From the casual school clothes of Up the Down Staircase to the wedding dresses in I Do? and from the 18th century dresses of Jane Eyre to the intricate magical-objects in the upcoming musical Beauty and the Beast, the Prairie Ridge costumes crew creates memories and wonderful experiences for the audience in addition to the costumes that they sew. Therefore, costumes are an essential part to any production, providing the mood of the piece and the style of the era it takes place in. In fact, much hard work and effort is required to plan the costumes for each and every show.

According to Mrs. Brockland, who heads the costumes crew, once the director chooses the show, she reads through the script.

“I ask [the director] questions about the feel [of the story], like if its darker, or if its more lively and upbeat,” she explained. “Based on what… [he] want[s] the show to look like, I then base colors and … the style of how things are going to come out.”

However, planning costumes entails a detailed process, consisting of many steps. “I research the production we’re doing so that I have a good idea of the time period and the style of the costumes, paired to what the directors want,” Mrs. Brockland described.

Senior Aashini Patel, who has been the head of costumes in the plays ever since the end of sophomore year, added how “at the beginning, [the costumes crew] all come together. We talk about each character and what they should wear, depending on if they’re arrogant and proud, shy, or smart.”

Often times, if the items are already in the costumes closet, the crew scrounges through the dozens of outfits in order to find these certain pieces. However, Mrs. Brockland explained that “usually, my colors and designs are specific. I want it to look a particular way, and because of that, I’ll actually design [the costumes].”

Due to the variety of tasks at hand, Mrs. Brockland’s crew assists her with this elaborate process.

“We do [tasks like] sewing on the sewing machines, pinning, cutting out patterns, fitting clothes on the cast, and ironing,” said freshman Emma Stettner, who recently joined costumes crew for the upcoming musical. Along with these responsibilities, members must also organize and label costumes and know how to hand sew for quick repairs during the actual shows.

While the costumes crew must meet up with these expectations, often times, they must overcome many challenges within the production.

“I Do? was the most challenging production since it was student run,” reflected Aashini. “Not many of the directors had in mind what they wanted to see on stage. [The costumes crew] had to analyze the script… It was really hard to delve into the characters’ personalities.”

In addition to exploring the ‘perfect’ costumes, quick dress changes for the cast sometimes acts as an obstacle. “ In the past show, we had to change Jack from a business suit to a Hamlet costume in forty-five seconds,” stated Aashini. “We had to improvise. Instead of giving him tights, we gave him really long socks.”

Even mechanical tasks can be difficult at times. Junior Brooke Johnson, new to costumes crew, explained how “gathering ruffles is challenging, while cutting and sewing expensive fabric is nerve-wracking.”

Though these challenges exist in every production, in some cases, the production itself proves extremely difficult to work with. “The one that I’ve liked the least is this past fall’s, specifically The Actor’s Nightmare,” declared Mrs. Brockland. “I didn’t like it because you didn’t just have to know one show, but you had to to know the shows that were written in the script. You had to research five shows… It was really hard.”

Even with these obstacles to overcome, the costumes crew simply loves their job! “I like the challenge a lot because, we never have a small cast, so it’s interesting how it comes together,” said Mrs. Brockland. “I really like how things look on the stage- like its eye candy.”

For this reason, Mrs. Brockland thoroughly enjoyed the musical production Thoroughly Modern Millie. “The show itself is designed in such a way where it lends itself to large groups… mean[ing] that you can take the color spectrum and divide it, so that each scene has a particular color scheme. It’s really interesting to the eye,” she explained.

In addition to the the effects of the costumes produced on stage, many members enjoy the fun atmosphere of being part of the crew.“I love it!” said Brooke. “It’s fun to learn new skills that I’ve never had! It was cool to learn how to sew curves and actually put it together to make a hem or a final product of a skirt.”

“I really like spending time with the kids after school,” added Mrs. Brockland, and Aashini describes costume crew as “a second family.”

See the musical activity page for information on tickets sales for the upcoming Beauty and the Beast musical here at Prairie Ridge.