The Public Theater’s Public Works Seeking Wardrobe Volunteers
From Melinda Basaca, Assistant Costume Shop Manager at The Public Theater
Contact: mbasaca@publictheater.org
Public Works:
For those of you who have not volunteered with us before, Public works is a production where we have about 200 community members and professional actors perform in the Delcorte Theater in Central Park. The process for our Public Works productions are usually fast and furious, we have a short rehearsal and performance period. We also provide costumes for everyone in the production as well as wardrobe assistance for the technical rehearsal (“ tech” ) and performance days.
Click here for more information about the show.
Volunteer’s duties:
A wardrobe volunteer does not necessarily require any wardrobe experience. Although, if being a wardrobe dresser and/or if you have interest in Costumes, this project is a great credit to have on your resume as well as gain theater experience! A majority of this volunteer position will be helping set up, organize, and to coordinate actors and their costumes. Due to a high volume of cast members we set up tents that act as dressing rooms for many of the talent. Therefore, our wardrobe volunteers will be helping set up the tents and primarily being responsible for directing the large cast to their assigned places; as well as making sure their assigned area is set up properly each night.
Dates and times: Below are the dates that we would need volunteers.
(Working hours from 6:00 – midnight)
Evenings for Tech rehearsals: Tuesday August 29th, Wednesday August 30, Thursday August 31
Crew call for performances: Friday Sept 1, Saturday Sept 2, Sunday Sept 3, Monday Sept 4th, Tuesday Sept 5th.
Please note, that although Shakespeare in Central park production is an amazing experience, the realistic conditions of working on the production are difficult. The weather is either hot and or raining, in which we still do the production (unless its rains so much that it becomes a safety issue), there are bugs, long hours, and since it is a big production with a huge cast things can get very hectic.
Having said that, there are some perks that each volunteer gets as well:
Perks: Each volunteer will receive the following:
- Given 2 tickets to the production. (Please note that you will not be able to watch the show if you are volunteering for the production, since you will be backstage. However, we do try to have volunteers watch during rehearsals when they are not needed backstage.)
- If there is an invited dress rehearsal, which is a rehearsal in which we do a practice run of the show with an invited audience, volunteers will be allowed to invite a guest to watch the rehearsal. This is separate from the 2 tickets given for the performances
- A Public Theater/Public Works t shirt
- Dinner is provided every night for rehearsals and performance nights
- There is a production company and crew picnic
- A wardrobe starter kit
I truly feel that this is a great experience to not only be involved with such a great community based production, to gain invaluable theater experience, but to also be a part of the Public Theater Family.
I understand that this is a volunteer basis and everyone has different schedules and availability dates. If you are interested, even if you have date conflicts, please contact me I am sure we can coordinate a schedule that works for everyone.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you for your time and please let me know if you are available/interested in volunteering for this project.
Thank you!
From Melinda Basaca, Assistant Costume Shop Manager at The Public Theater
Contact: mbasaca@publictheater.org
