Welcome to Curtain Call, the costume rental shop for schools, churches, community theaters, and anybody who needs to be somebody else for an evening. I'm Shirley Mosley. For twenty years I was the wardrobe mistress for a community theater here in town, which means I spent twenty years hemming nuns, letting out Santas, and sewing Tevye back into his trousers ten minutes before curtain.

In 1991 I took my own collection, which had long since outgrown my basement, plus a good deal of nerve, and opened the shop downtown in an old shoe store across from the library. Eight years later there are about three thousand costumes on the racks, the old shoe shelves hold four hundred wigs, and I still get a lump in my throat when a show I dressed takes its bow.

Look around. If you don't see what you need, call me. If I don't have it, I can probably make it, and if I can't make it, I know who's got it.

Everything is sorted by period, the way a wardrobe room ought to be. These are round numbers. I count them every January, and by February they're wrong again.

Plus about 400 wigs, more hats than I want to admit, and a prop room: canes, parasols, fans, lanterns, crowns, carpetbags, old suitcases, and blunt stage swords that couldn't cut butter.

Most of the high schools, middle schools and community theaters in this part of the state do the same handful of musicals in rotation, and so I keep complete shows ready to go. A package dresses the whole cast, leads and chorus, and I'll do the fitting and the alterations myself.

• Package prices cover three weeks: dress rehearsal week and two weekends of performances. Each extra week is $75.
• Cleaning is included. So are my alterations.
• Schools and churches take 10% off.
• Fittings are at the shop on Saturday mornings, or I'll bring the racks to your school for a fitting night anywhere within thirty miles, for $25.
• A deposit of one quarter of the package price holds your dates.

Doing a different show? Call me. I've dressed Bye Bye Birdie, Hello, Dolly!, Grease, The Wizard of Oz, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (yes, I have the coat), and more Christmas Carols than I can count.

One costume for one person: for a play, a pageant, a mystery dinner, a parade, a church program, a retirement roast, or a party any time of year.

A word to the wise: the Santa suits are spoken for by Thanksgiving every year. If you're going to be Santa for the office party, reserve him now.

All through October the shop is open to everybody, no appointment needed. Come in, try things on, and leave as somebody else.

• Three-day rental: $25 to $60 for a complete costume.
• Deposit: $50 a costume, cash or check, which you get back when the costume comes back clean and in one piece.
• You must be 18 to rent, with a driver's license.

Hours, this year's most-asked-for costumes, and what to know with the 31st on a Sunday are all on the Halloween 1999 page.

Some of these costumes are older than the actors wearing them, and they've lasted because they've been cared for. Please help me keep it that way.

1. Please don't wash anything, and don't take it to the dry cleaner. Cleaning is included in every rental, and I do it myself, the right way for each fabric.
2. Don't cut, hem or sew. Pin with safety pins only, on the inside. I'll show you how, and for show packages I do the alterations.
3. Mind the makeup. Wear a scarf or a tissue around the collar while you put it on. Heavy makeup stains are a $10 cleaning charge.
4. No stage blood, spray glitter or colored hair spray on my costumes unless we've talked about it first.
5. Smoke: a costume that comes back smelling of cigarettes gets an extra $10 cleaning charge.
6. Damage is charged at what it costs to repair. A costume that's lost or ruined is charged at replacement cost, which is written on your rental agreement before you leave.
7. Late returns are $5 a costume per day.

The evening hours are for the teachers and the volunteers who can't get here till after work. I know how it is. I was one of you.

To reserve, call me at (555) 555-0119 or e-mail [email protected]. There's no form to fill out. Just tell me:

• the name of the show, or what the costume is for,
• your rehearsal and performance dates,
• how many are in the cast, and roughly what ages and sizes,
• and a telephone number where I can reach you in the evening.

I'll mail you a reservation letter with the deposit amount, and once the deposit comes in, your dates are held. Book early: spring musicals go up in March and April, and the good shows are spoken for by January. Christmas shows should be booked by the first of October.