Getting to know The Costume Shop

I met with Assistant Costume Designer, Melissa Starks who has spent many hours designing and creating the costumes for The Giver, to speak a little bit about working backstage, some of the wardrobe vocabulary and the overall experience in the Costume Shop! 

" The nice thing about the Costume Shop is that we can work and have fun at the same time. While there are lots of projects going on, we often accompany our work with radio or movies!"

On the backs of the dressing room doors we put two lists; one is of all the actors in that room and the other is for actors to report corrections and/or repairs necessary for their costumes 

There are lighted mirrors for make-up application in each dressing room!

On the costume racks, each actor/character's costumes are divided and labeled

The cardinal costume rule!!
The wardrobe crew does not want to have to clean yesterday's mac 'n cheese off of the costumes!

Melissa, a sophomore at Centre (on the left) has spent over 55 hours working on costuming for The Giver at many different levels (design, construction and fitting to name a few) 

Interview with Montana Kern, PROPERTIES DESIGNER

Backstage props table

Education Outreach: What's your favorite part of being the sound designer ?

Montana Kern: My favorite part of the props design process is the set dressing. adding the final details to the stage really makes the show worth working on. sometimes it is just a little thing added that you would never notice, but you would certainly notice there was something missing if it wasn't there.

EO: What was your inspiration or intention behind your design?

MK: I wanted to echo the set design in the props for the show, but also introduce some contrast into the world. many of the props are designed to pop out and be visible. I had to work with how to do that, without being distracting.

EO: What one neat fact about sound designing would you like to share with students seeing the show?

MK: The most fun part about set dressing is hiding secret objects around the set. It is really fun to incorporate your own personal interpretation of the characters by what they put on their bookshelves. most of the items will go unnoticed, but it is fun for me to sit there and laugh about what is behind the actor, or what is in their hands. 

EO: Some funny or interesting moment in the production thus far?

MK: The process itself is somewhat funny. You start off designing the most ridiculous and extravagant things imaginable, but due to budgets, or time, or in some cases just physics, you start to change your design to something more manageable. It is funny at the end of the process to look back at your original design and think "wow, that would have been impossible" or "that wouldn't have worked at all" 

Getting to know Weisiger Theater!

Weisiger from center stage

 Renovated in 2009, Weisiger stage is a thrust stage; meaning that the stage is surrounded by U-shaped seating for the audience members.

The Costume Shop

 Staying ever busy creating costumes for DramaCentre, the Costume Shop is always open and full of projects at various stages.

Men's dressing room for The Giver

Women's dressing room for The Giver

The Scene Shop

The Scene Shop is where all the set pieces and many of the prop pieces for The Giver were created!

The Green Room

Obviously, not green! The Green Room is the hang out place for actors before, during and after the show and rehearsals. During the show, actors wait here until it is a few minutes before the time they have to go on stage!

Interview with Hallie Boyd, SOUND DESIGNER

Education Outreach: What's your favorite part of being the sound designer ?


Hallie Boyd: Well, I really like doing things on my computer. My favorite part of being a sound designer is probably being able to edit the sounds on my computer and play with the effects wherever I go because I bring my laptop everywhere with me, so if I have an idea for the sound design I can work on it right away.


EO: What was your inspiration or intention behind your design?


HB: Because of the nature of this play, a lot of the sound has to help tell the audience what Jonas is seeing in his mind. Because of this, the sound was pretty straightforward in most cases. If the memory is of sailing, then I would put together the sound of the ocean, with the sound of a boat going through water, and some wind. A lot of the time I have to work closely with light to create the intended effect.

EO: What one neat fact about sound designing would you like to share with students seeing the show?


HB: What I've discovered is that the quality of sound effects can definitely make or break a play. There is a scene when a character breaks his leg, and the squelching, sickening sound of the leg breaking can make an entire room cringe. Without that shock value that causes the audience to almost feel what the character is feeling, it doesn't make nearly as much impact.

EO: Some funny or interesting moment in the production thus far?


HB: Well, I just about went insane because one day I had to spend hours looking through online sound databases for the right kind of baby cry. Basically, I was listening to screaming babies for hours. It was a bit maddening. 


...Imagine listening to this for hours on end...

Illustration of The Giver

Created by STOVEPIPE Illustration

Find The Giver in your library TODAY!

Interview with Rahul Joseph, JONAS

Education Outreach: What's your favorite part about the show/production? 


Rahul Joseph: My favorite part about the show is getting to work with lots of different people who I might not normally see. There are some really cool guys and girls working both onstage and offstage here at Centre College, and it is honestly quite inspiring to see so much talent in different areas come together to form a production.


EO: What's your favorite character in The Giver?


RJ: My favorite character in The Giver would have to be Lily, Jonas' younger sister. She's really cute and very curious. She sort of reminds me of my own little sister (I miss her a lot when I'm at college).
EO: If you could not act, what would you do in the show?


RJ: If I couldn't act, I would love to do lighting for the show. This show is going to have some incredible technical elements and I think it would be so neat to see how all that stuff works. 

EO: Funny or interesting moment in the production thus far?


RJ: One of my personal favorite moments was when Ginny, who is playing Fiona in The Giver, was riding her prop bike for the first time down a ramp and went flying! There were no brakes on the bike! It was like she just got sucked down a black hole.

EO: If you could be a movie/TV star who would you be and why?


RJ: If I could be a movie star, I'd be Daniel Craig. I mean c'mon, he's James Bond for cryin' out loud. Who wouldn't want to be as awesome as that? 

EO: If I asked you to make a sandwich what would you put on it?


RJ: Peanut butter, honey, and slices of banana. So good!

Pictures: Full Run Rehearsal 4/12

On stage Giver and Jonas

Jonas' final scene

Director Kagan-Moore gives notes to the cast 

Activity: The Giver Word Search

Interview with Olivia Palmer, LILY

Olivia as Thomasina Coverly in DramaCentre's 2010 Fall production of Arcadia

Education Outreach: What's your favorite part about the show/production? 


Olivia Palmer: My favorite part of the production, besides the show itself, would probably be the first few weeks of rehearsal. During this time, you get to know the people in the cast and the director and the production crew. It's a fun time where everyone is figuring out the show together. In these first few weeks you get the opportunity to experiment and explore the characters and their story.


EO: What's your favorite character in The Giver?


OP: My favorite character in the show is Asher. As Jonas's best friend, he is both funny and compelling. While he often plays the clown, we get the see a more realistic side of him that people can relate to. 

EO: If you could not act, what would you do in the show?


OP: If I wasn't acting, I would want to work backstage building the show. It's really fun to watch the set form around you and know that you contributed to building it. I really enjoy that feeling of accomplishment. 

EO: Funny or interesting moment in the production thus far?


OP: One of the funniest moments in rehearsal so far was definitely the day we started practicing the war scene. We got to run around and go wild. It was fun to get to play around like that. Everyone had a great time and it was hysterical to watch everyone's dramatic fight to the death. 

EO: If you could be a movie/TV star who would you be and why?


OP: If I was a celebrity, I would want to be Ellen Page. People tell me I kinda look like her and she seems like a pretty cool chick. I would love to have been in some of her movies like Juno, Inception, or, most recently, Super. 

EO: If I asked you to make a sandwich what would you put on it?


OP: My sandwich would depend on the day, but I would say my classic sandwich love would be peanut butter and jelly. You can never go wrong with pb and j. 

Giver Cast and Crew

Cast
Jonas' Father ............... ZACH TRETTE
Jonas' Mother .............. KAT YRENE
Lily .............................. OLIVIA PALMER
Jonas ........................... RAHUL JOSEPH
Asher ........................... STEVEN MADDOX
Fiona ........................... GINNY BICKNER
The Giver .................... SEAN COOK
Chief Elder ................... GEOFFREY BLUM
Ensemble ..................... LU HAN, SARAH WELCH,RACHEL BECKMAN, GREG NICAISE,ANDREW STAIRS, EMMA KAGAN-MOORE

Crew
Director......................... PATRICK KAGAN-MOORE
Scenic and Lighting Designer...................... MATTHEW HALLOCK
Assistant Scenic Designer........................... KATE DUNLAP
Assistant Lighting Designer......................... LIZY LeBLOND
Costume Designer...................................... ELIZABETH CLARK
Assistant Costume Designer........................ MELISSA STARKS
Sound Designer.......................................... HALLIE BOYD
Properties Designer..................................... MONTANA KERN
Stage Manager/ Assistant Director............... GEOFFREY BLUM
Production Stage Manager.......................... LAURA GARRETT
Publicity/ Education Outreach...................... LINDSEY ROLFE, OLIVIA ALLEN
Sound Board Operator............................... ALLY LANDON
Wardrobe Supervisor................................. KAYLA HIGBE
Properties Crew......................................... JOANNA MYER, TYLER ROWE, ROBIN CARROLL, AUDREY ERNSTBERGER
Costume Crew.......................... LYDIA KINKAID, ELIZABETH FRANK, ANNIE ROESSLER, ANGELA HERDE

Giver Synopsis and History

Synopsis

                The play is seen from the prospective of the eleven year old boy named Jonas. Jonas lives in a futuristic society that knows no pain, fear, war, or hatred. Everything in this society is black and white. There is little competition between the people in the town and there are no prejudices held against one another. At twelve years of age, every member of the community is assigned a job according to his capabilities and own interests. Citizens are not allowed to fall in love on their own; they must apply to get a spouse and then they are assigned exactly two children. Citizens who do not abide by the rules are released.

                Jonas lives with his father, mother, and seven year old sister Lily. Jonas is apprehensive of becoming of age and receiving his assignment for the community. Jonas is different from most people in the community. Jonas has a sense of perception in which he can look at something and cause it to “change”; he can see things in flashes of color.

                When he turns twelve he is given the assignment of being the Receiver of Memory. Jonas receives memories of the past, the good, and the bad, from the current Receiver; a man who is referred to as the Giver.  The Giver has the ability to see the world as it used to be, before everything became the same. Jonas and the Giver devise a plan that could forever change the world.

History of Performance

                The Giver­ was originally written as a novel written by Lois Lowry that was published in 1993. In 2006 Oregon Children’s Theatre premiered a stage adaptation adapted by Eric Coble. Coble’s adaptation was presented in the Coterie Theatre in Missouri all the way to the Theatre of Youth in Buffalo, New York. 

Welcome

Hello! My name is Lindsey Rolfe and I am part of the Education Outreach team for DramaCentre's production of the The Giver. This blog was created just for students where you can find information about:

• The show 
• Interviews with the production members
• Activities for the classroom 
• Pictures
• and much more!

Below each blogpost you can comment and ask questions! Explore and enjoy