Every spring, backstage at the Hockaday theater, actors bustling are everywhere; someone’s shoes no longer fit, a skirt needs to be pinned, a vital prop is nowhere to be seen. The spring musical is a longstanding Hockaday tradition which has been running for decades. Hard work and preparation pour into it each year, a big part being the costumes. Stunning and showstopping, the costumes would not be possible without the efforts of the costume crew.
When musical preparations begin, the costume crew helps bring the characters to life. Led primarily by senior Kendal Young in her fourth year of costume crew, she works with Mrs. Elizabeth Helfrich, a Hockaday alumnae, parent and costume designer, and veteran of many Hockaday productions. This will be their third year of working together, and they each have their respective roles.
“Theater’s about telling a story, and my job is about understanding the vision of each character and to help them come to life,” Helfrich said.
Helfrich focuses on the vision for the production’s costumes. She works with the director and each actor to understand the character and storyline. Young is available to help the actors get their ideas across.
“The actors know me better,” Young said, “If they have a request, I can typically serve as the bridge between what the actors want and what Mrs. Helfrich and the director need.”
Once the vision is set, Young and Helfrich assemble the student volunteer crew and begin constructing the costumes.
“We do fittings where we take measurements and figure out what the actor wants,” Young said. “We take costumes from Hockaday’s closet for the ensemble, and then for the main characters, we’ll often have several different outfits that we’ll have them try on. Whatever we don’t have, we order, or Mrs. Helfrich will sew the costume herself with special adjustments.”
Young oversees this part of the process, giving the student crew as much autonomy and creativity as possible.
“In Upper School, we try to get the students to do as much as possible,” Helfrich said. “I only help out in this process for the more complicated alterations.”
However, Young does more than oversee costume-making.
“There are two sides,” Young said, “One side is working with the members, delegating tasks, time management, and dealing with the casts’ quick changes, hair, and makeup. The other side is more creative; actually, making or sourcing the clothes.”
With all these tasks at hand, it seems overwhelming. However, Helfrich said that it isn’t as stressful as it appears.
“We have a great crew,” Helfrich said. “Of course, there’s always last-minute things that can be kind of crazy.”
During “Six” last year, the costume crew handled a last-minute costume change related to technology.
“At the very last minute, we were doing things to change how the microphones were held on the costumes,” Helfrich said. “However, we got it done.”
Ultimately, being a part of Hockaday’s costume crew is to love the process and art of making the costumes and characters come to life. Without the costume crew, the spectacular shows we have the privilege to enjoy every spring wouldn’t be as fabulous as we know them to be.
“Even though it can be stressful,” said Young, “I seem to thrive in it which is why I love it so much.”
