Behind the Scenes—There’s something about Mary Lou

By David Hsieh

Mary Lou Houston, BAM's wardrobe supervisor, is retiring after 20 years. Photo: Ben Katz

Mary Lou Houston started working in the theater on a fluke. It was in 1975 and she was in San Francisco, trying to open a restaurant. “A friend of mine who was working for the San Francisco Opera knew I could sew and told me the company needed someone in the costume shop. I went in for what I thought was an interview. Instead, they immediately sat me at the sewing machine, making alterations,” said Mary Lou, BAM’s wardrobe supervisor.

The sideline turned out to be very useful when the restaurant business did not pan out. So instead of spatulas and ladles, she waved scissors and needles; instead of carrots, lemongrass, and salmon, she arranged satin, sequins, and buttons. When BAM came calling in 1995, she had 20 years of experience working opera, ballet, American Conservatory Theater, touring houses in San Francisco, toured herself nationally, and worked New York theater. By then she was living in Prospect Heights and was happy to walk to work.  

Fast-forward 20 years: Mary Lou Houston will retire at the end of this season. Sitting in her sun-filled workroom in the Peter Jay Sharp Building, where the Howard Gilman Opera House is located (“Probably the best wardrobe room in New York—all these windows!”), she recalled the tens of thousands of costumes that passed through her hands and revealed a few tricks for those of us who treat a trip to the laundromat as the pinnacle of clothing care...