Background
Pearce was born and raised in Miami, Florida.
Pearce was born and raised in Miami, Florida.
He holds a BA from Barry University in Miami, and an MFA in design from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He began his career in show business as a performer specialized in musical comedy but is also a classically trained mime and studied with Marcel Marceau.
He lives in New York City. In addition he designed the films Let It Snow starring Bernadette Peters and The Big Gay Musical. Pearce also designed Chita Rivera's concert tour Chita, And All That Jazz and Off-Broadway's Behind the Beat starring Vicki Sue Robinson.
Pearce designed the wigs and costumes for the long running Off-Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes which has numerous regional productions. His work has often received critical acclaim, The Washington Post commented that his costume design for L'incoronazione di Poppea at Wolf Trap Opera "makes references to the Italy of Caesar and the Italy of Versace but keeps them in a state of suspended animation. Poppea has clearly enjoyed the ministrations of a 20th century couturier.
(Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post) For Mark Dendy's Altogether Different at the Joyce Theater in New York, his costumes were called "enjoyably splashy and sexy" (The New York Times), "excellent costumes" (The Village Voice) and "a smashing revue parade of 13 separate numbers, all stylishly costumed by Bobby Pearce" (Clive Barnes, The New York Post). Reviews for Taboo include. "What the show does have and could not exist without - is a great sense of style - on top of this come nonstop outlandish, freaky and beautiful costumes" (New York Newsday), and "flagrantly stylish, outrageously sexy ... sit back and watch the fashion show" (Ben Brantley, The New York Times).
He has designed over 30 gowns for Marla Maples, many of which have been featured in numerous magazines. His favorite "Diva" to date was the late Gwen Verdon for whom he designed over a dozen gowns. Pearce also designed the costumes for The Big Gay Sketch Show on Logo TV, which began its third season in 2010.
Pearce has a longtime association with Rosie O'Donnell. He has been featured in the magazine "Rosie" and has made over a dozen appearances on The Rosie O'Donnell Show doing crafts and singing songs with O'Donnell. He appears as a regular on Rosie Radio (O'Donnell's daily morning radio show) on Sirius and XM Radio.
2004 Tony Award Nomination for Best Costume Design – Taboo.