The Bishop Feehan costume department is an integral part of Feehan’s theater program and overall culture. For this month’s club spotlight, I was able to catch up with Jenna Packer, executive lead of the theater’s costume department, and ask her a few questions about the magic behind Shrek the Musical and her personal work. For some background on Miss. Packer, Jenna is a current senior at Feehan, and plans on entering as a freshman at Mass Art next year. Jenna finds great interest in a variety of creative outlets. Her work in the theater department has been a striking success, a stark contrast to the ordinary costume choices of previous productions.
How many hours a week would you spend working in the costume department?
“Oh gosh.. I don’t even know… I wanna say like 6-7 on a normal week, but during tech week it’s gotta be at least 20.”
Jenna noted that these hours are not uncommon to cast members. “Tech week”, the week of a shows performance, is considered an important crunch time for the theater program. All departments must work together to ensure they can run smoothly during the show. These run throughs require full costume and makeup attempts, as well as complete runs of the show itself, leaving many students diligently working at school long after our athletes leave their games at night.
What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever made?
“I really like making functional items, like, with costume stuff. So like my favorite thing I’ve made that’s functional is one of my backpacks. But my favorite thing I can wear would be a jacket that’s [worn by] a character from a game.”
One crowd pleaser of note is Jenna’s most recent design for Shrek the Musical: Dragon’s dress. The dress took almost two months to design and construct, Jenna notes, “…we mostly worked after school and two or three weekends outside of tech week to work on it and the painting specifically on the wings and the dress all together took the longest.” Jenna patterned the corset and bodice herself from her own costumes, meaning all patterns used in the creation of the dress are completely original! The sleeves and skirt were salvaged from a wedding dress, while the wings were hand-patterned and made from scratch.
(Dragon costume in chronological order plz, photo credit to Jenna)
What’s your favorite piece of media right now?
“I don’t know… we started watching Star Wars in English so I’m starting to get into Star Wars again.”
What are your favorite materials to work with?
“Ok fabric wise, satin and a lot of textured fabric and like shiny stuff. But um other material wise I like printmaking and like inks and stuff.”
What are your plans for the future?
“I want to go into fashion so I’d love to intern either on broadway or like in some kind of fashion show or fashion week. But I’d say like #1 would be to intern on broadway.” When asked about her current position at Plainridge Park Casino, Jenna remarked, “I work as the main seamstress and wardrobe attendant for all of the uniforms! So I do a lot of repairs and give out uniforms and do some fittings and stuff like that.”
As seen here, the costume department at Bishop Feehan High School has blossomed into a fantastic hub of creativity and imagination. The Feehan Theater Company not only displays great talents on the stage, but behind the scenes: sets are built, costumes are constructed, and gorgeous wigs and makeup looks are drawn up by our talented students. Thank you Feehan Theater Company for an excellent run this year! We are thrilled to see what you craft up next!
