Rosebud Theatre’s new wardrobe manager glad to put creativity to work

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

When Amy McIver Castro became Rosebud Theatre’s new wardrobe manager on Jan. 1, she briefly wondered what she’d do until the season opened April 1.
She didn’t wonder long.
By the end of February, Castro had prepared costumes for the Theatre for Young Audiences’ performances of Sleeping Beauty in early March, and she was preparing costumes for Outside Mullingar, opening in the Opera House April 1.
She’d supported the second-year students in producing costumes for A Wrinkle in Time, which opens April 14. She was looking at designs, costs and budgeting for the spring and summer shows – Valley Song, Tent Meeting and The Sunset Limited. And soon she’ll start looking at designs for the fall and Christmas shows.
“You will work on a couple of shows at once, so I have racks of costumes for three different shows, almost four different shows,” she said.
Castro has been involved with Rosebud Theatre since 2006, when she graduated from Red Deer College’s Costume Cutting and Construction program. She first came as a volunteer, then as an intern. Then, while she used her costuming skills for many other organizations, and even started a second career as dental assistant, Castro kept coming back to Rosebud, helping then-wardrobe manager Jette Brown put together the costumes for almost every new show.
“I enjoyed the work (of dental assisting) and it was a nice challenge and it was something different,” Castro said. “But I think it was nice especially because … I was working in Drumheller … so I could still help out (in Rosebud) and get that creative part, as well. Because that’s what I’m passionate about.”
So when Jette Brown announced her retirement last fall, Castro was just the right person to step into the role.
Castro’s thankful she was already familiar with Rosebud Theatre and how it operates, although sometimes that’s resulted in surprising growth.
“There’s some things that just happened (before), and now it’s like, oh I’ve got to make that happen,” she said.
But it helps that the year’s first shows didn’t have complex costumes.
“The shows (this year) progressively get a little bit more involved, so it’s nice to ease into it,” she said. “There’s all sorts of deadlines and pressure, but there’s an end to it, because the show always opens and for some reason, everything comes together in the end, and then you breathe after opening night. All that hard work and then you get to see all your work out there and it’s rewarding.”
For Castro, the reward of creating far outweighs any challenges.
“I’m not the kind of person that likes to be on stage and the center of attention, but I love being a part of it and behind the scenes and all those little details. I love being creative,” said Castro. “Some days I’ll be sitting at work, working on a project and then be thinking, I need to get to work. And then (I realize) this is my job!”