Dressing up in costumes is a favorite activity for many children - think princess dresses and superhero outfits. But some people take that creativity into adulthood with a hobby that lets them bring their favorite characters to life.
There’s a small shop in the Rushmore Mall with mannequins in iconic Disney Princess outfits and images of people dressed as comic book characters. It’s an outlet for creativity and...play. And they call it “cosplay.”
“Cosplay is costume portrayal. Say somebody loves Superman. They’re like ‘I want to be Superman’. They would dress up as Superman, they get into character as Superman, and they treat people like Superman would treat people. Basically it’s live theater.”
Bridgett J. Farruggia owns Seraphim Theatrical Entertainment with her husband. The space has a studio for fashion design and a stage for theater productions. She says cosplay characters aren’t just limited to comic books. It’s an outlet for whatever inspires a person.
“Anything. T.V. shows. Movies. Book series. People have cosplayed from the musical Hamilton on Broadway.
Farrugia and her husband met as actors. They got married and decided to open the business four years ago. Both have full time jobs outside of entertainment, and run the theater in their free time.
“We do full scale live productions. We do a Halloween interactive immersive theater and then we also do on-site location events like murder mysteries, improve shows, and game show nights for people. It’s really fun. We do all sorts of things. If you need a character for your kids birthday party, we do that too.”
28 year old Farruggia says the theater has grown over the years. With a little innovation and hard work, she says they’ve gotten to a point where they earn enough to keep it running. The next step is to bring in enough money to pay for employees.
“This is our passion. This is what we love. This is what we do. It’s growing, eventually we’ll get it to a full time business but until then it’s purley done out of love.”
Farruggia has a degree in fashion design. She runs a sewing studio called Euphoria.
“I am the costume shop of Seraphim. That’s where my studio is, it’s in the theater.”
She gets commissions for custom cosplay outfits and wedding dresses. Lately, she’s been incorporating superhero themes into everyday wear.
“Menswear inspired by superheroes. So I take the superhero suit that they would like and I translate it into a common, everyday menswear shirt.”
Farruggia uses the superhero’s colors with lines that resemble the suit to create her tailored button-up shirts. But she also joins in the fun, creating cosplay costumes for herself and her husband. They’re favorite characters are Rogue and Gambit, a couple from the X-Men comic book series.
“We both fell in love with them when we were kids and watched the animated cartoon series. And we grew up, met each other and we’re like ‘you like Gambit, I like Rogue, they’re kind of like our couple.”
Farruggia recreates the fictional couples costumes and brings them to life with her husband. They travel to comic cons, conventions for people who like cosplay. They also do photoshoots in character. Many of those images end up on Farruggia’s Instagram page where she’s gained a following.
“We’re making a calendar right now inspired by the X-Men and we’re creating comic book pages for the calendar. And it just started picking up like ‘oh you’re the Rogue and Gambit couple. Oh, we love your work. We met you at Denver Comic Con. We met you at Chicago Wizard World.”
Farruggia says she likes meeting people who appreciate the work that goes into her outfits. She says the best part of cosplay is brining characters that inspire you to life.
“Other people who love those things are inspired by what you do and you’re inspired by other people who love the same things. So it’s a beautiful, positive, creative atmosphere that you can build with people from across the world.”
Farruggia is expanding the theater’s social media outreach. She’s collaborating with three local artists for a YouTube channel with tutorials on cosplay costumes and fanart. She hopes their work pays off so she can follow her passion full time.