Hale Centre Theatre and Hale Center Theater Orem are putting their robust and diverse costume collections to work outside of their shows this Halloween. Each of the companies offers an impressive array of quality pieces that can be rented to serve as creative costumes for the community.
“We’ve got all of these costumes,” said Brook Wilkins, rental shop manager at Hale Centre Theatre. “Why store them and not try and use them? We might as well get some use out of them to benefit other people.”
Anne Swenson, managing director and costume director at Hale Center Theater Orem, agreed. “The costumes are just freeloaders hanging there on the rack, so we put them to work,” she said.
Wilkins said HCT’s costumes go through a rigorous process when being created so they will be durable and look just as good up close as they do onstage.
“The result, when it comes to Halloween costumes, is you’ve got a really high-quality costume, so it’s going to look good up close at a Halloween party,” she said.
Made with care
Swenson and Kristy Draper, the costume shop manager at HCT, say the majority of the costumes created for shows at HCTO and HCT are custom made for specific productions.
According to Draper, the process for creating a costume begins when a designer reads through the script of a production. He or she then comes up with ideas for costumes and pitches those ideas at a presentation meeting. Once the director clears the ideas, costume designers work with each actor to get measurements.
The work is then divided up between the costume staff members, and they create custom patterns for pieces they need for the show. Before cutting the patterns out of the fabric that will ultimately be used for the piece, the costume designers cut the pattern out of muslin, which is far less expensive, to make sure the measurements and pattern will create the desired costume.
Once the intended design has been established, the designers cut the patterns out of fashion fabric and begin assembling the costume. All the seams are made so the costumes can be altered for multiple actors during multiple productions.
Draper said when a costume is being used during a show’s run, it is being repaired almost every day of the production. Costume designers make sure the hems are still sewn properly and mend holes the second they are noticed by actors or designers.
“It is getting through the show that is the first hurdle; actors can be pretty rough on a costume,” Wilkins said. “Our runs are long, and so we build them tough to get through a show or two or three because we plan on reusing them for our own shows in the future.”
Swenson said the focus on durability means community members can rent costumes without having to worry about whether they'll hold up.
“Anything that anybody can dish out on a rental has already happened to it onstage,” Swenson said.
Rules for renting
HCTO’s Archive Costumes and HCT’s Costume Rentals have thousands of costume pieces available even days before Halloween.
Those looking to rent costumes from either company do not need an appointment to visit and browse through the thousands of available costume pieces. The rental shop staff can provide assistance.
“It can be a little bit daunting and hard to understand,” Wilkins said. “Some costumes don’t hang very well on hangers, so we are here to help people.”
Though the costumes are designed to be altered for productions, alterations beyond minor changes to the hem or cuffs are not available for rentals from HCT’s Costume Rentals.
“There is such a specific way that we take care of our costumes,” Draper said. “The way that (costumes) are altered is not how clothing is altered, and it is not advantageous to have someone who is unfamiliar with how the things are constructed to be doing any kind of alterations on them.”
Swenson said costumes at HCTO’s Archive Costumes are designed with elastic and lacing, which allows them to swing between eight sizes so that they can fit a wide range of wearers.
Average costume rentals from HCT’s Costume Rentals in West Valley City cost anywhere from $60 to $80 for a full costume rented for two days, Wilkins said. Customers can come in, select a costume, reserve it and pick it up the day they need it.
Costume rentals from HCTO’s Archive Costumes in Orem cost anywhere from $25 to $150 depending on the amount of detail in the costume and the number of accessories the customer wants, Swenson said. Rental periods at Archive Costumes vary according to the needs of the customers.
HCT's Costume Rentals is open through Nov. 2 from noon to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays. The shop will close at 5 p.m. on Oct. 31 and open at 10 a.m. on Nov. 2. More information is available at 801-984-9001 or rentals.halecentretheatre.org.
HCTO’s Archive Costumes is open year-round and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. More information is available at 801-226-8600 or haletheater.org/costumes.
Email: mswensen@deseretnews.com