Costumes help set the mood in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Lewisburg, WVa. (WVDN) – The Hunchback of Notre Dame , a collaborative production by Greenbrier Valley Theatre (GVT), Carnegie Hall, and Greenbrier Valley Chorale (GVC), will be presented on July 25, 26, and 27, at Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Costumes will play a big role in this production based on the Disney version and GVT Marketing Director Josh Lapping sat down to discuss costume design with Costume Designer Jenna Fawn Brown.

Lapping: Can you tell us some history about how you got into professional costuming?

Brown: Weirdly enough, with Halloween costumes. That’s how I got started, was with Halloween costumes, because I wanted to be an actor and so I learned to sew and I loved doing that, too. Then before I knew it I won one trophy, then another and another after that, and I thought ‘maybe there’s something to this.’ And I’ve been at GVT since September of 2009 – my first show was The Scottish Play.

Lapping: This is a world where audience members come and appreciate costumes but rarely do, they really think about the work that goes into it – can you explain a little bit about the creative process that goes into designing and creating costumes?

Brown: The process can be lengthy – we get our scripts for a season around January of February and the first thing you need to do is read the script. So that all starts in January and we’re producing Hunchback in July, so I’ve been working on this show since the beginning of the year. It takes months and months of work – for example today I am sketching up more deigns because I will be making these clothes. Sometimes its sitting at the computer and doing loads of research like how did they do it? or what do I think of this idea? or let’s look at what they historically would have worn’ and creating ideas by combining lots of images that I find either in my research books, on the internet and then I create Pintrest boards so that the director and I can communicate directly, even if they’re on the opposite coast. Then once the director and I speak, I’m able to form more solid ideas based on what they want and their needs are, along with what my wants and needs as an artist are. Then together we create a cohesive idea, together. All in all, it’s lots of script reading, lots of research, and lots of collaboration.

You also must keep the actors in mind – they have to wear this stuff. You don’t want to put them in something that’s going to make them horribly uncomfortable, if you can help it.

Lapping: So, speaking specifically about Hunchback – it’s a show that so many will recognize because of the 1996 movie, so how do you go about creating something that is iconic and known, but also adding your own creative touch?

Brown: This is where it can become a challenge, because we all do know what the Disney cartoon looks like. But the script for the stage production has a much darker look – it’s a slightly darker story, it’s a darker tale, believe it or not. So, where the Disney film did everything very bright with primary colors and secondary colors. We’re taking it into a darker world by darkening that color pallet in hue and tone and attempting to make it more realistic and more accessible to the audience. Audiences might be expecting the bright purple on Esmeralda, but we’ve decided to take it down a bit. It’s all about maintaining the integrity of the shape of the garments, maintaining the basic idea but then making them more grounded in truth and not just a bright, animated story.

Lapping: What is specifically about Hunchback that you think it challenging and what is something that you’re excited about?

Brown: There certainly is a challenge about bringing our reality to it and honoring it but not just making it the Disney cartoon. We want to create a three-dimensional world out of a two-dimensional world that was put on screen. It takes a special skill set to do that. I am actually very excited about Clopin, because he’s this wonderful character so I’m trying to create a cross between court jester-gypsy- and reality narrator. How do I go about that? I’m doing it through color, cut and attempting to make him look silly while also making him look serious. It’s a strange juxtaposition. One of the things that the director and I spoke about was Frollo. Frollo is an extremely interesting character – in the Disney film version he is all in black, he is painted dark from square one. But after speaking with the director, we were more interested in him being in white because he thinks he’s good. He puts out this, ‘I am a good ideologist’ even though his heart is very black. So, in order to facilitate this idea, I’m having him wear black robes under white ministerial robes. Again, we will have that juxtaposition – I am always for good juxtaposition. Light to dark – what is really underneath. So other times when I’ve done characters that were villains, but actually turned out to be heroes, I’ve put them in a blue undershirt with a black over-shirt – because underneath they’re true blue, but their outward character is dark. Layering colors to inform an audience’s brain, even if they don’t catch it, will inform audiences who characters are. It’s just so subtle, that you may not notice it until you notice it. That’s one of my favorite tricks to do. Color is so important to me and how color works in a story. When I’m teaching students about understanding costume design, I always refer to comic book characters. Think of Superman – what color does he wear? Blue. Blue is a hero color – 90% of the time your heroes will have some form of blue on. So yes, I love the subtly of color and how color can inform, even if it’s subconsciously, our minds to translate ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘what’s your story’? So, in terms of Hunchback, the characters of Pheobus and Fredrick, the guardsmen for Frollo – they’re wearing blue. Because they’re really good guys, who are being forced to do something that they don’t want to do. In the case of Esmeralda, she has that deep purple in the film, which is one of my favorite colors to wear, but she also has a famous red dress. So, we’ve compromised the reds and purples to go with a pink- fuchsia and black look on her. So, she’ll still stick out as being Esmeralda without being just like the cartoon. It’s all about balancing things.

Lapping: What do you want audiences to know just about you and the work that goes into costuming a show, that they may not already know?

Brown: “It’s all about the hours and the passion. This is not a job that we take lightly. I got into this job because I absolutely adore making clothing and absolutely adore designing. It is the best feeling seeing a look on an actor’s face when they are happy with what they are wearing. I live for that look, and it is so special to me to get to do a job that doesn’t feel like a job. Is it work? Is it hard work? Absolutely. But it is absolutely valuable work. I help make people feel through clothing.”

Lapping: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Brown: The one thing I want to share is that the one thing that people get wrong about theatre and performing arts, is that it isn’t a real job. Without theatre and without arts, culture crumbles. Music, dance, art – even if you’re not the best at it – go and do it. Always be brave enough to do your art. You don’t need to be good at it, you just need to be brave enough to try and do it. That’s why this industry is so important.”

Brown is a graduate of Florida State University with a Masters in Costume Design. She has been with GVT since 2009, and her credits there include Dracula: A Rock Opera, Macbeth, Nevermore, Romeo and Juliet, and The Crucible, to name a few. Prior to working with GVT, she worked for the Cumberland County Playhouse and the Clarence Brown Theatre, to name a few. A sampling of design credits includes: The Cherry Orchard, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Little Women, Carousel, and Tartuffe, among others.

Performances of The Hunchback of Notre Dame , featuring nationally recognized actors and professional choreography, costumes and lighting, will take place at Carnegie Hall on Thursday and Friday, July 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. There will be two performances on Saturday, July 27, at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.  Tickets are available online at www.carnegiehallwv.org, or at the Carnegie Hall box office, 611 Church Street, Lewisburg, WV, (304) 645-7917.

This FY25 Community Arts project is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

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