The room is hectic. Actors try on several costumes while volunteers make sure that that the outfits fit correctly. A lot of work goes into directing a play as big as Les Misérables, and costuming is a big part of perfecting the production. Costumes have to be relevant to the time period and character appropriate. A whore will have to look like a whore and a bishop a bishop.

Stanley Swartz, the head of the drama department and the director of Les Misérables says a lot of research goes into making sure the costumes are historically correct.

“We research the time period to make sure that the costumes are accurate . We also look at other shows [productions done by other schools],” Swartz said.

A lot of the costumes come out of the costume closet and are adapted to the play while other pieces, like fancy hats, are bought.

“We adapt the costumes that we have in stock. It saves us money. Pieces that we don’t have will either be made, bought or rented,” Swartz said.

On the other side of the story, are the volunteers that have given their time to help with the production. They see to it that every actor and actress is dressed and fitted into their costumes. They also create ensembles and run them by Mr. Swartz to get them approved.

Julie Hatfield, whose daughter is in the play, is a volunteer and head of the costume committee.

“[My job is] to find costumes for seventy actors and actresses. Each group gets a different type of costume,” Hatfield said. “I meet with the director and get his vision. I also look at the costume closet and see what we can use. If we don’t have a certain costume, we might go to Goodwill and see what we could use from there.”

The costume committee also has to make the beggars’ costumes look distressed.

“Ama Ansah and Phoebe Copeland distressed the beggars costumes. They cut and pull and stain the costumes so that they reach a dirty look for the clothes,” Hatfield said.

The crew will be staining the costumes with dyes and rubbing paint on them. They make the pieces look tattered by using sand paper, scissors and wire brushes.

“It’s a good way to take out aggression and is also kind of fun,” senior Ama Ansah, the stage manager, said.

Junior Lydia Hatfeild, who plays a whore and a nun says its a strange experience getting costumed and fitted by her mother.

“It’s an interesting process. They [costume crew] give you an initial costume and then they build on it. It’s also strange because my mom dresses me up as a whore when she’s usually telling me to dress appropriately,” Lydia said.

Lydia is happy about what she will look like though and can’t wait to see the finished product of the crew’s hard work.

“As a group, I think we’re going to look very cool. I don’t know how I feel with showing of my body [as a whore] but we’ll look colorful,” Lydia said.

Senior Angela Huynh, has never been in the musical, but she is volunteering her time to help out with costuming.

“It’s not like your normal experience,” Huynh said about her time distressing the costumes.”We weren’t making the clothes look nice and sewing, we were tearing the clothes up and sanding [the costumes]. It was fun.”

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