On Thursday the 23rd of May, I went to my site visit for my Capstone Project. My site visit was at the Disney’s Frozen Costume Office at Amsterdam Theater. I told the person that I interviewed, David Kaley that I also needed to do a site visit. He offered to let me go to his costume office. I was excited to see the costume office because I saw pictures of costume offices online and now I finally got to see one in person.
During the site visit David told me where everything is placed and how they organize the office. For example, rolls of fabrics were lined up by character on the shelves and each roll was tagged with the character and name of fabric. He also showed me a few costumes and let me see all the details of them. David told me in some costumes they even sew in ice packs to keep the actors cool. I also learned that each actor for the show gets new undergarments for each performance and has three identical costumes so they can rotate the costumes to be cleaned. In addition, David showed me a giant book that they call “the bible”. They have 20 “Bibles” in all! In these books,they keep the fabric, the sketch, the picture of the person wearing the costume, the buttons that they use and so much more! This looked like a great way to organize all the costumes. I thought these books were super cool.
In conclusion, I am extremely grateful to have had the privilege of visiting Disney’s Frozen costume office. It was really cool to see all of the hard work that goes into the detailing of these costumes!
Here are some photos:
Drawers filled with Buttons
One of the “bible” books showing a sketch of a Costume
A Troll Costume from Disney’s Frozen on Broadway (This Costume was very heavy)
On Thursday the 23rd of May, I interviewed David Kaley for my Capstone Project. David Kaley is currently the Associate Costume Designer for Disney’s Frozen on Broadway. He designs all the Disney’s Frozen costumes at the Amsterdam Theater in New York City. I interviewed David Kaley because I wanted to interview somebody who had a lot of experience with Costume Design. For example, David Kaley has designed costumes for eleven different Broadway Shows. Some of these shows include: Disaster: The Musical, It Shoulda Been You, Cabaret and The Addams Family to name a few.
For setting up my interview I wrote David Kaley an email introducing myself, explaining our project and requesting if I could possibly interview him. To my surprise, he emailed me right back and said yes. I asked David Kaley 16 questions.
These are the questions that I prepared to ask David Kaley about Costume Design:
- Why did you want to become a costume designer?
- What experience do you have as a costume designer?
- What skills do you need to have to be a costume designer?
- How important is it to know the character when designing the costume?
- What research do you need to know about the character before you make the costume and where do you find it?
- What materials do you need to design a costume?
- Who do you consult with when coming up with designs?
- Do you have people to help you? If so, how many people and what are their responsibilities?
- Can you describe the steps from start to finish, including the length of time needed?
- What do you focus on when designing a costume?
- What kind of approval do you need for your designs before they go into production, while you’re working on costumes, and when you’re done? If so, who is in charge of approval? (For example, stage manager, producer, etc.)
- Do you create your designs at the theater or is there a specific place you work?
- Is there any specific technology that you use to assist you?
- What was one of your most favorite costume designs and why?
- What do you enjoy most about your job? Least?
- Is there any other information you think that’s important for me to know about costume design?
In the beginning of my interview I felt nervous but also excited at the same time. When I got to the Amsterdam Theater, the security guard led me into the costume design office. David greeted me and seemed excited about our interview. We spent one hour going through my questions.
In conclusion, I thought David Kaley gave me a lot of information about Costume Design. I was surprised at how many people help to make the costumes. I can’t wait to use the information he shared with me to put into my presentation.
Here are some photos:
Amsterdam Theatre
David Kaley
For my capstone project I had to pick a main inquiry question and sub questions. My main inquiry question is “What are the key steps in creating costumes for Broadway shows?” I made sure my main inquiry question will give me lots of information about the key steps in creating costumes for Broadway Shows. I also made sure that my main inquiry question would keep my interest. Some of the other main inquiry questions I had in mind are, “How do costumes help tell the story?” and “How has costume making changed over the years?”
For my sub questions I had to make them go with my main inquiry question. We have to make five or six sub questions for our Capstone Project. The sub questions are not interview questions, they are the things that we will mostly research about.
These are my sub questions:
- How important is knowing the character when designing a costume?
- How much and what research has to be done before designing a costume?
- How many people are involved in creating the costumes?
- How long is the process from the beginning to the end?
- What tools and materials are required for creating a costume?
- What are the most important features to consider when designing the costume?
In conclusion, I think that creating the sub questions was easier than creating my main inquiry question. I am happy about my main inquiry question and sub questions. I am looking forward to my interview and learning more about Costume Design.
Our class was assigned this week to a project called Capstone. The project Capstone is about doing something that you know or want to know more about. We have to do lots of research such as a site visit and interview. We will also have to create a presentation that is about the topic that we choose.
My teacher told my class that we should pick two topics that we would like to do our Capstone project on. One of the topics that I chose was costume design because I love learning about fashion. The second topic that I choose was the elements of a Broadway how because I love acting and watching Broadway shows. Between the two options, I chose to do my Capstone project on Costume Design.
We were given a large sheet of paper, some post-its and a marker. On the center of the paper I wrote the topic Costume Design, as this is what I will be researching my Capstone on. All of the post-its that I glued onto the paper had inquiry questions about the topic that I chose. At the end I chose one of the inquiry questions. The inquiry question that I chose is, what is the process of making a Costume for a Broadway Show.
I am happy that I choose The Process of Making a Costume for a Broadway Show because I loving seeing the costumes when I go to a Broadway show and now I get to learn about how they are made. I am so excited to start working on this project!