I describe myself as a recovering theatre mom with a passion for theatre and costuming that dates back to childhood. I participated in classes at San Diego Junior Theatre for 4 years before transitioning to high school theatre. My initial interest was only in performing. But by my sophomore year, our drama teacher had me working on sets and costumes, and by my senior year I was overseeing costume design for my last two shows. I took a long hiatus from theatre after high school, pursuing a history degree, and then working and raising a family. I managed to keep my creative juices flowing by quilting and teaching art classes at my kids’ school. But I always felt like my dream job would be working in costuming.
I was so happy to be able to return to the craft in 2007, when my daughter started performing at SDJT. For several years I volunteered on the costume committee, dropping her off at camp or rehearsal and going up to the loft to sew for a few hours. My daughter’s early days in youth theatre were some of the happiest times of my life, making new friends while experiencing the satisfaction of seeing something I had made up on the stage.
In 2018 I decided to “retire” from a traditional work schedule and pursue the thing I had always wanted to do. I was fortunate enough to connect with a director friend who needed costumes in a bit of a hurry and gave me the confidence to rise to the challenge. Since then, I have been costuming for community theatre and youth theatre. I absolutely love working with and getting to know student actors.
My goal in my work is to keep the process as low drama as possible. Putting together a strong collection of costumes while staying on schedule, on budget, and trying not to build costumes that interfere with an actor’s ability to perform. Not always an easy target in the theatre world. But I love the challenge. And few things are as satisfying to me as when an actor walks out for mic check at the first dress rehearsal and they look just right.