When audiences applaud, it\u2019s not only for bravura onstage performances, but also for the behind-the-scenes artistry of costume designers, sound and lighting technicians, and hair and makeup artists that brings a show to life. Graduates of Montclair State\u2019s Theatre and Dance department \u2013 which was recently ranked #1 in New Jersey by College Factual \u2013 are making their mark on productions the world over.<\/p>\n
According to Theatre and Dance Professor Debra Otte, the department\u2019s theatre production and design concentration gives students both the knowledge and experience to excel in the industry. \u201cDue to our department\u2019s large scale, we\u2019re able to produce three musicals, three plays and three dance concerts, as well as workshop and concert events each academic year,\u201d she says. \u201cEach of these are designed, managed and built by our undergraduate students, giving them experience with a wide variety of performance styles,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Creating Characters Through Costumes<\/strong><\/p>\n As a student, award-winning freelance designer Leon Dobkowski \u201902 was excited by the idea of shaping characters through costumes. \u201cYou give a garment to an actor and they create a person around that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n After graduating, he worked for Eric Winterling, a New York City costume shop. \u201cAs a shopper there, I really learned how a sketch is turned into a costume,\u201d he recalls. He honed his craft on big Broadway musicals such as Wicked<\/em> and Shrek, <\/em>before earning an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.<\/p>\n While Dobkowski maintains a home base studio in New York City, he is in demand all over the country. His summer 2018 credits include lavish productions of Annie <\/em>and The Wiz<\/em> at the Muny in St. Louis, the nation\u2019s oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre.<\/p>\n Dobkowski describes his craft as a lengthy, collaborative process. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of work. But I like and enjoy what I do. It\u2019s what I\u2019m good at,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n The Finishing Touches<\/strong><\/p>\n Like Dobkowski before her, Samantha LaScala \u201917 is gaining valuable experience sourcing and buying new fabrics for costumes in upcoming Broadway shows as a head shopper at Eric Winterling.<\/p>\n Since April, LaScala, who earned her BFA in Theatre Production and Design with a concentration in Costume and Wigs\/Makeup, has also been the hair\/wig designer and stylist at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, where, as a student intern, she made the connections that led to her current position.<\/p>\n Wigs, she believes, bring characters to life. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see the actor become the character once the hair is on,\u201d she says. \u201cCostumes do the same thing, but a wig really is the finishing touch that makes actors see their characters.\u201d<\/p>\n Building a Portfolio<\/strong><\/p>\n LaScala\u2019s classmate Jeffrey Colton Reid \u201917, who goes by Jeffrey Colton professionally, credits Montclair State\u2019s program with giving him the hands-on experience he needed to compile an impressive costume design portfolio. \u201cIn my time at Montclair State, I would say I made or altered a costume or costume piece for every show the department presented,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n Equally beneficial, Colton says, were the department faculty and staff. \u201cHaving professors working in the industry set me up to have a good connection to the industry even before I graduated.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, while Colton is a self-described freelance costume maker, he also works full time for Broadway costume shop Parsons-Meares LTD, where his credits include the Broadway hits such as. Frozen <\/em>and Aladdin.<\/em> \u201cWhen working for costume maker Lynne Baccus, I worked on Hello, Dolly!<\/em> I\u2019ve also made costume pieces for the U.S. tour of The Lion King<\/em>, for American Ballet Theatre and worked in the Macy\u2019s Parade studio,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n From Intern to Employee<\/strong><\/p>\n During her last semester, Cheyenne Pellicoro, another member of the class of 2017, interned with the costume design team of Tony Award-winning Hamilton, <\/em>which led to a full-time job. \u201cAt Hamilton<\/em>, I swatch and shop for fabrics, create the \u2018Bibles,\u2019 which have information about each character\u2019s costume from head to toe, deliver fabric to costume shops, set up fitting rooms and ship costumes to companies on tour,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Pellicoro, who is also an assistant costume designer at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, loves how productions develop from script and research to performance. \u201cIt\u2019s satisfying to see the end product each and every time. It never gets old.\u201d<\/p>\n She reports that she gained the experience to launch her career as a student. \u201cOne of my most rewarding experiences was being the costume designer for Aida<\/em> in 2016,\u201d she remembers. \u201cMy design received the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Theatrical Design Excellence Award and was displayed at the Center in 2017.\u201d Her costume design for Aida<\/em> will also represent the U.S. in the Emerging Artists category at the Prague Quadrennial in June 2019.<\/p>\n Pellicoro\u2019s classmate Deirdre Morgan, who is cosmetologist\/costume technician with Disney Cruise Line, agrees that Montclair State was a launch pad for a post-graduate career that has also included stints as an assistant to several designers, a fabric shopper and as an Off-Broadway theater wardrobe supervisor. \u201cUltimately all of my work through college and after college helped to build my resume and portfolio,\u201d she says. \u201cMy professors ensured that I was ready to work professionally before I even received my degree.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Morgan, the Disney Cruise Line presents original productions \u2013 of musicals or classic movies and a variety show that brings Disney characters to life \u2013 that are performed nowhere else in the world. \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible to realize what an army the costuming team is,\u201d she says. \u201cI love the creative aspect, but I also love being a part of the energy backstage, where running from quick change to quick change is so exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Setting the Stage<\/strong><\/p>\n Scenic designer Aaron Turetsky \u201915 believes Montclair State prepared him for an exciting career. \u201cI get to collaborate with other artists to create productions that are entertaining, emotional and thought-provoking,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n As a student, he interned with Blackwalnut LLC, an Emmy Award-winning scene shop and with the Wexford Festival Opera, which sent him to Ireland to assist Theatre and Dance Professor Erhard Rom on the European premiere production of Silent Night.<\/em><\/p>\n Since graduating, he has assisted Rom on more than 25 major productions for opera houses the world over. He is currently working with Rom on the scenic design for Mozart\u2019s Da Ponte trilogy at San Francisco Opera. \u201cI help translate his beautiful designs into scale models, drafting packets and paint elevations for the rest of the creative team and scene shop to use,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n Shedding New Light<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to know how to work in dance, musicals, theater, opera and live events, you won\u2019t find a better place in New Jersey than Montclair State,\u201d insists Jason Flamos \u201910, who has worked all over the country and the world, including in Europe and South Africa as a lighting director for dance companies RIOULT Dance NY and 10 Hairy Legs \u2013 and this summer at Colorado\u2019s Vail International Dance Festival. With Alonzo King LINES Ballet. \u201cIf you want hands on, you\u2019ll get hands on at Montclair State. It\u2019s pretty much a sandbox to play and learn in so long as you\u2019re willing to apply yourself and give it everything you\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n When Flamos is not touring with dance companies, he works as an associate lighting designer for Off-Broadway and regional productions, such as Goodspeed Musicals\u2019 production of Oliver!<\/em> in Connecticut. \u201cThe work is exciting because the locations and the people you are working with are always changing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Listen Up<\/strong><\/p>\n May graduate Abigail Martin has already found work as head sound technician on the National Yiddish Theatre\u2019s Off-Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI would not be where I am today without my internships,\u201d she confesses. \u201cI spent every single summer away from school learning.\u201d As a production audio intern with The Public Theater\u2019s Shakespeare in the Park series in 2017, she fell in love with the city \u2013 and her career. \u201cI learned a lot about audio, but I also learned that work should be fun. If you\u2019re not laughing while sweating and running cable through tiny holes while dodging raccoons left and right in a theater in Central Park, then you\u2019re not doing it right.\u201d<\/p>\n Even in her first month as a freshman at Montclair State, Martin was given a real show assignment with responsibility and expectations. \u201cThe professors care,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe theatre program is the closest environment to the professional world that I have experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n