Costume Crew: Photo by Myra Klarman

The Costume Crew collects, borrows, constructs, alters, rents or acquires or designs and makes costumes for a designated production.

The Costume Crew works with the costumer or costume designer and director to gather the costumes for a production

The costume crew is the custodian of the costumes and costume construction equipment. The crew is responsible for the storage of costumes kept in stock. The costumes are stored at Tappan Middle School. The crew is responsible for keeping the costumes and supplies stored properly and keeping the costumes organized and in a condition suitable for use. In addition the crew is responsible for maintaining records of costumes that are on loan or rented, and are responsible for the physical process letting the costumes out and letting them back in to storage.

The Crew schedules work sessions and assigns work for volunteers to assist in pulling, assembling, sewing, or repairing costumes.

The Crew works with the director and or designer to execute the design or vision of the costumes for a production

Typical procedures for a production:

• Read the script to gain an understanding of period and style of the show.
• Determine if any specialty costumes are required.
• Meet with the director to determine costume requirements for each character.
• Inventory the costume stock to determine if a different source of the costume is needed
• Make, borrow, rent costumes as needed as needed and approved.
• Schedule construction session(s) as needed.
• Schedule fittings as needed.
• Transfer costumes to the theatre.
• Perform wardrobe function maintaining costumes in clean preparation during the run.
• Each weekend clean and prepare the costumes for the next weekend performances.
• At the end of a production, clean and properly store stock costumes or return rentals.

The size of the costume crew fluctuates with the requirements of the production and the size of the cast.