Pulling Costumes

18 hours ago
2 min read

Yesterday I spent 11 hours pulling costumes for OLIVER!. Yes, eleven hours. You may be wondering why anyone would spend an entire day digging through racks of clothing, and the answer is simple: our original plan to get most of our costumes from PCPA fell through. We can still pull from them, but not until June 26, which is getting awfully close to opening night when you're trying to costume an entire musical. So I did what theater people do when faced with a problem…I started making phone calls and visiting every possible source I could think of. I called Shannon at SOPA, who graciously let me dig through her costume racks, I hit a few thrift stores, pulled pieces from my own collection, received help from the incredible Marcy and the Gilbert & Sullivan community, and even found some support from Opera SLO. Somehow, through a combination of creativity, determination, and a little theatrical magic, I managed to cobble together costumes for an entire show.

What struck me most wasn't just the amount of clothing I found, but how many people were willing to help. Community theater truly is a community. When one organization needs a hand, others step up, open their doors, share their resources, and help make things happen. In a world that often feels disconnected, it's a beautiful reminder that people still come together to support one another and create something bigger than themselves.

A week ago, I wasn't sure how we were going to costume this production, and now there are racks full of Victorian-ish clothing waiting for our cast. Now let's all cross our fingers and hope everything actually fits. If it does, it may be the greatest miracle in Victorian London.