La Jolla Playhouse Blog

By Erick Sundquist, Wardrobe Supervisor

(l-r): Scott Parkinson and Eric Hissom, who take on dozens of character roles, perform alongside and Ted Deasy in La Jolla Playhouse's production of THE 39 STEPS. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

When people ask what it is I do, they often mistake it for a glamorous job. While it is tons of fun, most overlook the detail it takes to make the show look and run consistently eight times a week. My job is to maintain the look and integrity of the design once the show is up and running as well as overseeing all of the quick changes during the show. Helping me are Addy and Sharon, our amazing dressers. Along with Michael the Hair/Wig Supervisor and Stefanie our swing.

The 39 Steps clocks in right at two hours running time; but backstage looks like we are running a large musical. The show moves at the breakneck speed of comedy. Most changes are only seconds long. Just think about how many seconds you spend tying shoes or primping in the mirror before you head out the door. Dressers are eyes for an actor behind the scenes. However, to an audience faster is funnier and these luxuries are unavailable backstage. We are now in our third week together and the cast is working so hard and must remain so focused they barely catch a breath or sip of water before making another entrance (usually as yet another character). But this week it seems everyone is starting to get comfortable and is letting some of the humor they serve onstage show backstage.

The other question people love to ask is how do we change the costumes so fast? The answer is some engineering and some well choreographed theater magic. The actors have a basic costume which allows us to add bits and pieces to transform them into Salesmen, Spies, Vaudevillian characters and even some gender bending turns. This is all done with some well hidden velcro and snap rigging. To the audience the actor is wearing a tux with tails but we are only adding a vest with the shirt collar and bow tie sewn together as a unit topped off with a jacket. A prime example is towards the end of the show when we have only seconds to transform Scott (Man #2) from Compere to Professor Jordan to Mr. Allbright back to Professor Jordan then to an onstage split between Mr. Allbright and Compere. (That is confusing to even write down!) The longest we have is 8 seconds, and that includes an addition of facial hair as well as travel time for the actor. Stage left is a busy place at that point as we have two dressers, a hair supervisor and three props technicians to make those transitions appear seamless to the audience every performance. And that is why live theater is so amazing.

This week I started working with Sheffield, our understudy, during his rehearsal time onstage. He covers all three of the men’s roles in the show — try and wrap your mind around that 39 Steps fans! He started working with his hats and now we are working with his coats and some timing on the changes. It’s easiest to learn piece by piece. And by next week we will have him in full costume for his rehearsal. Now I’ve found that when I explain the changes to Sheffield, we have such a great rhythm backstage. Now every change is calmer and far less hectic and rushed as when we started a few weeks ago, which is a great benefit to him as he’s trying to juggle the choreography of three intricate dances in his brain. We have a system that I’m sure sounds completely odd to an outsider. When he comes offstage I yell to him what clothing to rip off as I’m piling different clothes on to him. I’m certainly glad he understands it’s nothing personal when I tell him to “Strip in this basket, and take off your hat.”