It started as only a handful of students with a passion for fashion design. But in the space of less than four years, the PVHS Theatre costume crew has blossomed into a full-fledged department.

While the costume crew has always been an integral part of the theatre program, it has grown exponentially into a student group that attracts a wide variety of participants. When I was a freshman, costuming was done mostly by director Merielle Lupfer and two student assistants, Melissa Gargiulo and Anna Bennett. The department has since expanded to include students from all grades and backgrounds.

“Lady Crew,” as its members affectionately call it, now covers a wide variety of activities in the theatre, including makeup, hair, costumes, props, and backstage assistance. They meet with increasing frequency as the show approaches. The week before a performance, Lady Crew works the long Hell Week hours alongside the cast, staying at the theatre as late as 10:00 at night. Over the course of a show, they easily assemble more than a hundred costumes and dozens of props. But their work is far from done once all the costumes are sewn, altered, or put together. During performances, Lady Crew provides invaluable help with quick backstage costume changes, and also helps the actors with their makeup, hair, and microphones. They even make last minute alterations and repairs if necessary. Just over the course of writing this article, I watched Lady Crew save the day in dozens of quick changes, mend two or three rips, repair jammed zippers, find lost props, and fix broken accessories.

An interesting characteristic of Lady Crew is its specialists. While many members can and do work across many fields, others find a passion and specialize in it. For example, Bari Pallarino, a sophomore, has become the theatre program’s resident makeup guru. Even when she joined as a freshman, she knew that she wanted to be a makeup artist. She said that PV Theatre “has given me a lot of experience with different genres and different types of makeup.” Describing Lady Crew’s development, she happily said, “It went from two people to a team of ten hard working girls.” In her role backstage, Bari creates face charts, sorts and distributes cast makeup kits, and even films makeup tutorials to help the forty-plus cast members do historically accurate stage makeup. Other Lady Crew members choose to focus on fashion or props.

It is hard to overstate the value of Lady Crew: a popular theatre joke is that “without the crew, actors are just a bunch of naked people on an empty stage in the dark.” PV Theatre, the school’s largest club, has gotten even larger as Lady Crew flourishes, and we are all reaping the benefits.

See those gorgeous costumes on stage as “Anything Goes” runs this Thursday through Saturday. Student tickets are only $5 and are available through the PV Theatre website.