WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Central Georgia is home to many stars of the stage, but there are also stars who work behind the scenes to bring quality theatre to the community.
Leslie Campillo has been the Head Costume Mistress at Warner Robins Little Theatre for over a year and has been working with the theatre for four years.
“I love to play dress-up and I love to dress up people, so it’s fun,” Campillo said.
She began working with Warner Robins Little Theatre because they needed someone to organize and memorize their over 1,000-piece costume closet.
In the costume closet, there are stockings, hats, shoes, accessories, and even wedding dresses.
Campillo says that she's always loved costumes. She works closely with the directors and actors to put together the perfect outfits for the characters and the time period of the story.
She spends the entire rehearsal period for a show doing the costuming, which is about 6-9 weeks.
“I never put an actor in a costume they are not comfortable with or they do not feel like it’s their character,” Campillo said.
Costuming a show is an involved process. It begins at the first table read of the script when she can get the actors' sizes.
During this process, she thinks about multiple facets of the show, such as the character's personality, the physical demands of the part, how many costumes changes each actor will need, and much more.
She labels all the costumes and sets them out in order of when they need to be worn. She does this so when it is time for dress rehearsal, the actors can focus on their character and the performance.
During the run of the show, she will do laundry and when it's all over, she will make sure everything is clean to be put back in the costume closet.
Campillo also works closely with many of the other theaters in Central Georgia, and they often borrow pieces from each other.
“We have a lot of fun with it and it gives me a lot of pride, or joy I should say, when an actor goes ‘that really made my character. I just love this. I wish people would dress like this more often’ or whatever it is,” she said.
Good costume design is all about immersing the audience in the story.
“It's a spectacle, it's a picture, but they're seeing it -- the audience is seeing it live so they can be a part of it. For some of our shows, we’ve had ladies and gentlemen go, ‘I remember wearing that,’ so it takes them back to a different time,” she said.
She's consulting with the costume designer on Warner Robins Little Theatre’s upcoming show "The Play That Goes Wrong." It runs Feb. 11-26.
To find out more about the show or Warner Robins Little Theatre, you can check out their website or Facebook page.
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