Theatre
I loved taking Theatre in seventh and eight grade, but the classes I've been able to take at FUHS have really given me the chops I needed in order to excel, both in acting and in tech. I always knew I wanted to be onstage stepping into the lives of different people and giving them a voice, but I did not expect to fall in love with the technical work that goes into that. I've always loved fashion, so costume work quickly became an added calling. It was exciting to be able to dip my hands into both pots.
Angel Street
This was my first ever production at FUHS, not in the cast but in the COSTUME CREW. The then costume designer, senior Ashley Shilts, and the Adult Head, Beverly Shirk, inspired me to stay in the crew and work hard so that eventually I'd get to design.
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During this production, I started out by getting used to the costume environment. At the time, there were only two people on the crew, plus the assistant costume designer, the costume designer and the adult head. I was busy and excited as we had a lot to manage.
During this time I learned the ins and outs of the costume shop and the importance of research. This show took place in the Victorian era so attention to detail regarding the costumes was essential.
The Foreigner
For this production, I decided to continue my focus on being a member of the COSTUME CREW and I gained so many new experiences!
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This show definitely required more out of me. I got to sew the pillows shown in the picture on the right, sew the curtains, create the badges worn on the robes in the final scene, and I was asked to help out with the quick changes. It was difficult and super fast paced, but I was up for the challenge and found out that I live for multi-tasking.
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Shilts, the designer for this production, taught me a lot about creating costumes. She had drawn out every single costume before and after she had pieced it together. This was so inspiring and I couldn't wait to put my personal touches on costumes. I knew I was going to be a similar designer in that aspect.
Cabaret
After two productions under my belt, I knew I'd be ready for the Spring musical. For this show, I decided to audition and was cast in the ENSEMBLE in addition to being welcomed back into the COSTUME CREW.
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The COSTUME work in this show was phenomenal and I was super impressed with everything Shilts and Shirk brought to the table. This show inspired me to progress in this area of tech so in the future I could design something to this degree. There was a lot to focus on in this show so I worked with the Assistant Costume Designer, Emily Laguna, to tackle the ensemble members costumes. I remember getting priority so I was able to pick what I wanted to wear which was great because I had opinions... Ha! It was such a fun experience and I'm so thankful to Shilts and Shirk for their trust in me.
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Being part of the cast in the ENSEMBLE was an inspiring experience as well. Ensemble members were staged to sit on the ends of stage at tables looking in, making it seem like we were audience members of the Cabaret (me pictured on the right, center standing) . It was a low key role but taught me a lot about proper etiquette of engaging in this kind of theatre.
By this show, I had been promoted to ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER and was now working with the new head, Emily Laguna. For this beginning of the year production, Laguna brought me in to help her with the work load and for the first time ever I got to design two scenes!
The show was comprised of scenes in which Laguna wanted a color theme! In the photo on the far right, I wanted to keep the boys in a similar light blue color. I felt that it signified a pure innocence that was captured in both characters as they confessed their love. With the clown, shown just to the right, I decided instead of a color I wanted an object. In the clown's hat you can see a red rose which was identical in the hair of his partner, a young woman preparing to go to a salsa class. Roses are such beautiful flowers but they can be harmful with their thorns. I thought in the scene, the clown kind of represented the flower in which he seemed harmless but he carried something dangerous: a hurtful message.
Love/sick
The Girl in the White Pinafore
For this show, I took on a dual role as ASSISTANT DESIGNER and CREW HEAD, which gave me valuable leadership experience. I was able to train the newcomers as I had been trained by teaching them how to organize the costumes in the shop, properly measure and sew. All the while, I had my own independent projects and designs to work on.
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Laguna and I split up the work on this show and I was tasked with handling the ensemble's costumes. This show took place in 1930's Texas, so we did our research and went with mostly muted and floral themes.
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One of my favorite costumes in this show is in one of the images below. It's a black dress with pink floral print and a pink peter pan collar. I absolutely adored the actor, Ryder Tucker, and the way the dress suited him. My goal is to always flatter the actors while being era accurate of course.
Matilda
Unfortunately this production was canceled on opening night because of the Stay at Home order. The cast and crew put so much work into the show up until that point and I was lucky to work as both ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER as well as cast as a SOLOIST/FEATURED DANCER. Despite not being able to perform for a live audience, the experience I acquired from the time worked on this production will stay with me forever!
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I was a part of a select group that acted as the FEATURED DANCERS which was such a rewarding experience! We were given difficult choreography and tasked with the challenge to choreograph the acrobat scenes. I was thrilled to be working with such a talented group of dancers and it really made me appreciate what my body could do. I was super proud of all the work I did onstage AND offstage.
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As the ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER for this show, I was given a lot of new and amazing opportunities. I was asked by the Director to design the school crest which was displayed on the set as well as made into patches for the school uniform costumes! I created an original drawing that included the saying 'Bambinatum est Maggitum'. My design featured maggots of course and the Trunchbull's infamous hammer.
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I was also asked to design all ensemble characters, including parents, featured dancers, kids and one of the leads, the wonderful Mrs. Wormwood. I knew right from the get go that I NEEDED to design this character. Laguna actually started the show with her but had some trouble so passed the task on over to me. I knew exactly what to do as it had been brewing in mind for quite some time...
I was very inspired by the colors purple, blue and pink for her day look. The character that I took a lot of inspiration from was actually Alabama from the movie True Romance. I spent a lot of time trying out different costumes and spending time with the actress, Sydney Castiglione. Her final costume can be seen just below the last paragraph.
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After her day look was completed, I moved onto her LOUD costume, which was quite the challenge. I finally found the costume at a thrift shop in Fullerton, Sydney happened to be with me and we knew it was just what we needed. However, it needed to be a little more loud, so I added black sequinned trim around the ruffled edges and a sheer purple leotard to the mid-drift area. Castiglione rocked the look and I was absolutely thrilled with the results! You can see the final design in the middle photo above on the right.
Shows During Covid
When distance learning first began, a lot of us in the Theatre program were confused and scared about our performing future. How would we accomplish what we had done in the past? How would we continue to create? A lot of us struggled. But to our surprise, our Director was able to provide us with creative opportunities. We were able to make a comeback with our fall shows. This year we did THREE!
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Our first show was called The Amish Project where I played Anna and acted as the COSTUME DESIGNER. Acting over Zoom posed a lot of problems with lag, connectivity, and sometimes even concentration. It was hard for me to stay in character at times with these distractions, as well as acting into a screen. But I had no choice and I made the most out of the situation! Regarding costumes, I had a small crew of three. We wanted to stay on top of our game and not fall behind because this wasn't the only show we had to keep track of. I gave the other two crew members the liberty of handling the other four characters while I took the reigns on the two Amish girls. This show was easier to handle because there was only a six person cast unlike the second show...
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The Killing Game. This show was definitely the tougher of the two as far as costumes went. It was around a 30-person cast where every member played multiple characters, which meant we had to account for even more costumes. I DESIGNED in this show as well as playing the part of the POLITICIAN and THIRD WOMAN. There was a lot to handle so we broke it down into parts. In the first week we had everyone send in their measurements in case we had to pick up costume pieces from the costume shop at the school. Then, we analyzed the characters. The Director was very specific with the way he wanted some scenes, for example he directed a group of boys to be gamers and a group of girls to act as housewives. These directions made it easier for me as the designer to come up with costumes. One of my favorites to work on was the ending scene where everyone in their homes got to listen to the third politician speak about the end of the pandemic. Everyone who wasn't the politician was told to wear clothes that fit with what actions they were doing. For example, my character was checking her skating gear before a roller derby bout so I was decked out in my pads, skates and hot pants. Everyone, with the guidance of myself and my crew, pulled clothes from their own closets in order to make this show come to life! I am proud of the work we did on this show and all of the coordination it took to pull it off virtually.
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The last show that we worked on this fall was I Need You to Know, a student devised piece where I only acted as the DESIGNER. This show was a breeze to work on because the cast decided on everything! They chose to wear all black so all I really had to do was review each costume to approve them and sent them on their way.
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Working on shows during the pandemic has not been easy and one of the biggest problems we faced was communication with the cast. My crew and I had to reach out to every single person multiple times about measurements and pictures. We gave everyone deadlines so we'd have things in on time but often times only 1/8 of the cast would make them. It was incredibly frustrating at times, but this pandemic has been hard on everyone and all of us have different situations at home that we are dealing with. We are learning as we go, but I can't wait to get back into the Costume Shop, the Theatre classroom and on stage!
IB Work
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In addition to working on the virtual fall shows, I took the IB Theatre course. This class touched on so many different areas of Theatre including directing and theory. I enjoyed taking a deeper dive into performing arts and look forward to how it's going to enrich my future experiences.
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One of the biggest projects in this course was when we were instructed to hypothetically direct a play. We had to come up with not only costume designs, but set, hair, makeup, sound, lighting and prop designs. On top of that, we had to conduct extensive research on the play and stage two moments of theatre. Our class worked on Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice.
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My partner and I were thrilled to get working on this project and we spent hours perfecting our vision and designs. A majority of our time was spent creating our moments of theatre and I wanted to make sure my costume designs got all the attention. The show didn't really have a set time period which was interesting. It jumped from the 1950's in the beginning of the play, to the 1930's by the top of the second act. For my moment of theatre, the script called for Eurydice in 1930's clothes which was interesting because there were no other specifics. I put her in a light pink, floral housewife dress. When I first read the script, I knew right away that I wanted Eurydice in shades of light pink to capture the child like innocence and naive behavior of her character.
After I finished working on Eurydice, the next character I was challenged with was The Child, aka the Lord of the Underworld. I was so excited to start this design because his character entered in on a tricycle in clothes that were too small for him while blasting heavy metal music. I felt like the Lord of the Underworld was a time-less character that didn't necessarily need to fit into a specific decade. The only details I needed to keep in mind with bringing the Child to life was that his clothes had to be too small. With that, I went on to create what would become one of my favorite designs. The Child came on blasting heavy metal jams so I put him in a black Motörhead t-shirt as well as a studded, punk military cap. I also wanted to tie his look into the 30's theme so I gave him short, black sailor shorts with a gold chain hooked onto his pocket. To finish the design off, I gave him some signature Dr. Martens. I was ecstatic when I finally got the perfected design down on paper because my interpretation of the character came from a lot of my personal influences. I love both the punk and metal scene so that definitely came through with the clothes I picked out.
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The last couple of characters I designed for my scene were the stones, which my partner and I wanted to stage as live characters. To keep with the 30's theme, we wanted them to be very reminiscent of Mafia gang members. The stones were dressed in grey suits with brown vests, green ties, and brown shoes. The shoulders, hand and ankle cuffs were decorated with moss and dirt. My partner and I fell in love with the designs of these characters and were very pleased with the results.
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The Little Prince
Going back to school started with a bang! The Little Prince would be our first in person show since the start of the pandemic, and everyone, including myself, was ready for the challenge!
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As the COSTUME DESIGNER with a brand new crew, my main goal was to train everyone and make sure they were to properly assimilate to the tech environment. It was super fun to work with the new costumers as well as the new Adult Head, Sonia Mendez, as we pulled, constructed and cleaned original costumes!
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One unique thing about working on this particular show, is that we head to work in masks into our designs. Sonia and I thought it would be an awesome opportunity for the crew to work on so they could gain some true design work - and they pulled through! The crew designed and constructed personalized masks for every named character in the show, while dressing the ensemble in warm tan ones. They were so original and creative and I was so proud of the work the crew put into customizing them.
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While that was happening, Sonia and I worked on making a game plan for the costumes we needed to construct, which would be the Prince's coat, the King's coat, as well as the Rose's dress and the Snake's cloak. Sonia took the lead on most of the construction while I focused on other characters such as the Fox, the Business Man, the Geographer and more. The end product was super fun and I was very happy with the outcome!
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It was amazing being able to put on an in person show again, especially with such an open minded crew, but it was tough. Being off for one year almost made me forget how much work you really put into this type of job. It was very exhausting and I went home from almost every rehearsal feeling very drained. But all of the effort we put in really showed! This production won CETA's First Place Award and the costumes and custom masks were given special recognition by critics.
MATILDA
We are currently in the process of reviving MATILDA, the musical we were supposed to perform before the Stay at Home order was enforced. I was extremely happy to find out we were redoing this show because it gave me as well as other designers the opportunity to change or revise our previous work!
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Looking back on what I had accomplished last time, I realized I wanted to elevate a lot of our original designs - so I went back to the drawing board. My plan of attack included redesigning Mrs. Wormwood, The Acrobat as well as The Escapologist. While I liked what we did last time, those costumes were meant for those actors and their interpretations of the characters. The new set of actors had a very different approach than the previous actors, so I wanted to create something that was more personalized to their individual styles while making it more animated.
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My favorite designs so far are actually for MRS. WORMWOOD (who I was also cast as!). My opposite and I play very crazy interpretations of this wild character so I really wanted that to shine through with my new designs, which are bigger and louder and wilder - so I'm including some animal print!! This time around her wardrobe would match her personality - crazy & loud with with clashing animal prints (leopard and zebra). I also recreated & designed her LOUD dance costume which will include a tearaway reveal!
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We are working with the new Costume Head, Blake Danford, who has been so amazing! He has really taken the time to get to know me and crew and help us work our way to creating these awesome costumes!
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As of now, we already have all of the ensemble in their school uniforms which we've kept the same as last time, including the school patch which I got to design! We've started the finalization of costumes for characters like Miss Honey, Mrs. Phelps, Sergei and Mrs. Trunchbull. All of this is happening while Blake is finishing the mocks of my design for Mrs. Wormwood. And once that is done we're going to work on The Acrobat!
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Costume work is just one part of it for me. As I had mentioned, I was also cast in the show which adds on a whole new set of challenges. Everyday after working on costumes, I come home to run lines, sing through my solo and practice choreography. It is very tiring but I am grateful that I have such an incredible crew to help with the workload.
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We are in Week 6 of putting the show together, which means we still have a lot to do. In the upcoming weeks we are finishing Mr. Wormwood, the Featured Dancers in scenes with The Acrobat as well as LOUD, and we are also finalizing some featured ensemble roles like the Dance Judges, Cook and The Henchmen. This is such a fun show to work on with all of the whacky characters and I can not wait to see my designs come to life on stage!
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Me as A Performer
Theatre is a very interesting art form to me because it can be interpreted in so many ways. When I act or sing, my goal is always to inspire and leave the audience with a lasting memory. I love to entertain (I mean who in this field doesn't?) but I also think my love for this art goes beyond that.
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I am a huge advocate for self expression and the freedom to just be me and to change course when desired! Theatre is a safe place where I feel I can do exactly that. I love the idea and the process of creating because it's such a rich and raw experience. I'm learning to find my own voice which leads me to finding my own style. In Theatre, I tend to lean towards the more provocative sides of things because I feel like they have the most to say.
The image shown to the right was from my Theatre 2/3/4 final my sophomore year where we had to adapt a theatre tradition to a modern day text. I naturally drifted to the creepier side of the spectrum and studied the horrors of the Grand Guignol. Because a huge part of that was gore, I decided to film a cheesy, horror music video singing the song "Screw Loose" from the musical Cry Baby. It involved quite a bit of fake blood, guts and wounds. I had to film this in the beginning of the stay at home order, so you'll notice some of that in the background. I double casted the "other woman" so that I could responsibly film this with physical distance in mind. This was a piece I got to design, direct and star in and I definitely feel like it captured the essence of who I am as an artist! Link is posted in the "VIDEO GALLERY".
Original sketches of my prerecording designs are below under "ME AS A DESIGNER".
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Me as a Designer
Costume design is the perfect culmination of two of my favorite worlds: art and fashion. Whenever I have the opportunity to design something, I become overwhelmed with a surging sense of excitement! Usually, I can't wait to get to work and often start putting together sketches in my mind or in the many drawing journals I have. I do what I do because I love it and I'm so thankful everyday that I found this creative outlet and that it has become such a big part of my high school experience.
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Whenever I am putting together a character, I always want to pay attention to detail. The design, the era, the colors, the fit. I never want to feel like I'm putting poor or rushed work onto the stage. It takes a lot of trial and error to get my designs to where I want them to be and although I never want to disappoint, I've learned to not be so afraid of making mistakes along the way. And when I do, I just have to shrug my shoulders and move on because it's a part of the learning curve and experience.
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One of my favorite parts about coming up with designs is the meaning behind everything. I take a lot of inspiration from things that I have been exposed to in my own life such as comic books, fashion, movies, TV, music and art. A lot of my own personal style is a mix between gothic, punk and rockabilly and I definitely carry that edge with me into whatever show I'm working on. That doesn't mean that I'm going to throw a character like Matilda in a leather jacket, it just means that I come in with a wide variety of influence! I also love to work with other designers and see their thought processes. In my time at FUHS, I have worked with Costume Heads Beverly Shirk, Sonia Mendez and now Blake Danford. Each one comes with their own rich backgrounds and experiences that I can see definitely influences how they go about their designing process. It's really cool to watch unfold! And I am grateful to have had so many opportunities to work with so many people. ​
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I love designing so much! It's so magical to see my original designs on the stage. Sometimes it's like putting together a puzzle. It's right when all of the pieces fit together perfectly. In the costume world, no piece is left out there not fitting in with the rest.