We’re happy to bring to you a new blog entry from our friends at BroadwayBlogspot.com! For those of you who don’t know, BroadwayBlogspot is a theatrical resource website to inspire, educate & create a sense of appreciation for the people who work both onstage and behind-the-scenes on Broadway and beyond.

Recently, BroadwayBlogspot's Kimberly Greenberg (also an accomplished wardrobe dresser),was highlighted in the "Ask a Professional" feature in Backstage Magazine. Check out her answer below to the question, "what should actors know about their costumes?"...
Kimberly Faye Greenberg ('Billy Elliot' on Broadway)
For me, as a wardrobe dresser swing-meaning a person who comes in as a sub for a dresser who is out sick or on vacation-it is imperative that the actors always know what all their costumes look like, what extra pieces they use or wear (such as hats, purses, scarves), and when they wear them. Now, this might sound like a given, and in some shows it's easy as pie. But when you get into a big, fast-moving musical with lots of costume changes, along with everything else that's required of an actor-such as blocking and choreography, bringing on props, and, of course, thinking about the character and the acting beats-it's not so easy to remember that the blue striped shirt with the collar goes on in Scene 1 and the blue striped shirt with no collar is in Scene 2. Thankfully, that's why you have a person like me on hand, a dresser, to help you keep organized and guide you in the costume realm when you're busy doing five other things.

However, with that being said, life happens and "the show must go on." Dressers get sick and take vacation, and if you're in a touring show, the dressers change weekly or even daily. Which is why, under these circumstances, regardless of all the other things an actor must learn, it is still important to know all your costumes, how they function, and how all your quick changes work. Because when I step in as a dresser sub, I may have never worked on the show before and may not know all the clothing. If an actor doesn't know his or her clothes either, mistakes can happen: Costume pieces will be forgotten, quick changes will be messed up, and in that line of chorus girls all wearing the same clothing and black shoes, mine may go out on stage in the gold pumps. That is not good. But in the joys of live theater, it does happen. Just don't let it happen to you.
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