by Priscilla

Jun.10, 2010, under Backstage Blog

I look after Don Gallagher who plays Bernadette. Before that I looked after John Bowe who plays Bob, the ensemble boys and Benji. You have to almost perform a dance backstage when it comes to the costume changes. It is a very well organised routine. Hopefully things don’t go wrong.

I did a BA in costume for stage and screen, so I am a dresser who is very interested in costumes and as such Priscilla is great for me. In term of costumes Priscilla is an amazing show. They are so huge, weird, extravagant and extremely challenging to work with. They can also be very tiring.

An Autralian cast Gumby

One of my favourite moments is when we turn Bernadette into a Gumby behind the screen in I Will Survive. I get wheeled on with the screen. It is really fast change and there is such an adrenaline rush, because you are on the stage. It is the closest any dresser experiences to performing in front of the audience. The worst costume from a dresser point of view is the Venus wings as they are so awkward and heavy and need a lot of maintenance. The cupcakes are also quite cumbersome. I am 4 foot 11 inches tall, so they are bigger than me, which is a challenge in itself. The lack of backstage space has already been mentioned, but it’s not only a storage issue, it’s about space to change. When you have 8 people trying to get into cupcake costumes it is not easy. The wardrobe team have done wonders with the storage of the costumes, but it is a huge show.

Costumes are such a large part of the show, so there is a fair amount of maintenance. I’m working on Oliver’s Venus wings at the moment. Anyone who has seen the show will know that the wings get ripped off in the middle of the Venus song and thrown through the backcloth. Consequently they get damaged a bit over a years worth of use and need repairing regularly.

I’ve been working in the West End for 6 years now. I’ve worked on Guys and Dolls, Wicked and other shows. Priscilla is a fun show and has a pull for lots of different types of people. It is one of the most fun shows to work on and for a dresser you can’t really get better costumes. It’s a brilliant show, if you like the film you will love this and it has a great story at its heart. The scene between Tick and Benji still makes me cry.