JULI BOUNDS SHOP MANAGER FIRST HAND

Summary

In this Utah Shakespeare Festival interview, Julie, a shop manager and first hand at Dickinson College, shares her theater journey. Starting in costume shops during college, she now manages student workers, teaches costuming, and collaborates on productions. Julie discusses her roles, from managing schedules and paperwork to hands-on sewing and fittings. She highlights the joy of working with talented teams and the high standards of craftsmanship in theater, emphasizing the importance of life skills like sewing and the creative outlet it provides for students.

Takeaways

• 🎭 Julie is a first hand and shop manager at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and Dickinson College, where she manages costume shops and student workers.
• 👗 Julie's theater career began in college, working in the costume shop at the University of Pittsburgh, and she continued to develop her skills at Dickinson College.
• 📚 She has a supportive faculty member at Dickinson who created a position for her, allowing her to contribute to the theater department with her expertise.
• 🧵 Julie teaches costuming skills to student workers and also instructs an introductory sewing class, highlighting her role as an educator in addition to a manager.
• 📋 As a shop manager, Julie is responsible for organizational tasks such as scheduling, hiring paperwork, and managing dressing paperwork for the designer.
• 👗 She also assists in fittings, taking notes, and assigning tasks to stitchers and workers, showcasing her hands-on involvement in the costume creation process.
• 📏 At the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Julie's role as a first hand involves cutting out fabric according to patterns made by a draper and working closely with stitchers.
• 🎨 The festival operates at a high standard, which allows Julie to focus on the quality of her sewing and finishing work, different from her role at Dickinson.
• 🤝 Julie values the collaborative environment at the festival, mentioning the importance of teamwork with other departments like props for creating costumes.
• 🌟 She has worked at other companies, such as the Berkshire Theatre Group and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, gaining diverse experience in theater and ballet production.
• 🏞️ The setting of the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the talented people she works with are the main reasons Julie returns each year, emphasizing the value of the experience.

Q & A

What is Julie's role at the Utah Shakespeare Festival?

Julie is a first hand at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, responsible for cutting out all the fabric, marking it, and working with stitchers to instruct them on how things go together.

What does Julie's job as a shop manager at Dickinson College involve?

As a shop manager at Dickinson College, Julie is in charge of scheduling student workers, handling hiring paperwork, managing dressing paperwork, and assigning tasks to stitchers and workers. She also teaches costuming skills and an intro to theater technology sewing class.

How did Julie's theater career begin?

Julie's theater career started in college where she worked in the costume shop at the University of Pittsburgh for all four years. She was then hired at Dickinson College in an overhire position, eventually becoming a shop manager.

What is the significance of having a supportive faculty member at Dickinson College for Julie?

A supportive faculty member at Dickinson College helped create a position for Julie, allowing her to have a role where she could advocate for the positions needed in the theater department.

How many student workers does Julie manage at Dickinson College?

Julie manages between eight and ten student workers at Dickinson College who are interested in sewing and costuming.

What is unique about the student workers that Julie works with at Dickinson College?

The student workers Julie works with are not all theater students but come from various majors, with a common interest in sewing and costuming, providing them a creative outlet outside their primary studies.

What is the difference between Julie's role as a first hand at the Utah Shakespeare Festival compared to her role at Dickinson College?

At the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Julie is more focused on the technical aspects of sewing and working with a high standard of finishing work, whereas at Dickinson College, she has a broader role including management and teaching.

Why does Julie continue to return to the Utah Shakespeare Festival?

Julie returns to the Utah Shakespeare Festival due to the love for the setting, the opportunity to work in a different environment than Pennsylvania, and most importantly, the talented people and friends she has made over the years.

What is the process of collaboration with the props team like for Julie at the Utah Shakespeare Festival?

Julie's collaboration with the props team involves receiving instructions for what is needed for the show, such as creating a dummy robe for a dead body dummy, but she does not work closely with them; the designer and the shop manager handle most of the communication.

How does Julie's experience at the Utah Shakespeare Festival differ from her experience at other theaters?

At the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Julie works with drapers' patterns and does not use commercial patterns, unlike at Dickinson College where commercial patterns are commonly used. The festival also operates at a high standard, which allows her to focus on quality sewing and finishing work.

What other companies has Julie worked for in the past?

Julie has worked at the Berkshire Theatre Group in Massachusetts as a first hand stitcher and briefly at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, contributing to their elaborate ballet productions.