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labricoleuseToday brings the second half of my interview with Randy Handley, head of wardrobe for the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana, currently running in Madrid, Spain. Zarkana travels to Moscow, Russia, in February, then returns to the US for a NY run in the summer of 2012.
Randy is a 2010 graduate of our Costume Production MFA program at UNC-Chapel Hill, and took time out of his busy schedule to respond to my questions. And without further ado, here's part two!
Q. What advice would you give to readers who aspire to a touring career in costumes/wardrobe?
A. Touring is something you have to love doing; you can’t be someone that doesn’t like change. You have to be willing to give up all of your personal belongings and live out of two suitcases. To have a career in costumes on tour, I recommend learning as much about every aspect of costumes that you can. On tour we travel with a much smaller staff than, say, a Lav Vegas show. This means the people I hire need to have a wide range of skills to cover the different project we have to do. As a costumer I am versed in just about every aspect: pattern making, stitching, millinery, hair, makeup, painting, dyeing, and of course management.
Lia in the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Spider in the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Q. What skills do you look for in hiring your wardrobe assistants?
A. When hiring someone, no matter if it is for an assistant or technician, I look for someone whose personality I can get along with. I look for people who like to have fun at work and who can make me laugh. Skills are something that can be taught, but if you do not work well with others then you will have a hard time on tour. Skills-wise, I look for people who have a passion about what they do, someone who is always willing to learn more and better themselves. When searching for an assistant, I look for someone that is as organized as I am, and who can think quickly on their feet.
Clowns in the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Jovians in the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Q. You have done wardrobe on other Cirque shows--Corteo, Banana Shpeel--can you talk a bit about how Zarkana is similar to those prior shows? And how it is different?
A. On Corteo, I was a Wardrobe Assistant, so my job there was totally different. On Corteo each assistant had a specific area that they were responsible for; I took care of hats, makeup, and hair. The other areas were costumes and shoes for which we crossed over when needed. I also did the creation of Corteo which was a huge learning curve for me because I had never done anything that big before. Zarkana and Corteo were similar in the fact that they were both Cirque shows, both large casts, and in true Cirque style trying to do something that had not been done before. Corteo at the time was the largest Big Top show that Cirque had produced.
Zarkana is a new breed of show for Cirque, like Banana Shpeel (may it rest in peace), was a theatre show. Unlike the Las Vegas shows whose theatres were designed for each specific show, Banana Shpeel and Zarkana are designed to fit into existing theatres. Banana Shpeel was Cirque’s first attempt at a permanent show in New York City; after that did not work, a tour was planned. Banana Shpeel was a smaller show with only 39 artists, for which I was the only wardrobe person on tour. Both Banana Shpeel and Corteo laid the foundation for the infrastructure of Zarkana’s wardrobe department.
Ensemble of the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Q. What is your favorite new material or piece of equipment?
A. At Cirque they use so many different types of materials and processes that it would be hard to choose! We use a variety of thermoplastics for hats and shoes which are awesome to experiment with. I will say, and I know that it is a bit lame, but my favorite piece of equipment would be my P-Touch Label printer that hooks into my computer! When printing labels for 79 artists, it is great to be able to create a database in Excel and just hit print and not have to retype each name!
Another favorite tool would be my FileMaker Pro where I have created several different databases to hold all sorts of different information that we use on tour.
* * *
And, that concludes this interview. Thanks again, Randy!
Randy is a 2010 graduate of our Costume Production MFA program at UNC-Chapel Hill, and took time out of his busy schedule to respond to my questions. And without further ado, here's part two!
Q. What advice would you give to readers who aspire to a touring career in costumes/wardrobe?
A. Touring is something you have to love doing; you can’t be someone that doesn’t like change. You have to be willing to give up all of your personal belongings and live out of two suitcases. To have a career in costumes on tour, I recommend learning as much about every aspect of costumes that you can. On tour we travel with a much smaller staff than, say, a Lav Vegas show. This means the people I hire need to have a wide range of skills to cover the different project we have to do. As a costumer I am versed in just about every aspect: pattern making, stitching, millinery, hair, makeup, painting, dyeing, and of course management.
Lia in the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Spider in the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Q. What skills do you look for in hiring your wardrobe assistants?
A. When hiring someone, no matter if it is for an assistant or technician, I look for someone whose personality I can get along with. I look for people who like to have fun at work and who can make me laugh. Skills are something that can be taught, but if you do not work well with others then you will have a hard time on tour. Skills-wise, I look for people who have a passion about what they do, someone who is always willing to learn more and better themselves. When searching for an assistant, I look for someone that is as organized as I am, and who can think quickly on their feet.
Clowns in the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Jovians in the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Q. You have done wardrobe on other Cirque shows--Corteo, Banana Shpeel--can you talk a bit about how Zarkana is similar to those prior shows? And how it is different?
A. On Corteo, I was a Wardrobe Assistant, so my job there was totally different. On Corteo each assistant had a specific area that they were responsible for; I took care of hats, makeup, and hair. The other areas were costumes and shoes for which we crossed over when needed. I also did the creation of Corteo which was a huge learning curve for me because I had never done anything that big before. Zarkana and Corteo were similar in the fact that they were both Cirque shows, both large casts, and in true Cirque style trying to do something that had not been done before. Corteo at the time was the largest Big Top show that Cirque had produced.
Zarkana is a new breed of show for Cirque, like Banana Shpeel (may it rest in peace), was a theatre show. Unlike the Las Vegas shows whose theatres were designed for each specific show, Banana Shpeel and Zarkana are designed to fit into existing theatres. Banana Shpeel was Cirque’s first attempt at a permanent show in New York City; after that did not work, a tour was planned. Banana Shpeel was a smaller show with only 39 artists, for which I was the only wardrobe person on tour. Both Banana Shpeel and Corteo laid the foundation for the infrastructure of Zarkana’s wardrobe department.
Ensemble of the Cirque du Soleil production Zarkana
Q. What is your favorite new material or piece of equipment?
A. At Cirque they use so many different types of materials and processes that it would be hard to choose! We use a variety of thermoplastics for hats and shoes which are awesome to experiment with. I will say, and I know that it is a bit lame, but my favorite piece of equipment would be my P-Touch Label printer that hooks into my computer! When printing labels for 79 artists, it is great to be able to create a database in Excel and just hit print and not have to retype each name!
Another favorite tool would be my FileMaker Pro where I have created several different databases to hold all sorts of different information that we use on tour.
And, that concludes this interview. Thanks again, Randy!
