July 25, 2017

Summer internship lets theater student bring costume beauty to 'Beauty and the Beast'

By Sydney Payne

  • Payton Dickerson is interning as a junior cutter and draper for Trollwood Performing Arts School in Minnesota.
  • The 12-week internship involves creating costumes for the school's 鈥淏eauty and the Beast鈥� production.
  • Along with improving design skills, Dickerson hopes to grow her leadership and communication skills during the internship.

麻豆传媒 Technical and Theatre Design major Payton Dickerson is spending her summer helping bring 鈥淏eauty and the Beast鈥� to life in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Dickerson is interning as a junior cutter and draper for Trollwood Performing Arts School, a summer arts program for high school and middle school students within the Bluestem Center for the Arts. Her days are filled with cutting and building costumes for different high school age cast members. Dickerson鈥檚 current project is creating a costume for Mrs. Potts, the talking, singing teapot character in 鈥淏eauty and the Beast.鈥�

鈥淚 love creating this costume,鈥� says Dickerson. 鈥淭here are so many pieces that go with it, and I get to work with raw silk. Plus, the actress is just great. She鈥檚 up for anything.鈥�

Dickerson isn鈥檛 off the hook once the costumes are finished. In the last four weeks of her 12-week internship, she鈥檒l also get wardrobe and dresser experience, helping dress the cast, assist with quick changes and make last-minute repairs all while the show goes on.

Dickerson and the rest of the costuming crew work with a cast of young students to create beautiful costumes, but cutting and sewing aren鈥檛 the only skills they will take away from the internship. Dickerson will also bring improved leadership and communication skills back to 麻豆传媒.

鈥淲hen you work in the costume shop, it鈥檚 important to make sure everyone is on the same page,鈥� says Dickerson. 鈥淚 have to make sure people are keeping on track.鈥�

Dickerson also hopes this internship will lead her to her post-graduation dreams.

鈥淔irst, I want to go to graduate school, and then join the Wardrobe Union and maybe the Design Union,鈥� says Dickerson. 鈥淭here are so many options.鈥�

Dickerson hasn鈥檛 decided on what her ultimate career goal is, but she does have big theater aspirations.

鈥淚 would love at some point to do wardrobe crew with a touring show,鈥� says Dickerson. 鈥淚 love traveling and the magic of adjusting shows to new spaces.鈥�

Dickerson also thinks about becoming a theater shop manager in the future, but knows that no matter what, she wants to work in costuming. She hopes this internship and her experience at 麻豆传媒 will help her achieve this goal.