Karen Schlicht, often seen at DMR Adventures and Four County Players, is House Manager for Shine on 9.28.
Amy Paulson, currently Lead Stage Manager for 13 JR at DMR Adventures, is joining our House Management and Tech Teams for Shine!
Reserve your tickets for Shine at the link in our bio!
Before Frozen I costumed my first solo show and it was Dear Edwina right before the pandemic at Four County Players. It was in a way my launching show. Of course Covid put a wrench into things. This spring I went back to Four County to help costume Zink the Zebra. It was a group effort. Our teen director had a completely different vision than I did going in. I readjusted and am so glad we did it her way. It was perfect and easy!
One of the other things I have done as resident costume designer is costume the adventure shows. These are usually student's first experience of a theater produ tion. They are shortened to 15-30 minutes. We do not do full costumes but rather help with a vibe by adding accessories. Here are just a few examples.
Spring 2024 Dream show! The Sound of Music. I only ever have dreamed of being Leisel since I was 10. This by far was the most challenging show. We had a large cast and it was two casts. Trying to make sure everyone was wearing what they were supposed to before walking out of stage was a challenge in itself. Kids forgetting their socks, Captain trying to walk out in his off night Army Uniform as the Captain etc. I also never have truly done a time period show on my own before. Again I partnered with Xavier as he was the director. His attention to detail helped me during tech. Stay tuned as he and I are partnering again this Fall!! I am taking the summer off to spend with my family and to travel.
Photo credit: Jesus Pino Photography.
In the Fall of 2023 I once again partnered with Xavier for Finding Nemo. This is where my experience on Cats with Celena came in handy. I am used to over the top campy and Xavier wanted humanized skate park vibe. No makeup or things that represent fish. It was a completely different direction. He gave me a vision board and I did my best to make it happen. I bought more converse, Van's and skater brands for this show. I almost felt youthful again.
Rudolph was with Mark Williams his debut mainstage show as director and very much like a little brother to me. He left me alone and never complained even though he secretly was doubting my pink and blue concept. It turned out and was a cute show.
Addams Family is still my proudest show. Although my Elsa transformation on stage night after night is still my proudest accomplishment. The director and I became dear friends the summer prior when I worked on 101 Dalmations for him. I really feel that our makeup artist helped make the costumes pop. One of my favorite parts about my job is working with so many directors.
Summer 2023 was filled with camps for me. One of my favorite summer programs are always our Shakespeare camps. Claire is the most easy going director I get to work with. I live her modern spin on shows. Like here is Comedy of Errors. Also only one photo to show sadly for such a visually colorful show but I got to tackle Sponge Bob the musical. This was my first time working with Xavier and it was just the beginning of our partnership with shows.
Spring 2023 I did a bucket list show. I have been obsessed with Seussical ever since seeing it at a local school. I am all about bright colors and this was the perfect show to experiment with that. This show had two casts and it was going to be too difficult for them to share costumes so I just made two separate shows Wirth of costumes. I had a yellow cast and pink cast. Melissa directed this and I love costuming for her. She trusts me which is everything.
After Cats I immediately teamed up with a desr friend that introduced me to DMR and help me land my first costume job. She and I did Annie (she did most of the leg work as I was still very busy with the summer programming at another theater) and we managed to costume 80 kids in just a short few weeks. Then onto my first Fall production with DMR doing Frog and Toad. I was still figuring out the think outside the box method.
I started my professional journey in children's theater with Frozen and then teamed up with a director/costume designer I have only ever heard about and helped make her design concept for Cats come to life. That was so much fun!! I learned after Cats to think outside the box. She is now a dear friend and close mentor.
