Interview: Jeanette Hawley, costume shop manager at the American Repertory Theatre
I'm super excited to have another new interview to share, this time with Jeanette Hawley, the costume shop manager at the American Repertory Theatre, the LORT theatre in residence at Harvard University. In the interest of full disclosure, Jeanette was my manager for the four years i worked as the staff crafts artisan at the ART, and before that as an overhire draper when she managed the shop at Emerson College. I'm so pleased she was able to take time out of her busy schedule to share all this great info with labricoleuse!
For a bit of background for the readers (and because i am sure things have changed since i was last there), would you describe the shop at the ART?
The costume shop at the American Repertory Theatre is located on the second floor of the theater building, and boasts the rare shop amenity of natural light. The shop owns four industrial straight stitch sewing machines, two steam generating irons, an industrial zig-zag machine, and two overlock machines. There are also several dress forms, cutting tools, and the like.
The current Artistic Director is very dedicated to incubating new work, which often then moves for the New York and Broadway market. To that end, the seasonal employment tends to be based on particular projects, rather that an eight or nine month "season". We are proud to have created four projects that are receiving great acclaim in New York: Sleep No More, Once, The Blue Flower, and The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. The shop supports the work of the ART/IMAXT Institute for Advanced Theater Training as well as some of the Harvard/Radcliffe Drama Club’s productions. The shop produces costumes for several different spaces, the main stage in the Loeb Drama Center, Club Oberon (a venue that presents new work in a club setting), and often off-site ‘site-specific’ productions for which there must be an entire external shop and wardrobe department created.
The staff consists of the Costume Shop Manager, the Assistant Costume Shop Manager, a costume technician, and a crafts artisan. The costume technician functions as a stitcher, a patternmaker, a crafts assistant, an alterations captain, or whatever the project requires. The crafts artisan is responsible for dyeing, painting, accessories, armor, masks, jewelry, distressing or breaking down costumes, and even some wigs. Additional staff are hired on a per-project basis as needed. For example, the recent production of The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, which will begin its Broadway run December 17, required the hiring of three outside shops, as well as eight additional technicians in the ART shop. At the moment however, there is no build in process, so the shop is staffed solely by the manager.
Ensemble for The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess - The Crap Game.
Photo by Michael J. Lutch
What are your responsibilities as Costume Shop Manager?
My responsibilities as Costume Shop Manager primarily consist of hiring staff, setting schedules, creating and tracking budgets, and overseeing the progress of work on a daily basis. Since the shop is so small, I often function as the shopper, escorting designers to local vintage shops and retail outlets. One perk is that I get to work on bizarre special effects. Ajax designer David Zinn wanted the suicide blood to ‘spurt and gush ten feet’ and it did! It is my duty to run the fittings, keeping them on track and on time, making sure both the designer and the technician get all the information they need. I oversee rentals from our main stockroom, the supervisor of the student stock rooms, and the wardrobe and wigs departments as well.
I have developed excellent relationships with other costume shops in the area, so that we can share staff and other resources. The job requires many meetings with my peers in other areas of production, to ensure resources are evenly distributed. For example, many props are made from fabrics, so if there is a slow time for my crew, we’ll help the prop shop. We have made flags and drops for the scene shop as well. I view my position as manager as one of service, I must ensure that the equipment is in working order, that my staff has enough labor, and that materials arrive in a timely fashion. I meet with my staff daily to make sure I am supporting them properly, which includes helping them solve any interpersonal or work life issues.
What is your educational and/or professional background in the area of costume production?
I came to this job in 2000 after running the costume shop at Emerson College for 4 years. My interest in costume production began quite young. I am from a family that was mad about Halloween costumes, and we had that trunk in the attic filled with antique clothes and costumes that we played dress-up with. I began making costumes for theater productions in high school, and I have a BA in theater studies. At UMass Amherst, I fell in love with the costume shop and had the good fortune to be trained by an amazing tailor before I had the sense to be intimidated by tailoring! I’ve worked in small stitching collectives, and in 1983, I founded my own business making custom clothing and costumes. I have free-lanced in all areas of costume production, draping, stitching, crafts, wardrobe and design.
Having this broad base of experience coupled with a strong business sense has been excellent training for management. It is less creative than construction, but I love meeting new challenges every day. We do have to constantly re-invent the wheel, especially at the ART, where new projects envision almost filmic production support.
The ART operates in residence at Harvard University. How does the costume shop's function mesh with the greater Harvard academic community?
Our Artistic Director has been appointed a professor at Harvard, so many productions which she directs are developed within her coursework. The ART has a large presence on campus due to the interest of Drew Faust, our new president. We participate in many events on campus and for Harvard as a whole. The costume shop has made costumes for the Harvard Dance Department as well and the Drama Club. When asked, we support Harvard student projects. I am in the planning stages of creating costume trainings and seminars for Harvard students.
What advice would you give to readers who aspire to a career in costume shop management?
If you aspire to a career in costume shop management, let me offer a bit of advice or guidance. There are many books that will tell you all the charts you need to produce, you can study business to learn how to budget money that hasn’t been earned yet, but what you really need is firm flexibility. Information and resources will change constantly. It is like running an emergency room with limited funds. You need to be able to predict any problems (or disasters) that might arise, and have a solid plan in place to deal with them. There will be a completely unforeseen event with each show, I guarantee, so be ready for that, too. It is the manager’s job to keep the calm, a big challenge when working tech weeks with very late nights.
Treat your body well, take yoga, eat good stuff, and find ways to create pockets of rest in the midst of chaos. I bake a lot of cookies, which makes the actors and crew very happy (and keeps them from losing too much weight in anxiety!) but it also calms me down, there is something so satisfying to me about neat rows of cookies baking. I like to make a new recipe that reflects the production we’re working on, or just make the designer’s favorite; when they’re happy- everybody’s happy.
What do you look for in candidates who apply to work in the ART costume department?
Enthusiasm, willingness to learn, creativity and confidence. On the one hand, these are silly clothes for imaginary people, and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but on the other, it is of utmost importance to another human being (the actor) that they be comfortable and supported. I like to have a staff that respects the art of theater, that is dedicated to the creative process with all its twists and turns and blind alleys, and is willing to work together in a friendly and efficient manner to solve design quandaries.
The ART also has an internship position for costumes. My assistant supervises the interns in the daily operations. Some will assist the designer by organizing paperwork and fabric swatches and doing research online, others may be assigned stitching or crafts projects. The internship strives to make the applicant familiar with all aspects of costume production, and if successful, can train the intern to take an overhire position in the shop. We have had make-up, wigs, and wardrobe interns who supported those departments as well. Some experience is usually required, since we are such a small shop.
You can use the following link to apply:
http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/intern/
If a benefactor gave you $5000 to spend on shop equipment or supplies right this second, what would you buy with it?
I would use it to help with the renovation of our dye area, which is being completely overhauled to comply with health and safety regulations. We’re putting in a new sink and a 30 gallon dye vat, with new ventilation and if we’re lucky, a drain in the floor!
Can you talk about some of the projects you have worked on recently?
The most interesting project I have worked on recently is The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Not so much for the costumes, which were lovely, but straight-up 30’s period clothes, but for the logistics involved.
The first three weeks of rehearsals were in New York, and the designer lives there. I rented a van and drove all the drapers from my shop and the other two shops here in Boston, along with all the costumes and tools and accessories to New York. We set up a temporary fitting room in one of the rehearsal rooms and fitted two performers at a time over two days. The designer had a family emergency, so I had to step in to make style line and fit decisions for him. Tricorne, a major shop in New York was hired to build Bess’ costumes. The project worked more like a film, and management involved serious coordination of many different departments and locations between Boston and New York.
Previews ran for three weeks, which is much longer than usual in a regional theater, and required a lot of stamina to respond to the change requests. Though the show itself is a classic, this was a new interpretation, and there was a lot of trial and error as would happen with a completely new show. I must say, this particular project made me very proud!
* * *
Thank you, Jeanette, for sharing all this great info with the readership of this blog!
For a bit of background for the readers (and because i am sure things have changed since i was last there), would you describe the shop at the ART?
The costume shop at the American Repertory Theatre is located on the second floor of the theater building, and boasts the rare shop amenity of natural light. The shop owns four industrial straight stitch sewing machines, two steam generating irons, an industrial zig-zag machine, and two overlock machines. There are also several dress forms, cutting tools, and the like.
The current Artistic Director is very dedicated to incubating new work, which often then moves for the New York and Broadway market. To that end, the seasonal employment tends to be based on particular projects, rather that an eight or nine month "season". We are proud to have created four projects that are receiving great acclaim in New York: Sleep No More, Once, The Blue Flower, and The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. The shop supports the work of the ART/IMAXT Institute for Advanced Theater Training as well as some of the Harvard/Radcliffe Drama Club’s productions. The shop produces costumes for several different spaces, the main stage in the Loeb Drama Center, Club Oberon (a venue that presents new work in a club setting), and often off-site ‘site-specific’ productions for which there must be an entire external shop and wardrobe department created.
The staff consists of the Costume Shop Manager, the Assistant Costume Shop Manager, a costume technician, and a crafts artisan. The costume technician functions as a stitcher, a patternmaker, a crafts assistant, an alterations captain, or whatever the project requires. The crafts artisan is responsible for dyeing, painting, accessories, armor, masks, jewelry, distressing or breaking down costumes, and even some wigs. Additional staff are hired on a per-project basis as needed. For example, the recent production of The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, which will begin its Broadway run December 17, required the hiring of three outside shops, as well as eight additional technicians in the ART shop. At the moment however, there is no build in process, so the shop is staffed solely by the manager.
Ensemble for The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess - The Crap Game.
Photo by Michael J. Lutch
What are your responsibilities as Costume Shop Manager?
My responsibilities as Costume Shop Manager primarily consist of hiring staff, setting schedules, creating and tracking budgets, and overseeing the progress of work on a daily basis. Since the shop is so small, I often function as the shopper, escorting designers to local vintage shops and retail outlets. One perk is that I get to work on bizarre special effects. Ajax designer David Zinn wanted the suicide blood to ‘spurt and gush ten feet’ and it did! It is my duty to run the fittings, keeping them on track and on time, making sure both the designer and the technician get all the information they need. I oversee rentals from our main stockroom, the supervisor of the student stock rooms, and the wardrobe and wigs departments as well.
I have developed excellent relationships with other costume shops in the area, so that we can share staff and other resources. The job requires many meetings with my peers in other areas of production, to ensure resources are evenly distributed. For example, many props are made from fabrics, so if there is a slow time for my crew, we’ll help the prop shop. We have made flags and drops for the scene shop as well. I view my position as manager as one of service, I must ensure that the equipment is in working order, that my staff has enough labor, and that materials arrive in a timely fashion. I meet with my staff daily to make sure I am supporting them properly, which includes helping them solve any interpersonal or work life issues.
What is your educational and/or professional background in the area of costume production?
I came to this job in 2000 after running the costume shop at Emerson College for 4 years. My interest in costume production began quite young. I am from a family that was mad about Halloween costumes, and we had that trunk in the attic filled with antique clothes and costumes that we played dress-up with. I began making costumes for theater productions in high school, and I have a BA in theater studies. At UMass Amherst, I fell in love with the costume shop and had the good fortune to be trained by an amazing tailor before I had the sense to be intimidated by tailoring! I’ve worked in small stitching collectives, and in 1983, I founded my own business making custom clothing and costumes. I have free-lanced in all areas of costume production, draping, stitching, crafts, wardrobe and design.
Having this broad base of experience coupled with a strong business sense has been excellent training for management. It is less creative than construction, but I love meeting new challenges every day. We do have to constantly re-invent the wheel, especially at the ART, where new projects envision almost filmic production support.
The ART operates in residence at Harvard University. How does the costume shop's function mesh with the greater Harvard academic community?
Our Artistic Director has been appointed a professor at Harvard, so many productions which she directs are developed within her coursework. The ART has a large presence on campus due to the interest of Drew Faust, our new president. We participate in many events on campus and for Harvard as a whole. The costume shop has made costumes for the Harvard Dance Department as well and the Drama Club. When asked, we support Harvard student projects. I am in the planning stages of creating costume trainings and seminars for Harvard students.
What advice would you give to readers who aspire to a career in costume shop management?
If you aspire to a career in costume shop management, let me offer a bit of advice or guidance. There are many books that will tell you all the charts you need to produce, you can study business to learn how to budget money that hasn’t been earned yet, but what you really need is firm flexibility. Information and resources will change constantly. It is like running an emergency room with limited funds. You need to be able to predict any problems (or disasters) that might arise, and have a solid plan in place to deal with them. There will be a completely unforeseen event with each show, I guarantee, so be ready for that, too. It is the manager’s job to keep the calm, a big challenge when working tech weeks with very late nights.
Treat your body well, take yoga, eat good stuff, and find ways to create pockets of rest in the midst of chaos. I bake a lot of cookies, which makes the actors and crew very happy (and keeps them from losing too much weight in anxiety!) but it also calms me down, there is something so satisfying to me about neat rows of cookies baking. I like to make a new recipe that reflects the production we’re working on, or just make the designer’s favorite; when they’re happy- everybody’s happy.
What do you look for in candidates who apply to work in the ART costume department?
Enthusiasm, willingness to learn, creativity and confidence. On the one hand, these are silly clothes for imaginary people, and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but on the other, it is of utmost importance to another human being (the actor) that they be comfortable and supported. I like to have a staff that respects the art of theater, that is dedicated to the creative process with all its twists and turns and blind alleys, and is willing to work together in a friendly and efficient manner to solve design quandaries.
The ART also has an internship position for costumes. My assistant supervises the interns in the daily operations. Some will assist the designer by organizing paperwork and fabric swatches and doing research online, others may be assigned stitching or crafts projects. The internship strives to make the applicant familiar with all aspects of costume production, and if successful, can train the intern to take an overhire position in the shop. We have had make-up, wigs, and wardrobe interns who supported those departments as well. Some experience is usually required, since we are such a small shop.
You can use the following link to apply:
http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/intern/
If a benefactor gave you $5000 to spend on shop equipment or supplies right this second, what would you buy with it?
I would use it to help with the renovation of our dye area, which is being completely overhauled to comply with health and safety regulations. We’re putting in a new sink and a 30 gallon dye vat, with new ventilation and if we’re lucky, a drain in the floor!
Can you talk about some of the projects you have worked on recently?
The most interesting project I have worked on recently is The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Not so much for the costumes, which were lovely, but straight-up 30’s period clothes, but for the logistics involved.
The first three weeks of rehearsals were in New York, and the designer lives there. I rented a van and drove all the drapers from my shop and the other two shops here in Boston, along with all the costumes and tools and accessories to New York. We set up a temporary fitting room in one of the rehearsal rooms and fitted two performers at a time over two days. The designer had a family emergency, so I had to step in to make style line and fit decisions for him. Tricorne, a major shop in New York was hired to build Bess’ costumes. The project worked more like a film, and management involved serious coordination of many different departments and locations between Boston and New York.
Previews ran for three weeks, which is much longer than usual in a regional theater, and required a lot of stamina to respond to the change requests. Though the show itself is a classic, this was a new interpretation, and there was a lot of trial and error as would happen with a completely new show. I must say, this particular project made me very proud!
* * *
Thank you, Jeanette, for sharing all this great info with the readership of this blog!