Jette Brown, Rosebud Theatre Head of Wardrobe, retiring

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Jeanette “Jette” Brown, Head of Wardrobe for Rosebud Theatre, will retire at the end of December.
Brown was an elementary school teacher and principal in Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, before immigrating to Canada in 1996. In her hometown, she also volunteered in community theatre, made theatre costumes, helped organize the Friends of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and made costumes for herself and friends involved in historical re-enactments.
“When I arrived here (in Canada), I wanted to work in theatre, which is crazy,” she said with a laugh, “because I left Stratford-on-Avon, surrounded by the best theatre company in the world, and I came to an area of the prairies which had really no theatre except Rosebud.”
In Alberta, Brown created Shakespeare workshops for schools, then worked as stage manager and assistant director at the Passion Play. That led to stage managing a Rosebud Theatre (RT) show, teaching Shakespeare at Rosebud School of the Arts (RSA), and working in the RT wardrobe department, eventually becoming Head of Wardrobe six years ago.
In her multi-faceted role, Brown first examines a costume designer’s design idea and selects possible costumes from those in stock. Based on the costumes that can be used, and which need to be created, the designer completes the design, and Brown calculates the cost of fabric, accessories and time, determining whether it’ll fit the budget. “Sometimes we might have 17 actors, she said, “but we might have 30 characters, so I have to do a costing for every character.”
Brown creates the necessary patterns, and she and one or two assistants sew and adapt costumes. For big shows, she said, “It takes 600-700 hours at least per show.”
Brown also teaches costume construction to RSA technical theatre students, and teaches basic skills like replacing buttons and repairing hems to students who work in wardrobe to fulfill required production hours. She also sorts donations, keeps the costume trailer organized, coordinates costume rentals, and records the designs and fabrics used in each show.
She won’t miss the long hours or lack of space, Brown said, but, “I’ll miss the people. I’ll miss the students.” Working closely with students on costumes for their student productions – “It’s the best part,” she said.
“And I like to see the costumes on the actors,” she said. “People like (resident actor) Dave Snider, for example, as soon as he gets the costume on, he becomes the character. … It’s very rewarding to see the actors respond to their costume. It helps them be creative.”
Brown looks forward to some rest, but she said she won’t sit around watching television. She plans to work with her husband on their rental properties and to spend a longer-than-usual holiday in England next summer. And she expects to come back and create one or two costumes for each Rosebud Theatre show.
Amy McIvor, who studied costume design at Red Deer College and has worked in RT’s wardrobe department for several years, will become Head of Wardrobe when Brown retires. “She already knows everybody and everything” about the job, Brown said.