Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542297
10 SPRING 2026 S P O T L I G H T By Kathleen Qiu Marcia Moore rowing up in Trinidad, Local 705 Women's Custom Made Pattern Maker Marcia Moore learned to sew from a young age by watching her Tailor/ Seamstress mom. "I started learning to sew at the age of 11. I made my first dress at the age of 12. My mom was my biggest influence. She was a Tailor/Seamstress and had a shop and her own clientele. Whenever she worked on projects, she allowed me to sit and observe her. I always looked at her work and loved what she created and her attention to detail. I learned everything from her and worked alongside her for six years as her apprentice." In her mother's shop, Moore learned the skills that would eventually translate into her lifelong career in both theater and film and television. "My training as a Pattern Maker and Fitter started in my mom's shop. She would have me "freehand" cut garments without a pattern, which was hard for me to learn at first. It took about four months for me to master measuring and cutting on my own." By the age of 15, Moore had ambitions to make clothing for celebrities after seeing all the beautiful costumes on television, and in 1999, she moved to New York City to make her dreams come true. She was 33 years old at the time and got her first job working at a costume shop called Eric Winterling, where she built costumes for various Broadway productions. "At Eric Winterling, I started off as a Stitcher and worked on my first Broadway show, Bells Are Ringing." She soon followed that up with more than 25 shows and productions, including Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, The Pirate Queen, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Wicked, Mary Poppins, and Les Misérables. "Every show was an enriching experience for me. I worked in several different time periods and G Elphaba's dress from original Broadway run of Wicked, custom-made by Marcia Moore.