By: Lizzy Lavin –
A lot more goes into a production than what you see on the stage. There are people who work behind the scene to help the story of the play or musical come to life. Junior Emalyn Kruse has been crew head for costume and makeup and at times, has ran the box office at LSE’s theater department.
“What is required [from me] is very different depending on the show. My responsibilities for Fall Play differ greatly from those of Musical,” said Kruse. “With the Fall Play and One Act I have to find costumes for everyone in the cast that fit the time period and character, it’s a lot of analytical work. For Musical I have to take the measurements of everyone in the cast and coordinate with a costume supplier in Omaha that gives us the costumes.”
Every little detail counts when making the persona of any character that steps on Southeast’s stage.
“I also have to find the little extra things that characters need – the things that have a blurred line between a prop and a costume,” said Kruse. “[I] make sure that who the character is reflects perfectly through their costumes.”
Making every analytical decision of the characters can be challenging to say the least.
“The best part is the most challenging thing,” said Kruse. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just had to sit on the floor of the green room and stare at something while the gears start going in my head trying to solve the problem.”
But one doesn’t become crew overnight, let alone head of two. Her interest in costume originated when she wanted to be a fashion designer when she was little.
“During my freshman year I took a Tech Theater Class and that got me introduced to Heather and Carol and other people in the department who kindly took me under their wing,” said Kruse. “I struggled with getting into costumes through my freshman year and had some unpleasant drawbacks.”
Due to Kruse’s conflict she decided to dedicate her time commitment through another way.
“I ended up being in charge of the Box Office, which was also a good place for me, but not where my heart lies.”
It wasn’t until the 2015 One Act production when Kruse got her shot at costumes again.
“[ It] was really scary because I hadn’t done much with costumes before,” said Kruse. “But it all worked out, and then Franni Dimon and I co-headed Mary Poppins, our Musical last year, and that was a hoot.”
Currently, Kruse is solely in charge of costumes.
“Sometimes I have to sit back and think about how happy I am that I finally made it to this point,” said Kruse. “I might not always be on good terms with people in shows, and I might have a lot going on outside of theater, but when I comes down to it, those things are easy to look past when I get to see the results on stage and know that I did that, and that I have put quite literally my blood, sweat, and tears into a show along with everyone else involved.”
