Wardrobe Care Hard Work

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31188, 12 October 1966, Page 2

Wardrobe Care Hard Work

The New Zealand Ballet Company is mounting three ballets for the season which opens in Christchurch this evening. This means that the company’s wardrobe mistress, Australian-born Miss Judy Christopherson, aged 23, has not one lot of costumes to care for, but three —about 200 in all.

“It’s hard work,” said Miss Christopherson, yesterday. “The worst part is packing after an evening performance, travelling through the

night to the next city, and having everything ready by 8 p.m. next day. “You get no sleep and it takes days to catch up with yourself again. Fortunately this only happens four times on this tour,” said Miss Christopherson. The main part of her job is cleaning and repairing the costumes and making sure she knows where everything is. The heavy felt and fur costumes in “Prince Igor” are a problem. By the time the performance is over they are soaked in sweat and rarely get a chance to dry properly. “The dancers wear T shirts under them and they soak up a lot of moisture,” she said. Miss Christopherson has been with the company for five months and plans to stay a

further year before going overseas.

Accommodation troubles her. “You never know quite what you will find. Sometimes we are billeted. Some hotels are good and others are not,” she said. Miss Christopherson studied stage management at a Sydney drama school for two years. She has no ambition to be in front of the footlights, but would like to switch to theatre administration.

Before coming to New Zealand she had several jobs as stage manager or assistant stage manager with drama companies.

She likes the security of working with a ballet company. “A ballet company is the only company that offers a permanent year-round job,” she said.