In stitches | Hilltop grad sews costumes for 'Beauty,' other shows

June 05, 2008 02:18 pm

— BY RUTH RICE
RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM
When “Beauty and the Beast” casts its enchanted spell on Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown, costumes will be magically downsized to fit the smaller stage.
Amanda Kirkstadt of Westmont is the costume designer who will cut the larger-than-life Disney fantasy down to size.
She has worked as full-time costume designer on other Jennerstown playhouse productions since midway through last season, when the previous costume designer quit.
“It fell into my lap,” Kirkstadt said of the job that fits her as perfectly as one of the costumes she designs.
“Judy Bingler couldn’t do it because she was working full time, so she suggested me.”
Bingler works in the theater department at Westmont Hilltop High School, where Kirkstadt got her start in designing.
“I was home for the summer, and I had talked to Teresa (Stoughton Marafino) the producer before,” Kirkstadt said. “We hit it off. Creatively, we think the same.
“I was hired for last season, then after talking with the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ director, Chan Harris, I was hired for this season,” she said.
Kirkstadt is making a mask for the beast that more closely resembles an exotic African animal than the beast Disney fans are familiar with.
“It’s the same idea, but different,” Kirkstadt said. “I hand-painted the face, and the hair will be one wig sewn together.”
Belle, the lead female, will have four gowns, but to make costume changes easier, Kirkstadt made them reversible and doubled up on costumes.
She also made reversible jackets for other characters.
“Most of them have two costumes, for the enchanted and the real life, and they’re the same size, so I combined them,” Kirkstadt said. “The thing about the playhouse is the actors aren’t there yet, so I’m using measurements, which can be risky.”
For some of Belle’s gowns, Kirkstadt incorporated her own color schemes, but she kept the signature Belle dress that almost all little girls are familiar with.
Lumiere, the human turned candelabra, will be a pewter-silver rather than gold.
To make his candlestick arms, Kirkstadt used lightweight cardboard tubes and expanding foam insulation.
“The actor has to hold up his arms the whole time, so I didn’t want anything heavy,” she explained.
To refresh her memory of the well-known Disney characters, Kirkstadt borrowed a “Beauty and the Beast” DVD and watched it numerous times.
“I’m a Disney girl,” she said with a smile.
“I’m big on planning and color theory, and I’m a fast sewer.”
Kirkstadt created her costumes for “Beauty and the Beast” by doing sketches, working on her laptop and making a pattern.
“I see the silhouette in my head,” Kirkstadt said. “This is a great experience. I’m up until 4:30 in the morning, but I love doing it.”
Kirkstadt has been working on her fantasy creations since mid-January.
Stoughton Marafino said Kirkstadt’s costuming work for “Beauty and the Beast” is being made possible in part through a grant from an anonymous donor.
“Last summer, someone wanted to give a donation to the theater and asked if there was a production we couldn’t do because of constraints,” Marafino said. “I told them I’d love to do ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ ”
When the playhouse’s production is finished, the downsized costumes will be available for high school drama departments and theaters to rent.
Kirkstadt began studying the fine arts while she was a student at Westmont Hilltop. Her teachers were Norman Ed and Colleen Goerlich.
“Norman Ed helped me develop my creativity,” she said. “I already knew how to sew. My grandmother taught me.”
Kirkstadt created the costumes for several musicals – “Music Man,” “School House Rock” and “Into The Woods,” with the help of Bingler and Beth Good, Westmont’s choral/music director.
“ ‘Into the Woods’ was my senior show,” Kirkstadt said. “That’s what decided me on going into design. I’m not a stage person. I’ve always been behind the scenes.”
Kirkstadt, 21, graduated from the two-year portfolio-based program at Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan in December.
“Graduation is based on your portfolio, and so is job placement,” Kirkstadt said. “It’s a two-year program and like receiving an arts degree.”
She returned to Johnstown rather than going to Broadway because competition is fierce.
“There’s no job interview, you have a portfolio,” Kirkstadt said. “I can build my portfolio at the playhouse, and I get paid. Usually at this level you would not be paid.
“And, it’s close to home,” she added.
Kirkstadt considers working at Mountain Playhouse a great opportunity because the shows are mostly in the summer, which gives her four to five months to explore her options on the off-season.
“I think I’ll stay here because my portfolio isn’t good enough yet, but I am making connections with directors at the playhouse,” she said. “This is perfect for me.”
Now that the playhouse season has commenced, Kirkstadt has to juggle her more fanciful creations with the modern-life costumes of the rest of the playhouse’s productions.
Kirkstadt is currently working with Guy Stroman, who is directing “Stand By Your Man,” the story of country singer Tammy Wynette.
“He’s based in New York,” Kirkstadt said. “It’s an honor to work with him, and Carrie Tillis is great.”
At rehearsals, Kirkstadt performs costume maintenance, such as fixing a loose button.
“I’m picky about what actors wear on stage,” she said. “Costuming is not just dressing to fit. If two characters are at odds, they should be dressed in contrasting colors.”
From now until “Beauty and the Beast” has its run, from July 1-20, Kirkstadt will have completed the fantasy’s costumes as well as more modern-day costumes for “Stand By Your Man.”
By the time “Beauty and the Beast” is enchanting audiences, Kirkstadt will be working on costumes for the next show, “Unnecessary Farce.”
“This year, it’s a balance of fantasy and reality,” Kirkstadt said. “You have to like to juggle to do this. If you frazzle easily, this is not for you.
“I need to be busy, and I work well under pressure. If I had a deadline that was a year away, I’d wait until a month before,” she said. “I work better fast.”

Pins and needles
Who: Amanda Kirkstadt.
Age: 21.
Residence: Westmont.
Employment: Costume designer at Mountain Playhouse, Jennerstown.
Education: Graduate of Westmont Hilltop High School and Fashion Institute of Technology, Manhattan.

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