MEET THE STAFF
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
PHOTOS BY MARK TUREK
Amanda Downing Carney COSTUME SHOP DIRECTOR
L TO R FROM TOP: Julia Lema & Jackie Davis; Cloteal L. Horne, Jackie Davis, Anwar Ali & Joe Wilson, Jr.; Jude Sandy, Julia Lema, Cloteal L. Horne & Anwar Ali in the 2018-19 Season production of black odyssey.
THE TRINITY SQUARE • WINTER 2021
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