a little
slice of it, a little piece ofit.
So, yeah, they go down and theyhave a beautiful luncheon in
that space and entertainment onthe little stage and we tell
little stories and we answerquestions.

Tiffany Woolley (39:10):
So how many nights or days a week is that
happening during season?

Kim Wick (39:11):
Well, in main season in season, it's almost seven
days a week.
Now that we're out of season,it's like twice a week.
Okay, Because you know, it's nofun to do it with ten people.
They don't enjoy it either.
Right, it's nice to have theinteraction and energy of other
people that are like-minded, iteither right, it's nice to have
the interaction and energy ofother people that are
like-minded that are peoplesharing the same.

Tiffany Woolley (39:29):
So, now that it's the new season and you're
ready to take on this next,which what is your new time?

Scott Woolley (39:35):
I knew you were gonna ask when does the new
season start?

Kim Wick (39:41):
in september, october, and the museum follows the same
calendar as season 12.
It'll be our season 12.
So the, I believe the nextexhibit is going to be called
Behind the Scenes Okay, and it'sgoing to be video.
The immersive experience willbe like I think people don't get

(40:05):
it Like we had to get therights and pay for the rights
for the shows that we're doingthis next season In the theater.

Scott Woolley (40:13):
Two years ago in the theater, talking about the
theater, the Broadway type playsthat you're putting on
producing, creating so how weacquired the stuff.

Kim Wick (40:22):
You know, hiring the directors, the choreography
watching video.
I mean it's going to be allabout behind.
That's what the museum exhibitis going to be like the behind
the scenes, business, part toowhich really of theater and
production I feel like none ofus really take that part into
account.
I mean we are not for profit,but we have to run it as a

(40:44):
business or we'd be anout-of-business not-for-profit
Because I mean, we still have tomake sure that we are making
money.
We can't spend more than wetake in, and that's a fine
little line because we have tospend it all.
Too Usually in the summer we dosome upgrades to lighting or
sound equipment or something tomake up that difference.

Tiffany Woolley (41:07):
So do you go, like every day, monday through
Friday, to the theater?

Kim Wick (41:12):
I work seven days a week.

Tiffany Woolley (41:14):
So you were literally there every day.
I'm there every single day.

Voice Over (41:19):
With very few exceptions and, by the way, so
is my 81 year old mother.

Tiffany Woolley (41:25):
And you know what?
That's why she is got so muchfire.
But you have two big businesses.

Scott Woolley (41:29):
You've got a theater, and then you've got
Costume World.
Costume World is still verymuch running and busy.

Tiffany Woolley (41:36):
And so is Costume World still in its
original location.
Yes, okay, it's where themuseum used to be.

Kim Wick (41:45):
Now it's there.
All of our retail stores aroundthe country have all closed,
they've all closed, and all thatwardrobe is under one roof in
Pompano where the old warehouseused to be, and I mean there's
some conversation about movingInto the WIC.
No, no no.
Moving to a new location.

(42:05):
It's 40,000 square feet.
Right, it's a big space.
The theater's only 32,000 squarefeet, so we need more space
than that, just for the clothes.
But that is the parent company.
Okay, costume World owns thetheater Mm-hmm and of course,
the WIC theater company isperforming there, and that's how
we do it.
How which?

Tiffany Woolley (42:25):
production.
Are you doing this year?
Has that next year?

Kim Wick (42:28):
we're doing the fantastics is our first show and
then we're doing a musicalchristmas carol oh, which is the
susan stroman version and it'sgot a lot of dancing and high
energy.
It will be a magical holidaything to bring the family to.
Yeah, and then, my Fair Lady,is the January show.

Tiffany Woolley (42:48):
That'll be huge .
So is that your first timedoing my Fair Lady as the WIC
company?

Kim Wick (42:54):
We've never done it, but we know it pretty much
inside now.
I think, we'll be okay.
We also own the original CecilBeaton patterns.
So those patterns we've madecostumes over the years from his
original patterns.
So those patterns we've madecostumes over the years from his
original patterns.

Tiffany Woolley (43:09):
Which is such like I mean that's.

Kim Wick (43:13):
We can't use the originals.
They're so fragile.
I mean we've displayed them.
They can be on a mannequin.
Most of them live on amannequin.
They never are taken off of themannequin.
Audrey, I mean not Audrey,pardon me.
Julie Andrews' original ballgown is.
Our insurance stipulates thatit's always on display because

(43:34):
it's a million-dollar dress.
Yeah, it's always got to be inview.
It can't go in storage.
Our Lloyds of London policy,that's so fascinating.

Tiffany Woolley (43:44):
Is that crazy?
So when?

Kim Wick (43:45):
we're not when it's not on display.
It's in my office.
It has a muslin over it.

Tiffany Woolley (43:51):
I was going to ask you how do you protect it,
like for lighting and all thatgood stuff I put muslin over it
when it's in storage.

Kim Wick (43:59):
I mean it's in the dark except for the hour that
it's lit, but it seems like thecollection of costumes that you
have.

Scott Woolley (44:07):
It's such an immense I mean assortment, and
the value must be insane.
Are there like?

Kim Wick (44:17):
buyers for it.
Who knows, I don't know, doessomebody want to buy it?
It's not for sale, but we'lltake some offers.

Tiffany Woolley (44:27):
So like when, say, the ruby red slippers go up
for auction, are those thingsyou guys are interested in and
pay attention to?

Kim Wick (44:34):
Well, debbie Reynolds and my mother did have at least
a conversation on the phoneyears before her auction
happened and we purchased about40 items at the auction.
So we have a lot of that filmstuff and it's interesting to
own that.
It's a different type ofhistoric vibe.

(44:57):
When I go in they're in specialdark gondolas so they're not
affected by the light.
All that kind of stuff we own.
Madonna's, one of her costumesfrom Evita the film.

Tiffany Woolley (45:10):
Oh, that's one of my favorite films too, and
her underwear.
That's so oh my gosh it's crazy.

Scott Woolley (45:16):
Last summer we were in Paris.
Yeah, and what was?
We went to a couple differentplaces.
What was the one fashion housethat we went?

Tiffany Woolley (45:22):
to oh, the Dior Museum.

Scott Woolley (45:24):
Dior.
You know we went through thetour there of all of his and it
was for me it was amazing goingthrough five floors of just
seeing all their iterations andall the things that he created
and people who wore things andthe eras, watching the era
changes and all that.
Correct, but with what you have, it's currently not.

(45:46):
There's currently not.
There's no real.
You don't really have a museumwhere you permanent, where
people could go and spend athree hour.

Kim Wick (45:54):
I guess the store is that.
But I mean there's a museum nowin the Broadway Museum in New
York that you can see some ofthat stuff, you know, and our
museum still is trying to keepthe integrity of the original
way we did it, where you saw therows of costumes with displays
in front of them and stuff likethat.
But it's.

Tiffany Woolley (46:15):
So do they let you hold the museum in the
costume world?
Are you allowed to assemblethere?

Kim Wick (46:21):
No, the old costume world.
It's just a regular store.

Tiffany Woolley (46:25):
Gotcha Regular business license.

Kim Wick (46:27):
Nobody's sitting down there, gotcha, okay, besides at
the desk.

Tiffany Woolley (46:31):
And is that open seven days a week?

Kim Wick (46:34):
In the summer it's open five days a week.
Often they're working sevendays because we do a lot of
summer stock and that meanswe're shipping shows all over
the country.
I think 500 costumes leftyesterday, so how many employees
are there?

Tiffany Woolley (46:47):
Oh?

Kim Wick (46:49):
20.

Voice Over (46:49):
That's a lot.

Kim Wick (46:51):
Not that many.
Ten, probably About ten, yeah500 costumes.
Yeah.

Tiffany Woolley (46:58):
So who manages that?
My mother.

Kim Wick (47:01):
Unbelievable Every day , unbelievable.

Tiffany Woolley (47:04):
What a force.
Yeah, it's so.
What do you see?
Like?
What's next?
Like, clearly you didn'tforesee the theater.
You're continually evolvingwell, we have to all evolve.

Kim Wick (47:19):
I mean, we all know that and it's important.
I have this little thing overmy in my kitchen that hangs over
the sink.
It says do it now or foreverwish you had.
Well, I feel like yes, and youjust have to do it, do it.

Tiffany Woolley (47:33):
I agree.

Kim Wick (47:34):
That's why I bought a historic house in western.
New York, which I'm restoring,which is so much fun, and that's
why we did the museum when wedid it.
That's why it's like when arewe going to do this immersive
thing?
If we don't do it now, weprobably won't be able to afford
the technology 10 years fromnow.
And it's so amazing, so I meanif we, you know, my mother said

(47:54):
several times if we don't buythese wardrobes somebody else
will and then they're ourcompetition.
Yeah, keep on going.
You know, all of us have to.

Tiffany Woolley (48:06):
So, as like, because I feel for me I'm not a
super, I don't understand.
I mean, I'm kind of new toBroadway.
I shouldn't say new but I, likeyou know you go to New York you
see shows.
I mean, I love Phantom of theOpera being like my favorite
ever, oh sure sure, it's like,how do like.
I feel like now too.
There's so many new shows thatcome and go so frequently.

(48:28):
Is that something that you canadapt into the theater too.

Kim Wick (48:33):
Some of these Well, I mean as far as the WIC theater,
the programming is complicated.
First, of all we only have 300seats, and most theaters around
us and near us within 50 mileshave thousands of seats or 600
or 700 seats.
So what happens is you know, wewant to do one of these new

(48:54):
works.
Let's say we want to dosomething new that's on Broadway
right now and it's going toclose.
Well, we bid on it, we put ouroffer in to take the show and as
soon as they see we have 300seats, they say no, they want to
go into a theater with 800seats because the royalties are
stronger.
Obviously they get paid based onyeah you know those royalty
checks are a lot of money.
Yeah, 150 000 almost for everyshow, right off the top.

(49:18):
You know you have to put a lot,of, a lot of folks in seats to
make all that fly.
So we tend to do because thelimitations of how many seats we
have and what we can afford todo with 300 seats.
Also, people don't understand Ican't have a cast of 28 on the

(49:42):
stage and an eight-piece band.
I mean we can't afford it with300 seats.
So we use the highest qualitytracks that are available and,
trust me, I've had people comeup to me and say where was the
orchestra?
And I'm like, oh, they weren'there, they were in a box In New

(50:03):
York and we put them in our youknow, in the machine.
So you know.
But also those 300 seats arethe reason why our theater
thrives, why people compare usto Broadway.
All the time there's anintimacy about the space, the

(50:23):
way it was designed.
I agree you just feel envelopedin the show.
The stage is big, theauditorium there's not a bad
seat, it's cozy, it's veryintimate.
Big 25-inch seats, not 18 likethey are on Broadway.
I mean you've got a full seatso an adult person, a full
figured person, can sit down andnot feel like they're a sausage

(50:43):
in a can.

Scott Woolley (50:46):
Every seat is an orchestra seat.
Every seat in the theater is.
If you go to Kravis or any ofthese others, you've got to be
in the first 10 or 15 rows, oryou may as well have just phoned
it in True.

Kim Wick (51:01):
So that really adds to the whole design, do you see?

Tiffany Woolley (51:05):
adding to the theater Like buying another
theater.

Kim Wick (51:08):
No, this is your baby.
Don't give my mother any ideas.
I don't want to's going to bearound, I know.
But you know also that intimacyis one of the reasons why the
sets are so important and thecasting is so important and the
costumes are so important.
Because, they're not at theKravitz up in the grand tier in

(51:30):
the back Right.
You can appreciate every detail.
You can see all of those detailsand you know, over the years
I've become a set painter and Imean I have more pairs of pants
that have paint on them than Ihave pairs of pants that don't
have paint on them.

Scott Woolley (51:45):
You're a true designer in so many aspects.

Tiffany Woolley (51:47):
You really are.

Scott Woolley (51:48):
From a costume designer to a set designer, to a
theater designer.

Kim Wick (51:53):
And we do hire, I mean you're also an interior
designer.
You're working on restoring oldhomes.
Yeah, it's multi-leveled.
Like we said, everything we doin life is somehow associated
with design, have you?

Scott Woolley (52:09):
ever thought and sat there and said I wish I had
done this in life, or have youalways been really content with
the theater?

Kim Wick (52:17):
I have a great picture and, you know, nobody else
would know that it's me exceptfor me.
But I have two fabulouspictures.
I actually sent them to beprinted.
I'm going to put them in thishouse up north.
One is a fabulous picture of mycousin when she was about six
years old.
We were in Paris and you cansee the Eiffel Tower in the

(52:38):
background on the Champs-Élyséesor something, and she's got her
arms out big as life and thischild shows like in that picture
you can tell so much about heremotion.
So you can tell so much abouther emotion.
And now she's my incrediblytalented artistic cousin who has
a fabulous career and owns arestaurant with her husband and

(53:04):
she's just this amazing creativeperson and she's an artist and
this and that, and you know whatthat picture of her at seven
years old says, all of thosethings.
I have another and so I've gotthat's being blown up to go on
the wall, neatly framed, and, um, I have one of myself, which I
don't.
Unless you knew my baby picture, probably wouldn't know it was

(53:26):
me, nor would you know it wasnicole, but, um, but I'm wrapped
up in one of my mother'sbeautiful brown and black,
beautiful creamy silk scarves.
My mother always was a finedresser and I'm doing like a
pirouette and I've got the scarfwrapped around me and it's
flowing away and my head is upand I look at that picture and

(53:47):
I'm like I've really always beenand I was.
You know, I have another scarftied around my arm.
Yeah, I was designing at likesix years old, right, you know.
And both of those pictures,when I look at them I think I've
grown into that girl.
Oh, I love that Nicole hasgrown into that girl that
embraces life.
And you know, I think some ofthese things are just innate.

Tiffany Woolley (54:11):
They really are ?
I'm sure they are.
You're an incredible designer,I know, and I was like that as a
kid too.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
I mean always, was arrangingeverybody's stuff, yeah, always
organizing and making it in somedisplay fashion.
That was beautiful.
Yeah, what's your?

Kim Wick (54:27):
excuse, Scott.

Tiffany Woolley (54:30):
Now, that's easy.
Well, you're the smart man tomarry this beautiful woman, so
she can design your life.

Kim Wick (54:38):
Yes, so yeah, when I look at those pictures and I've
had them, you know, all my lifethey've been right there and I
was in Paris when that picturewas taken.
We were all together on afamily thing.
But I look at those things andI do see I us, I see my cousin
and I see me and you're proud ofyou.

(54:59):
Yeah, I'm proud of me.
Yep, sure, sure, yeah I lovethat go, just not retire, but
just run away.
I just want to run away to myold house right, which you'll
get to do yeah, yeah, oh that.

Scott Woolley (55:10):
Oh, that's really so special, so I've known you
forever.

Kim Wick (55:13):
Yes.
Forever Should we tell them thestory about the road race.

Scott Woolley (55:16):
Oh gosh, I was running my grocery stores and
came up with this crazy idea,because I don't know if I ever
told you this.
Someone from the city of BocaRaton came to the Wally's
Grocery Store and was telling usthat they were doing the Boca
Festival Days.
It that they were doing theBoca Festival days?
It was this new thing topromote the economy and getting

(55:37):
people out in the summertime.
Because back then, everyoneleft.

Kim Wick (55:41):
Oh sure you could lay down on Palmetto Park Road, I
know.
It's different right.
A car wouldn't even go by and Iwas like I'm a grocery store.

Scott Woolley (55:48):
We want to do Boca Festival days and they were
like well, come up withsomething.
And I always loved cars and hada bunch of cars and was driving
home one night and thought whatabout a road rally?
Because and I had just recently, at that time I think it was, I
don't know it was burt reynolds, one of those movies that came
out.

Kim Wick (56:06):
Yeah, about smoking.

Scott Woolley (56:07):
The band one of those things came out cannonball
run, yeah, and I had a friendand I said, hey, let's do a road
rally.
And he's like what?
I said, you're running agrocery store.
And I said, well, do it on theside.
Yeah, and we put this wholething together, which was a
crazy.

Kim Wick (56:22):
Brilliantly did it Like a scavenger hunt.
I know how fun.

Scott Woolley (56:26):
It was a full day .

Kim Wick (56:27):
Those were.

Scott Woolley (56:27):
Cars and like 1,200, 1,300, 1,400 people all
paid to enter.
Yep, we all paid and it waskind of a race on the streets,
yep, it was like four hours longand that's how you met.

Tiffany Woolley (56:39):
Well, no, listen, wait, wait, tell the
punchline.

Scott Woolley (56:43):
We were organizing Tim Fargo, who I
haven't seen in years, great guy.
We were organizing the thingand this woman gets out of this
car, a slant-nosed Porsche,probably $160,000.

Kim Wick (56:57):
At the time.
At the time, this is like inthe 80s.
Yeah, yeah.

Scott Woolley (57:01):
And we were like, wow, who's this woman, who is
this?
Because this beautiful womangets out of the car and she
walks over and says, and I'mlooking at the car going, oh my
God, I go, is this yourboyfriend's car?
She's like like my boyfriend,no, this is my car.

(57:22):
I love it, don't you love that?
And I was like every guy that Iknew would have died to have
that car and you're like do youguys need some costumes?
I got some ideas to like reallymake this thing fun.
Sounds like a cool idea.
Yeah, you're like what you mean?
Costumes, like you were such anentrepreneur too, really well,
yeah, I guess, so she broughtyou brought all these costumes.

Tiffany Woolley (57:32):
all these costumes a cool idea.
Yeah, You're like, what do youmean?

Kim Wick (57:34):
costumes Like you were such an entrepreneur too,
really Well yeah, I guess yeah,so she brought you, brought all
these costumes, all thesecostumes that are the people it
was really fun.

Scott Woolley (57:45):
I'm like what are we going to do?
What are we going to do withcostumes?
We're driving, we got like andKim, we were like people will
have a blast, and they did.
People went crazy for thecostumes.

Kim Wick (57:56):
And the costumes were so much fun and I mean we ended
up entering the race and it wasfour of us girls and we all
dressed as like aviators.
We had aviator goggles andlittle helmets and of course our
cute little you know, we wereall 20, little figures and
little bathing suits on underwith our little jumpsuit thing.

(58:18):
And who won the race?
You did, we won.
Can you believe it?
The four of us girls won therace.

Tiffany Woolley (58:27):
Yes, I can Believing, I would bet on a wick
any day.
There were like 600 cars.

Scott Woolley (58:32):
I remember there were people like, there was
people they rented a stretchlimousine, oh yeah, all kinds of
things.
And I remember you had, like Idon't know if it was like a
polar bear or some kind ofcostume.
That was a bear or something.

Kim Wick (58:45):
Yeah, we brought lots of costumes.
People were wearing all these.

Scott Woolley (58:47):
Frankenstein costumes.

Kim Wick (58:49):
Yeah.

Scott Woolley (58:49):
And I was like this is really bizarre.

Kim Wick (58:52):
Someone's going to get in an accident with these
costumes on and people were likecrazy over it and you guys
brilliantly did the scavengerpart of it because you know we
had to go from point to pointyou brought some ideas in,
because at the time MichaelKeaton the Batman movie was
really big and you were likebecause we had different places

(59:13):
where you had to figure out theclues.

Scott Woolley (59:15):
You know it was all sorts of fun clues.
But then there were places likea clue was go ask batman where
the next turn is yeah, you'relike what's that?

Kim Wick (59:23):
but you helped we had batman dressed yeah you would
drive down like federal highwayand there would be batman and
you'd stop your car, go get thenext clue and go to the next
place.
It was really brilliant.
You guys did an amazing.
And of course we had a littleadvantage because we'd lived
here, all you know since 72.
We really knew our way aroundand they had some clues that and

(59:46):
Brian Yousum was helping too.

Scott Woolley (59:48):
Well, brian, brian and Mark.
They dressed up as banditoslike.
Mexican banditos and they weresmart enough.
They got dressed up with theMexican costumes and the guns
and stuff and then they went toPompano, to the Frito-Lay plant.
There used to be a plant there.
Oh yeah, the Frito-Laydistributor was like in Pompano

(01:00:09):
or Deerfield and somehow theytook Brian Newsome, talked them
into the fact that they weregoing to promote Frito-Lay and
give it out.
They gave bags of Frito-Lay.
Mark was driving a Porsche 911and Frito-Lay completely filled
the convertible 911 Porsche withFritos, fritos and they would

(01:00:30):
drive down the road during thisrace and the Fritos were flying
around and they were giving.
Fritos out and they were calledthe Frito Banditos.
Yeah.

Kim Wick (01:00:37):
Oh my gosh, what great times.
It was so crazy and again thefour of us girls won.
There were some guys that werenot happy about it.

Scott Woolley (01:00:46):
Oh yeah, there were a lot.
They were really ticked andthere was a huge party at the
Bounty Lounge.
We gave out trophies.
It was a big pool party oh mygosh.

Tiffany Woolley (01:00:57):
Those are good memories.

Kim Wick (01:00:59):
And I think we got like a $5,000 prize which we
donated to something I can't.
There was a benefactor to it,wasn't it Diabetes, I can't
remember.
It may have been the Tim SnowFoundation, like his first or
second year oh, it might havebeen because Tim drove, I know
we we were like we all looked ateach other and we were like we

(01:01:22):
can't accept it and we obviouslydonated.
We had trophies and I still hadthe trophy until like not that
many years ago.

Tiffany Woolley (01:01:31):
I was like it's time, it's time to go.

Kim Wick (01:01:35):
It was tall and it had a car on the top.
Oh, my goodness.

Scott Woolley (01:01:38):
We designed a poster, Tim and I, which we put
all over.
Boca to promote it, and thenthis woman who was a small
little ad agency I can'tremember her name in Delray.
She helped us with doing somepromotion.
She submitted the poster and itwas my first Addy for Design
that I won an award for designbefore I ever got into the

(01:02:00):
television business.

Tiffany Woolley (01:02:01):
Oh, how cool.

Kim Wick (01:02:03):
That's very cool.
I wish I had one of those.

Tiffany Woolley (01:02:05):
I know Well speaking of and.

Scott Woolley (01:02:08):
Costume World was my place.
I went to for years, I know.

Tiffany Woolley (01:02:12):
Yeah, it is still a fun experience.

Scott Woolley (01:02:14):
I used to throw the Halloween party for the
Florida Panther hockey team andused to get all the stuff from
Costume World.
I know.

Kim Wick (01:02:21):
And Mrs Huizenga used to come and get like she would
call us and order like 8,000rats.

Tiffany Woolley (01:02:28):
Oh, that's so funny.
I remember that time.

Scott Woolley (01:02:31):
I can tell you the whole story behind that is
the rats.
I was tell you the whole storybehind that is the rats.
I was one of the myself andanother guy, dave Fouillon, were
the ones that Mrs Heisingerbrought the rats which no one
was ever supposed to know.
We distributed them.
Dave and I got a couple offriends and we distributed them
throughout the arena, givingthem to fans.
Then I had had a conversationwith Mr Heisinger after, like

(01:02:55):
the second game of doing it.
They should go get a sponsor,get one of the what do you call
it?

Kim Wick (01:03:05):
Tons of corporate sponsors no.

Scott Woolley (01:03:07):
Concession?
No, no, who's the companies youhire, like Orkin and Hewlett?

Kim Wick (01:03:12):
Oh, that's right.
Exterminators, exterminators,exterminators.
I said to him.

Scott Woolley (01:03:15):
I said you should get an exterminator and he
ended up getting a deal with.

Tiffany Woolley (01:03:19):
Orkin, I remember that.

Scott Woolley (01:03:20):
And basically the guys who went and cleaned it up
wore Orkin exterminating shirtsand hats as a sponsorship, but
then all the rats would getcollected.
They would be broughtdownstairs and put in a closet.
And then Dave and I and acouple of friends would go to
the closet and distribute themback into the arena.

Tiffany Woolley (01:03:42):
Oh my gosh.

Scott Woolley (01:03:42):
And then it got shut down because the NHL
basically was going to fine theteam if it continued.

Kim Wick (01:03:47):
If they continued the rubber on the ice.

Scott Woolley (01:03:48):
So now I know where they got the rats from.

Kim Wick (01:03:50):
They got them from us, that's so funny the first time
she called, she ordered, and Momand I talked about that not
that long ago.
She personally called andordered like 400.
Well, you, know.

Scott Woolley (01:04:02):
She didn't want anyone to know because she
basically pulled Dave and I offto the side and said Listen, the
rats are going to be put intothis closet.
You don't tell anyone aboutthis.
I don't know anything aboutthis, no one else does, and
don't get caught.

Tiffany Woolley (01:04:15):
They have that fun energy too, yeah.

Scott Woolley (01:04:18):
She really created that.
I don't want to get her introuble.

Tiffany Woolley (01:04:21):
No that's so cute.

Kim Wick (01:04:23):
Unfortunately both of them are gone.
I know, I know they were verydear people.
Yes, yes, well, and it'sinteresting, my fian fiance
works at Panther Stadium now.
Oh, that's so funny, he's inengineering and all that stuff
responsible for the ice.

Voice Over (01:04:41):
Oh, wow.

Kim Wick (01:04:44):
With others, but you know.

Tiffany Woolley (01:04:45):
Wow.

Kim Wick (01:04:46):
But it's so funny, it's like, oh gosh, it's just
come full circle.

Scott Woolley (01:04:49):
It really is so season starts at the WIC In
October, in October, and you'vegot four or five shows.
Oh yeah, I didn't finish ourshow.

Kim Wick (01:04:58):
I didn't finish the lineup, so Fantastics is first
and it runs for about four weeksright.

Scott Woolley (01:05:02):
Yeah, so for people who want to check it out
and they can go to the WICorgand our lineup is there.

Kim Wick (01:05:08):
You can't buy single tickets, yet we're still in our
subscription drive, but thatusually ends by the 4th of July,
so subscription drive is what.
That's with folks that buy allfive shows, so it's discounted,
and they always sit in the sameseats.
We have a lot of loyalsubscribers.
They don't care what we do, butthey want to see it.
But next year is theFantastics' first, which, by the

(01:05:30):
way, ran for like 40 years offBroadway and Broadway.
So it's a great show.
And then A Musical ChristmasCarol, and then my Fair Lady.
Coming for that too, and thenCamelot Ooh, which will be
incredible, incredible.
And then the last show is Cher.

Tiffany Woolley (01:05:47):
And I tell people.

Kim Wick (01:05:48):
I tell people on stage when I'm doing my curtain
speech all the time.
I know a lot of folks in theneighborhood have seen it at
Kravitz, but I promise you itwill be better at the WIC.

Scott Woolley (01:05:59):
But I understand you own some of her.

Kim Wick (01:06:01):
We own the original Broadway clothes which you did
not see at the Kravitz, Trust me, and we're gonna the display
next year in the museum.
Hopefully will share wardrobethe Bob Macie wardrobe will be
the highlight.

Tiffany Woolley (01:06:17):
I mean all these designers that you can
someday build one of yourexhibits on.

Kim Wick (01:06:24):
I mean, William Ivey Long is another big one.
I mean, his stuff is everywhere.

Scott Woolley (01:06:28):
Have you ever thought about putting a coffee
book together of all these?

Kim Wick (01:06:30):
Yeah, you got some time you can set it up I know, I
know it really is so much to doand it's just the details the
details, all the details, I meanI say all the time you know we
really need to hire, you knowfive more really been
photographed?

Scott Woolley (01:06:49):
has everything been photographed?

Kim Wick (01:06:50):
a lot of it was we used to have a professional
little studio area set up and wewould photograph all the time,
because we do obviously have anonline presence, Pardon me, so
it's important to have thoseimages.
But yeah, I mean a coffee tablebook would be amazing.

(01:07:10):
There will be one eventually.

Tiffany Woolley (01:07:13):
My mother needs to write her life story too she
does and, by the way, you needto produce the film.
I love that.
That's a great.
I agree it's special.

Kim Wick (01:07:23):
It is really great, really inspiring story and it is
so multi leveled.
When I started writing my bio,I have a bio that we use in the
playbill for the stuff I do.
It's so old I need to go redoit.
I started trying to write mybio to send something over to

(01:07:43):
you guys.
I was like I didn't realize I'ddone that.
I forgot about that I have built12, 14 spec homes.
I did do that when life iszipping along.
It's so true and I'm not reallyso ego-driven that I like think

(01:08:03):
about that stuff all the time,I mean, I'm surrounded by a
mother, that is which is okay.
It's better that she is and I'mnot.
I love it, oh, I love it, andjust wouldn't trade her for
anything in the whole damn world.
What a ride but yeah, I mean,you know, sometimes look back

(01:08:25):
and reflect on wow, you knowwe're born, and then we die, and
the middle is the dash this isthe dash, our dash.

Tiffany Woolley (01:08:32):
We're all working on our dash.
Well, you is the dash.

Kim Wick (01:08:33):
This is your dash, our dash.

Tiffany Woolley (01:08:34):
We're all working on our dash.
Well, you're doing a great jobon your dash and thank you for
sharing just the like.
I feel like a smidgen.
I could talk to you all day.

Kim Wick (01:08:43):
Oh, we could keep on going.
Oh my gosh.
Okay, so part two and threewill be filmed at a later time.

Tiffany Woolley (01:08:49):
Stay tuned.
Oh gosh, Well, thank you somuch Thank you for having me.

Kim Wick (01:08:53):
It was a lot of fun For joining us on iDesign.
I mean.
This has been great it reallyis special, thank you.
Thank you.

Voice Over (01:09:01):
Idesign Labs Podcast is an SW Group production in
association with the Five Starand TW Interiors.
To learn more about iDesign Labor TW Interiors, please visit
twinteriorscom.