by Priscilla

Jun.02, 2009, under Backstage Blog

I am Oliver Thornton’s dresser in Priscilla. My day starts when I come in early and collect the laundry and any repairs from upstairs. I bring them down and preset everything in all the baskets, because this show is all quick changes. No one comes back to the dressing room to change. I have to be around the stage or on the stage or inside the bus. So I collect everything and pre-lay it all in baskets so you can grab anything when you need it. During the performances I do all the changes for Oliver and some of them are under 30 seconds. This includes changes for pop socks that come on and off, lipstick and glitter, all goes on and off. I have to carry parcel tape so that Oliver can get the glitter off his lips, wet wipes so he can remove the lipstick and compacts so he can put his makeup on. There are lots of bits and pieces to carry around for the actors, as well as water, because obviously they get very hot and thirsty. They put their own lipstick on during the show. If the wig people are in the wings they will shine a torch on a mirror so that the actors can see what they are doing. Each character has his own glitter, Oliver’s is a pinky silver colour. The glitter is literally put on with their fingertips, which means they get to breathe it in!

Costumes backstage

Oliver has around 18 costume changes. So far (touch wood!) we’ve made them all. The key is the preset, making sure that all the costumes are where they are supposed to be, every bit of make up, every mask, every bit of underwear. It’s all in the three quarters of an hour before the show.

It is like being in a formula one pit team. In rehearsals we probably saw only one run through in the rehearsal room, the actors were not in costume and running around a room, so we don’t really know any of the timings, where they are going to and from. Some of the costumes took longer to get used too. The steel corsets are really difficult to get Oliver into and we have to work together to get it right. In the end it is a choreographed move.

I dress Felicia, so if Oliver is off then I will work with the understudy, in this case Matt Cole. He’s done two shows as Felicia and he’s been great, because sometimes when actors come off they have been focussing so hard about what they have to do on stage they forget what they have to do off it, but he stayed very calm and was really focussed. The first couple of changes were a bit tight, but after that it was okay.

There is very little space back stage at the Palace, particularly with these costumes. If you have a gumby coming through with their huge shoes and headdresses you have to wait for them to pass. So we all have to choreograph things backstage as much as the numbers onstage, whilst avoiding the pallets of props being dropped down from above.

Cast in Gumby costumes with Boris Johnson

I did a degree in fashion design and worked on fashion shows, so I was used to quick changes, which gave me some experience for my first job as a dresser. Dressers come from various backgrounds, some are out of work actors or dancers, or people that have finished a degree in costume design, but have not been able to work in that arena. A large part of the job is the ability to work in a team and being able to keep a cool head. This is especially important if you are starting off an original show. When they are setting it up, you really have to think a step ahead, where is that person coming off, can I set up here or is something going to drop on my head?

It is a really close knit show and it does get pressurised from time to time, but I haven’t witnessed any arguments. The things I love most about Priscilla are the costumes. At the bows we are standing behind the bus on stage, because we have just done a quick change and there’s no time for us to get off. We get to see the audience go absolutely crazy at the end and it’s totally deserved, because they have such a good time. It is a very funny show, very fast paced, and there is always something to look at. What the audience don’t get to see is stage left at the beginning of Macarthur Park when all of the crew, Kanako (Cynthia) and a few of the dressers do the whole bus routine off stage. They should sell tickets for that!