By Hailey Maher

“Little Women” took the stage in March. No, not just height-deficient girls, rather the Broadway musical was breathed new life by Bellarmine students.

Dean of Admissions, Cari Harrison, said, “I am a huge fan of this year’s spring musical.” Harrison cited the acting and singing as highlights of the show, but she also noted, “The costumes were simply amazing.” The show boasted over 300 individual costume pieces, many of which were hand made by students, parents and teachers.

Often costumes are an underappreciated element of any show. The costume crew, a team of six students and eight adults, puts in at least ten hours per person, some clocking over a 100 hours. Senior Sophie Shaw is the student costumer leader. She has worked on costumes for every Bellarmine theater production since her freshman year. “Many people don’t realize the large amount of time and tedious work required to make the final product,” Shaw said, “But the relationship between how the costumes give the actors character, and how the actors give the clothes life is always so rewarding to see.”

Donna McNeal has been head of the Bellarmine Costume department for nine years, but this year she was assisted by Bellarmine teacher Lynne Christiansen as a liaison between McNeal and the student costume leader, Sophie Shaw. McNeal said, “It was really great to have the support of Lynne Christansen and the other Bellarmine staff.”
Before the onset of each show, Shaw and McNeal research previous productions of the show, searching for images, drawing sketches and gathering fabric. All this hard work is compiled in a binder, which serves as a blueprint for all the costumes in the show. Shaw said, “Organizing the ideas for each character helps us visualize their progression throughout the story before we make it concrete with the physical costumes.”

Shaw and McNeal then work with Christiansen to recruit a top-notch team of student costumers, many of whom have actually never sewn before. They also recruit adults to help teach the students or sew the dresses, some of which took over 40 hours to produce. Kathryn Maxey and Leslie Gould, queens of Bellarmine’s library, took on this task as adult volunteers. Maxey said the work went smoothly, “We were given the pattern and cut out pieces for our garments, and then we just assembled the garments.”

Gould said, “It was fun to work with students on a very creative project. Plus, it was nice to see the costume on stage and think, ‘Wow, I made that.’”

And this is what draws many to work in the costume department. Christiansen said, “I think you can see how you can take something from a pile of fabric, papers and directions and create something magnificent that truly creates a character.”

“For Shaw, and the other students, the costume department becomes more than just an extracurricular activity. She said, “The theater program has become a home for me. It’s the most welcoming, entertaining and vibrant group of people at Bellarmine.”