Laundry Person

While you may easily do your laundry at home, doing the laundry for a Broadway show is quite the task. Shows with large casts produce lots of dirty laundry, and doing all of it can be a full-day ordeal. If costumes have beadwork, special dyes or delicate stitching, they need special care when being washed.

At least one person is usually dedicated to doing the laundry every day. This includes, but is not limited to, washing and drying (whether in a machine or by hand), sorting the clean laundry and putting it away in the appropriate place.

Here is an inside look at all the jobs of a dresser when “Mary Poppins” was on Broadway, with a special glimpse into the laundry room.

Beader

If a show has costumes with intricate beadwork or even sequins, a beader is usually on staff to repair these specific costumes during non-performance hours (otherwise known as doing “daywork”). Beading is certainly a learned specialized skill and requires patience.

This video from “Wicked” gives you an inside look at the beading skills and prep work that went into creating the costumes, as well as an idea of the dresser skills it would take to do upkeep during a beading daywork call.

Dayworker

In addition to a bead worker, other dressers are employed to do daywork in order to prepare and check the costumes before a performance. They ensure they look as pristine as they did on opening night.

Ironing, steaming and minor repairs are all allowed. The costumes are meticulously checked for any damage and are repaired onsite. Anyone who wants to be employed as a dayworker needs to have at least basic sewing skills and be able to sew small rips and buttons, among other things.

Stitcher

A stitcher is also onsite during daywork and sometimes during showtimes. This is a dresser who is a whiz with a sewing machine. It’s also helpful if this person can do pattern-making, use a serger and operate other applicable instruments. Stitchers will repair more difficult and larger rips and holes in costumes. They may also do alterations to costumes if a new actor or swing/understudy is going in the show.

Shoe Person

During daywork, a dresser who knows how to repair and keep shoes looking like new is also employed. Shoes take a beating from everyday wear and tear and hardcore dancing, so the shoe person can give shoes a fresh coat of paint/polish, check for repairs, replace or fix any rubber or hardware and/or take the shoes to a local cobbler for a more involved fix.

Wardrobes Supervisor

The wardrobe supervisor is in charge of all the dressers and oversees all the jobs listed here. The supervisor usually was once a dresser and has moved up the ranks to become someone who is now in charge.

Due to union rules, the supervisor doesn’t usually dress. Instead, he or she works with the creative team to ensure costumes come onstage and offstage accordingly, schedules and hires the dressers and is the go-between for management, actors and the costume designer.

Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor

This person does exactly as the title implies. He or she assists the supervisor with managerial work and sometimes dresses actors. It takes a special kind of person to be able to assist the supervisor in everyday tasks but also take the lead when the supervisor is out of the building. In addition, an assistant can serve as an extra hand during quick changes and fill in for dressers who call out sick at the last-minute when a swing isn’t available.

Here is a great backstage tour and inside scoop from wardrobe supervisor Irene Bunis when “Mamma Mia” was running on Broadway.

Dresser

This great video from the National Theatre gives you a tour of the daily routine of a wardrobe dresser.

There are two specialized dresser positions that also can exist during the run of a show beyond a regular dressing track of ensemble or principal actors: swing dressers and star dressers.

Swing dressers fill in for the regular dressers when they are out sick or on vacation. Theatres will typically spend some time training a swing for this type of episode, but not always. Swings need to be quick on their feet and meld in easily with the daily show routines of the dresser they are taking over for.

Check out this video from the former company of “Billy Elliot” in London, which showcases swing dresser Lauren Adams.

Star dressers do exactly as this title implies: dresses the names/stars of the show. Pictured below is star dresser Jennifer Hohn with Lin-Manuel Miranda backstage at “Hamilton.”

These tracks usually require extra-special care, and star dressers will sometimes act as a special assistant, guest greeter and more in addition to helping carry out the costume changes with his or her actress. Many times, a star of a show will take their star dresser with them from show to show, since they are familiar with their work and have a good rapport. If you are meticulous and a people-person, this is a great job for you!

Have you worked or do you want to work in any of these areas? Share in the comments below

The post Beyond The Quick Change: The Many Jobs Of A Broadway Dresser appeared first on Theatre Nerds.

I always love watching her give backstage tours and seeing how fascinated people are about all the goings-on in the backstage world and finding out exactly what a dresser does. Here are some of the most common questions she gets asked:

What Is a Dresser?

Well, a dresser is a member of the wardrobe department whose job it is to assist their assigned actors into costume and help with any changes, especially quick changes. More often, a dresser will be assigned two or more people to dress. Star dressers or principal dressers are the ones who are assigned to or requested by one actor, often the lead of the show. We also occasionally help with repairs, and there is a thing called “day work” where all the clothes get repaired and cleaned, steamed and ready for the show. Every show has its own unique duties, too. In my current show, “Something Rotten!” we have to put tape over all the taps of the tap shoes so that the actors aren’t slipping on the stage when wearing them.

How Did You Get Into Dressing?

My way in was not the usual way. My mom was a dresser for many years. She worked on “Rent,” “Nine,” “Jersey Boys, “On the Twentieth Century” and many more. So I’ve always known that world. I also worked in the costume shop in college and worked in costumes for TADA! Youth Theater, an amazing children’s theatre program in the city. Years later, my mother was working on “Spider-Man” and they suddenly needed another dresser, and very quickly I was suggested and brought in the next day. And I can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s seriously one of the best jobs.

What’s the Most Difficult Part of Dressing?

Hmm, I mean, quick changes can be difficult, but once you do it for a little while, it becomes like clockwork. One of the most difficult positions, though, is a swing dresser. As you know, Broadway shows have swing actors — actors who know every role in the show and can replace anyone at a moment’s notice. Well, dressers have the same position. Every dresser has a “track,” which is where they go and when, whom they dress, where and when they have to move to get out of the way of a set change, etc. And a swing dresser has to know everyone’s tracks and to be able to fill in as needed. I enjoyed being a swing dresser, as it kept me on my toes and allows you to see how the whole machine of a show really works from many different perspectives.

What Is the Fastest Change You’ve Had to Do?

I have done many changes that are quite fast or crazy (giant egg costumes, anyone?) One of my most involved quick-change was during “Spider-Man.” I had less than 30 seconds to get an actor out of about seven pieces of clothing, including a full head mask, and into six different pieces! But I’ve seen or heard about some pretty crazy quick-changes. In fact, my friend Fran Curry, one of the best dressers in the biz, had a great video taken of her doing one of Kelli O’Hara’s complicated quick-changes during “The King and I.”

What Are the Items You Always Have to Have on You?

I always make sure I’m wearing an apron with multiple pockets. I make sure I have an array of safety pins and a little pair of scissors. And, you always want to have a light. I use a headlamp that looks like I’m going mining for coal. Some people use what’s called a “bite light,” a little light you put in your mouth and bite down on to give you some light backstage. Also water, Tylenol and some kind of chocolate for those two-show days.

Have You Ever Been a Dresser for a Celebrity?

I have, actually. I was very fortunate to be Sienna Miller’s dresser during her stint in “Cabaret.” She was the nicest, most wonderful person! I loved her. People also ask me what the major difference is being a star dresser versus an ensemble dresser. I think the major difference is you become somewhat like an assistant, at least when they’re in the theatre. Making sure they have tea, helping with fan mail, organizing backstage visits, etc. It was a great experience.

What’s the Biggest Mishap That’s Happened to You During a Show?

Nothing too severe, thankfully. During “Something Rotten!” one of the ensemble girls’ opening costume split down the back, and we had to do a very fast repair so she could wear it again later in the show. There’s also a point in the show where a bunch of men’s coats are placed along the back wall and every ensemble guy runs upstage and grabs their coat. Well, sometimes if there is an understudy or swing on, the coats don’t always get put in the right places, and we’ve had some actors grab a jacket that’s either way too big or way too small, but it’s too late and they’ve got to go on with the number.

How Do I Get Into the Dressing Business?

There’s no one way to get into wardrobe work. If you are still in school, volunteer in your school’s costume shop or at a local theatre. Touring shows also often hire local dressers for each stop, so you should inquire at your closest theatre that hosts national tours. If you’re in the city and hoping to be a dresser, try getting as many credits as you can, wherever you can. Try Off-Broadway, children’s theatres, etc., and meeting as many people in the business as you can. Connections are always helpful for any job, really. Apply to be a day worker, too. Besides the ironing and steaming and such, there are stitchers who repair all the costumes during the day, shoppers who buy fabric and material for repairs or new costumes and a laundry person who takes care of all the laundry for the show, which, believe me, is no easy task. And then, just start dropping your resumes off at all the theatres in the city.

The post What It’s Like To Be A Broadway Dresser appeared first on Theatre Nerds.