Day 2

After watching the stage show the night before it really made me look at it in a different way. Thinking about what goes into the production and whats needed to be done was really helpful to know.  Today i went to the store house in another location which was like an Aladdin's cave of Les Mis costumes, from all past production, touring productions from different countries.  They had just received the costumes back from the tour around Spain so we were making room and sorting out the rails to put them out in order.  i was assigned the task of sorting out the women's shawls which were in a massive box there must have been about 100! it really made me realise that with each new production they change most aspects of the costume.  I was also tasked with finding bigger blankets for the cast to wear during a eurovison night that they will be doing for fun.  This task did take a while i then helped to arrange the costumes in order and put away shirts making sure the right way round so that they can see the labels well.  This did take the majority of the day so i did have a longer break.

Shadowing:
For the evening i shadowed the women who looked after the Swing girls. we started by collect all 4 girls costumes that had been washed.  Shirts, underwear, mic pouches, stockings. pit pads etc.  These  are all close to the body so for comfort and hygiene are washed daily, twice on Wednesday and Saturday. She started by laying out the clothes with the last costume first for the actresses to get into.  She then piled all the others on top of this.  She said what you do is find the easiest and quickest way for the actresses to change.  Planning is important as costumes are hidden all other the theatre. It is important that you check you have everything as the costume department is right at the top and there will be no time to run and get it.
        
7.15pm Girls get dressed and we help where needed however they are pretty self sufficient.  We had to help dress one of the boys from his convict costume into a farm boy out the back of the stage as the dresser for this one had to do too much so they all help each other out.
The night goes well, it was interesting to see how well run it is behind stage. Going to the wings of the stage was very exciting and nerve wracking all at once,  I felt the need to whisper however there is no way you would be heard or even scene on stage.  The women i was following was incredible helpful and answered so many questions that i had about the job and it really inspired me to wanting to work in theatre as everyone gets on so well.