Jessie’s Wardrobe Guide
As you will see from the latest chapter of A Little Too Real, there is quite a bit about the Wardrobe world that you have no idea about. In anticipation of this confusion I have compiled a guide of everything that I know about the world of Wardrobe.
As someone who professionally dresses for a living I absolutely love what I do and I love telling people about what I do. I also love spreading my appreciation and creating an awareness for theatre and the fine arts. I am going on eight years of theatre work, 3 on the professional level, and I hope that you guys can love theatre just as much as I do, or at least come to understand and appreciate theatre.
So let’s get the ball rolling:
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Dresser- a dresser is a member of the Wardrobe crew. The crew is led by the Wardrobe Supervisor and usually a Wardrobe Assistant. It is the job of the Dresser to successfully perform fast costume changes, distribute and collect laundry at the beginning and end of every show, press or steam every costume piece prior to half hour (30 minutes to start of show), and do any presets of costumes or props.
Equity- Actor’s Equity is the name of the actor’s union. This union insures that actors are protected, insured, and paid fairly. This union, along with actors also represents Stage Managers and Directors. When a tour is an Equity tour it simply means that there are Equity members that are part of the cast, which means that there are more specific rules that have to apply to performance space, to travel amenities,
IATSE- a union for stagehands. I am part of the 803 and 205 which means that I can work in Austin and Dallas. IATSE just makes sure that I get paid on time, am paid the correct amount for the work I do, gives me benefits, and protects me in case of injury. To work for the union you are put on the list and called according to the list and you move up on the list by accepting jobs. So in Austin I am pretty much at the the top because I get called for everything, but am at the bottom in Dallas because I get called for NOTHING. It sucks but apparently is how it works.
10 of 12- This is in regards to the length of time that actors and crew would typically work during a tech week (the only time this could happen if an actor was part of Equity would be during Tech week). This means that there would be 10 hours of work with either two one hour breaks or one two hour break.
Tech/Tech week- this is usually the week before opening night. This week is completely dedicated to technical aspects of a show. There will usually be a cue-to-cue of lights and sound and actors will be in costume. These days are usually the slowest because the director will usually pause to address each light and sound cue so that the transition from one cue to the next is perfect or whether or not he/she wants to add or subtract anything. Actors will be in costume only to aid the lighting designer and will change costume but it won’t be accurate to timing of actual quick changes.
Call time- the time that an actor of crew member is called to work. For instance it is almost always that crew is called an hour to half hour, actors are called at half hour; show starts at 8:00pm which means crew is called at 6:30pm and actors at 7:30pm.
Tracking (Actor/Dressing)- Tracking is technically two separate things. Tracking submitted to the Wardrobe Supervisor by Stage Management is comprised of where an actors exits and enters in every scene, whether they bring props with them, when they enter or exit (usually to the second), and sometimes whether or not they have a quick change and how long they have to change. It is then the Wardrobe Supervisor’s job to take that tracking and make it into something that a dresser can use. This tracking usually is a list of duties for a dresser to perform on the spot. Local dressers don’t usually get a lot of time to go over there tracking so it has to read very clearly so that they could perform the show with little or no knowledge prior. (Pictures: 1) First page of Waitress tracking, 2) first page of School of Rock tracking)
Piecelists- Piecelists are a pre-show aid for the Wardrobe Supervisor. A piece list simply is a long list of costume pieces written down by character. It helps with inventory and laundry, especially when traveling and making sure that everything is there for each show.
Skins- any undergarments that touch an actors skin: underwear, bras, mic packs (belts that hold the microphone packs), socks, Spanx, etc. Any of these items are collected after every show and washed per Equity rules.
Shopper - When a show is in pre-production (before shows) a shopper is the one who is sent out by the Costume Designer to purchase everything he/she needs for the show. The shopper purchases skins, fabric, shoes, costume pieces, and anything else requested. They also return anything that isn’t used and will even set up a back stock for the show to travel with the Wardrobe Supervisor.
Gondola/Gondola Village - A Gondola is a big black box that travels with costume pieces and props in it. Sometimes a stagehands will use a gondola for personal set up and stage management likes to set up one with just coffee and tea and food for the actors. But for the run of the show the gondolas with costumes in them are usually set up as a wall, a line of four or five gondolas, set in front of a line of chairs, one for every actor, which is then closed in my curtains, creating a makeshift dressing room on stage. This is called a gondola village. (Pictures: 1) Gondola for A Bronx Tale, shows line of gondolas in gondola village, 2) Stage Managers Gondola, included mini fridge printer and personal storage)
Swings- Where an understudy is usually an ensemble member who steps into a principal or lead role, swings are cast members who have learned multiple roles and perform when an ensemble member swings out of a performance or steps into a principal role. They perform only when needed but still tours with the cast to swing in whenever necessary or whenever scheduled.
Run through - a run through is a complete run of the show without stopping. This will usually be during a crew watch, so the the crew can watch the show in it’s entirety and will happen the last couple of nights of Tech weeks. A run through doesn’t always have lights, sound, and costumes but will the last night or so before opening.
Quick Change- a quick change is a costume change out of one thing and into another in a very short amount of time. It’s a quick change if an actor doesn’t have time to return to their dressing room or to the gondola village. It is usually set up in a laundry basket in the wings Stage right or left, sometime on stage as well, depending on the scene.
Shop- a shop is where something is built. For instance the costumes are built in a costume shop, which is run and monitored by the Shop Manager. Another example, the sets are built in a scene shop and is monitored by the shop foreman.
LaDucas- this is a brand of dance shoe. LaDuca is a huge company that creates custom shoes for most big name broadway shows, most professional actors own a pair that they use for auditions and rehearsals and because of that, this shoe brand has been streamlined as the ultimate dance shoe (Picture: Dance shoes provided by LaDuca for Anastasia)
Tech table- a tech table sits in the middle of the house on the orchestra level. Usually the stage manager, board operators for sound and lights, and the director sit at this table. During the run of tech week and even rehearsals this gives a way for the director to give feedback to the board operators and stage manager without having to yell or talk through a walkie talkie. (Picture: Tech tables for Tech Week of Ragtime at Texas State University)
Cues/Cue-to-Cue/Cueing- a cue is a signal for a shift in lights, sound, or scene. A cue to cue is a run through of all the lights and sound, sometimes in time and sometimes not; usually to help with transitions. For instance, a cue is labelled Light Cue 4 and is the fourth light cue, where there could only be one sound cue so Sound Cue 1. When a DSM is cueing a show they will be on headset speaking to the light and sound board operators. When calling cues the DSM would say, “light cue 4, sound cue 1...GO.” Sometimes they happen simultaneously and other times not. There are usually hundreds of cues for each show and its the DSM’s job to call out every one on time and in the right place.
Pit pads- pit pads are pads the are snapped into a costume to collect sweat. In Something Rotten, they use pit pads in the period dresses because those dresses can only be dry cleaned and according to Equity rules, they don't have to be cleaned but every two weeks. The pit pads are changed out every show so that the actors have a clean pad and so the dresses last the two weeks. Pit pads are usually put in handmade pieces to help keep the life of the costume longer than other costume pieces that could be bought and shipped to the Wardrobe Supervisor.
Doubles- a costume term for having multiples of something. For example, for every show there are usually always doubles of skins so that there are clean undergarments for every performance, especially for the days that there are two performances in one day. That way one set will always be clean and so the other can be cleaned during the show.
Tap Mics- There are two types. 1. 2 lavalier microphones that runs down the legs of the actors and usually attached to the heel of tap shoes. This is the only version that I have seen. In Something Rotten the microphone pack was placed in the waistband of the women’s pants (they doubled as men) and then one lavalier is run down the left and another down the right, which was then attached to the back of the shoe cover with velcro. 2. An attachment placed right underneath the heel of a tap shoe to help pick up the sounds of tap shoes. I know this exists but I’ve never seen it in person. To me it seems pretty impractical for a tap show like Something Rotten because they didn’t need to have their shoes mic but for one number.
Crew watch- a performance dedicated to the crew, design staff, and any other members of production to see the show before Tech week begins without any interruption
Production meeting- a meeting that usually takes place after every tech performance or run through, this allows feedback to be given by the director. At this point the feedback is more about the run of the show over the design. In the creative stages of a show they have production meetings weekly to check in with other departments and get feedback on the design specifically, nothing is brought up about the run until they are doing full run throughs with elements such as sound, lighting, set and costumes.
House- where the audience sits during the show
Wings- the wings are the free space between the legs (the black curtains that hang on the side of the stage) that mask the backstage area from the audience.
Stage Managers- ASM (Assistant Stage Manager), DSM (Deputy Stage Manager), and CSM (Company Stage Manager). The DSM is strictly in charge of the show, they call cues and make sure that every light and sound cue is called. They also give feedback to actors and crew who mess up lines, costume changes, entrances, exits, prop exchanges, set changes, etc. The ASM run the backstage for the DSM. They are in charge of making sure that everything runs smoothing according to what the DSM has called or set up. There are usually multiple ASM, one in charge of props and one in charge of set changes, but there could be more depending on the show.
Local- the local is the union work that comes in for each new location visited by the touring company. For instance, I am part of the Dallas and Austin Locals, which means that when a tour comes through either one of these locations I am Brough on to work the show for the week or so that it’s in town. The crew works that one week and doesn’t tour with the show. The touring company will get a new crew for every venue they visit.
Dead- if something is dead it means that it’s not being used anymore. For instance if a shirt is dead after the opening number that means it’s done for the rest of the show.
Prop box- a gondola that holds just props. (Picture: Show - Book of Mormon, also known as the Satan Gondola)
Deck- The deck is the stage. On a touring production the deck is a separate stage that travels with the production usually in pieces and assembled the very first day of Load-in (the day where they set up the stage). It’s painted to match the set pieces and is completely unique to the show.
Preset/Preset basket- at hour before half hour, when the crew arrives, it is the dressers job to begin presets for the show. This includes steaming and pressing everything in the show and then taking laundry baskets and placing presets in them. The presets are usually listed in the tracking made by the Wardrobe Supervisor and are set aside until listed to grab and to bring to the appropriate quick change area.
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