Costume Designers bring characters to life on stage

The Point
Fall 2013

Kelsey Bower, who with fellow student Patrick Geraci helped to design the extraordinary costume for the musical Chess that appears on the cover of the fall 2013 issue of The Point, says "it was so fulfilling to see [the costumes] come together piece by piece and to troubleshoot together, and with the dancers, for what needed to be modified to make the dance flow." Bower says she chose Point Park because "it's an up and coming program in a new city to experience. I was especially pleased when I spoke to design and production heads Steffi Mayer-Staley and Aaron Bollinger about the program in general during my interview. They shared a lot of my background in coming from fine arts and I liked that."

Creative Opportunities

The creative opportunities came quickly, she adds. " I love the hands-on experience. Michael (Montgomery), Don (DiFonso), Joan (Markert), and Cathleen (Crocker-Perry) let us play, and they've really tailored my projects to my interests and strengths. They challenge us. All of the [faculty] in the shop are mentors to me in different ways. I've worked with all of them on various projects and everyone has a unique way of troubleshooting and design detail." According to Crocker-Perry, effective costume designer have "an open mind, willingness to learn, and never stop asking questions." Bower says that the costume shop is kind of like my big Italian family. Always craziness, always laughter. Sometimes things get tense during 'tech,' but in the end we're all bringing in baked goods and smiling about the next project and the wheel moves on."

Text by Cheryl Valyo
Photo by Martha Rial
The Point is a magazine for alumni and friends of Point Park University