Meet the Staff: Costume Shop Director Amanda Downing Carney

by Caitlin Howle

Caitlin Howle: How long have you been with Trinity Rep? Can you tell me about how you started here?

Amanda Downing Carney: I started as a costume technician at Trinity Rep for the 2006-07 Season. I had been touring for three years, working on Fame: The Musical, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and Will Roger’s Follies, and my fiancé (now husband) and I decided to take a break. He’d been traveling for six years, and we both wanted to stay put for a year or two and see what other adventures awaited us. I decided to send my resume blindly to the largest, most reputable theater in my home state, Trinity Repertory Company — “aim high,” I thought. I had an interesting first year. I made some lifelong friends and my stitching skills became superior — Sewing Boot Camp I call it now. We did two casts of A Christmas Carol each year back then, which meant we built twice as much in the same amount of time. There was a lot of growth and grace that I learned, but I left after that season. A year and a half later Bill Lane, the resident costume designer, called and asked me to be his assistant so I returned in January 2009, where I stayed and then left again after the birth of my second child in 2012. When the costume shop director position opened up in 2015, I submitted my resumé. I try every day to be the type of leader that I am proud of, and I hope my staff feels supported, respected, encouraged, and inspired by their work. I was lucky to inherit a great team and have hired some new folks with amazing spirit. We work hard and try to have fun, too. And my timing was right because at that same time the entire Trinity Rep culture was changing and a real emphasis on diversity and inclusion started happening. I am forever grateful I came back because it feels like home.

CH: What has been your favorite production to work on in your time here? Which was the most complex?

ADC: I’ve loved working on so many shows here for so many different reasons. Some I love because the cast was inspiring like Ragtime and Little Shop of Horrors. Some I love because the director’s concept and tone was so amazing, like Angela Brazil and Stephen Thorne’s A Christmas Carol, designed by one of my favorite designers/friends, Toni Spadafora. Some I love for the creativity of a new work like the world premiere of The Hunchback of Seville designed by another favorite friend Olivera Gajic. But I’d have to say my favorite production was coincidentally also the most complex, black odyssey. It had an AMAZING ensemble cast, amazing director team of Jude Sandy and Joe Wilson, Jr., an amazing costume designer, Kara Harmon, who is a joy to work with. And the music, story, vision, all worked. We had a short build time and the costumes were complicated, nuanced, bold, historical, whimsical, sober, and ultimately EPIC. It was A LOT of work to accomplish that show but we were so proud of the end result.

CH: What’s something you wish people knew about costuming?

ADC: I like that our jobs are a bit mysterious. I think most people don’t understand how much work and time goes into every show and that every detail is thought about for the benefit of the story. I also often joke that my job should require a psychology degree — many personalities, opinions, ideas, and experiences go into the melting pot of collaboration for production on a show and the same is true in costuming. Another surprising aspect of costuming is the amount of organizational paperwork that we make: measurement continued on next page

L TO R FROM TOP: Julia Lema & Jackie Davis; Cloteal L. Horne, Jackie Davis, Anwar Ali & Joe Wislson, Jr.; Jude Sandy, Julia Lema, Cloteal L. Horne & Anwar Ali in the 2018-19 Season production of black odyssey.

sheets, sourcing lists, build charts, renderings and research, pieces lists, dressing lists, costume plots, checklists, alteration notes, fix lists, running sheets — so many lists!

CH: How long does it take to make a set of costumes for a production?

ADC: For a typical in-person production, we have between three to six weeks to build the costumes. Often, we begin our builds when the actors start rehearsing. Much of the planning for each show happens months beforehand but the practical work of pulling, shopping, building happens in that four-week period. All clothes, wigs, accessories, and shoes need to be wearable by dress rehearsal/first day of tech, and then we finesse, trim, rework, cut, etc. until opening night the next week.

CH: What do you do for fun, or when you’re not at the theater?

ADC: Under normal circumstances I often do costume design side gigs at other theaters in my spare time! Typically, many of my husband’s and my date nights involve opening nights for shows I’ve worked on, and we are acutely feeling the loss of gathering with our community. Since the pandemic started, we’ve kept busy with a lot of family hikes, bike rides, beach evenings — we live in South County so our outdoor adventure options are thankfully plentiful. I’ve also found the time to make close to 600 cloth masks, read, listen, and engage in the important work of various social justice movements, and recently I became a member of Trinity Rep’s Anti-Racism Transformation Committee, which has been incredibly meaningful and urgent. In addition to my wonderful work/theater family, my kids, my huge local extended family, and my mom-friends also all keep me grounded and laughing. I am so lucky, and my life is FULL!

The cast of the 2015-16 production of The Hunchback of Seville by Charise Castro Smith, directed by Taibi Magar. PHOTO BY MARK TUREK

Most recently, Amanda was the costume designer for Trinity Rep’s production of A Christmas Carol Online. Pictured here are Joe Wilson, Jr. as Scrooge and Rebecca Gibel as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

DIRECTOR PHOTOGRAPHY ALBERTO GENAO