Anyone who has worked in props on the East Coast recognizes the name “Anything But Costumes.” Tucked away on a small farm in New Jersey halfway between Philadelphia and New Jersey, this prop rental company serviced theaters, films, and television shows in both cities, and everywhere in between. Props people on Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway relied on their low prices and wide selection to keep their shows in budget, and knew they could fill out their set dressing with just a single trip.

Word spread this week that they are closing at the end of the summer. The pandemic has already made it difficult to imagine a time when theater will return and all of us will get back to the work we love, but it is now even harder to imagine propping these shows without such a reliable and necessary resource available to us.

The owners, Linda and Lowell, sent out the following statement with their plans:

After 25 years Anything But Costumes will be closing this summer.  We have lost our lease and COVID-19 has just made business extremely difficult. We had hoped another party would take over and continue our mission of supplying schools and theaters with less expensive props.

We will be selling all the props and also lots of other stuff, like shelving, ladders, hand trucks, supplies, craft items, fabric, display cases, lumber, etc. If you are interested in buying items you can make an appointment to come here and look or you can buy from our online catalogue. The purchase price would be twice the rental price shown in the catalogue.   At some point we will probably have an auction later in the summer.