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Stadelmeier-Tresco’s Gift for Glitz  By Andy Smith
After 11 years of creating collectible teddy bears for BC/EFA’s annual Broadway Bears auction, Therese Stadelmeier-Tresco has learned a few tricks about marketing. “If I design more than one bear for a particular auction, I always go for the ‘crow factor’ with one of them,” she says. “Out of 40 bears jockeying for attention, if it’s shiny and sparkly, someone will pick it out of the crowd and want it for their nest.” A costume designer and draper, whose background includes constructing costumes for Broadway shows and designing collectible dolls, Tresco was one of the guiding forces behind the first teddy bear auction in 1998, says Scott Stevens, the event’s producer. At the time, Therese had left a position with Alexander Doll Company and taken a position draping at Parsons-Meares Ltd., a major Broadway costume shop, where she “browbeat her co-workers” into contributing their time and talents to the bear auction, too. Tresco created 11 bears during the auction’s first five years, including characters from The Will Rogers Follies, Brigadoon, Kiss Me Kate, A Chorus Line, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Boyfriend, Bette Midler’s Divine Madness, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Dancin’, and even Equus (Thanks to Nino Novellino for the shoes and mask). After taking a few years off, she returned in 2006 and has picked up her needle with renewed enthusiasm. In 2008 she created a bear based on Urinetown’s Penelope Pennywise (which sold for $3,200) and, one of her biggest challenges ever—a Siamese Cat from Cats ($4,000). The first bear Therese created was the “Campaign Girl” from The Will Rogers Follies. “It was easy since I had just made the real thing 20 times over for the show. However, after that there’s always been a different reason for the bear I’ve chosen to make.” “In a way, I feel like the bears always come to me,” she adds. Case in point, while building Bette Midler’s mermaids for her Diva Las Vegas Tour, Therese spotted a wheelchair in a doll catalog and knew it was time to create the Devine Madness version “all the way down to the coconuts!” The Simpler Life In November 2002 Therese married and relocated to the Boston area, where she lives and freelances, dividing her time between clients like Nickelodeon Recreation and Oasis Productions and a number of charities. The new owner of a Yorkshire Terrier, Therese is starting her own clothing design company: for dogs. Proceeds will benefit Yorkiesinc.com, an organization that finds new homes for Yorkies in an effort to keep them out of shelters. “You never know what direction your life will take you. I’m an avid gardener who married a dog magnet. It’s cold here in New England and in the fall we were at our favorite garden center; the owners have Yorkies and Dachshunds and the clothes they (the dogs) had on just didn’t fit. So after years of doing it for actors, I decided to design some apparel for dogs their shape and size, and now six months later I have a dog and a new business.” she says. Joy of Giving Reflecting the sentiments of other bear designers who have helped this event raise $1.5 million in just over a decade, Therese adds, “You don’t get rich as a costume designer, but I made a good living and had a great life, doing what I enjoyed. It has meant a lot to be able to use that skill for organizations like Broadway Cares. Because, let’s face it, I’d never be in a position to write a $6,000 check to BC/EFA on my own.”
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