The current Theatre Charlotte production of Love, Loss & What I Wore features eight artworks by stage tech/design students and faculty from the Department of Theatre and Performing Arts Services. The play by Delia and Nora Ephron runs through April 10 in various locations in Charlotte.
Based on the book by Ilene Beckerman, the play tells stories from women’s lives that are associated with, and prompted by, specific articles of clothing. Each artwork depicts the character and/or the wardrobe item that is key to the story.
In response to a pubic call for artists that Theatre Charlotte issued in the winter, Hali Hutchison assembled a collective of four students and four faculty to join six other local artists in creating work for Love, Loss & What I Wore. Hutchison, the costume lab manager in the College of Arts + Architecture’s Performing Arts Services unit, is on Theatre Charlotte’s Education team.
“My creative research is centered on community outreach through costume design and technology,” Hutchison said. “In service of this, I have focused much of my creative design work with Theatre Charlotte, the Carolinas’ longest running community theatre. I have designed costumes for both their main season and the summer youth programming in recent years. Building on their commitment to engaging, inspiring, and uniting the Charlotte region, I aim to find ways to develop student opportunities through my creative research.”
See Hutchison talk more about the project in these WBTV Queen City News clips.
Students Sophia Bradley, Lily LaFave, Angeli Novio, and Mandy Worley and faculty Aly Amidei, Rachel Engstrom, Rachel Watkins, and Hutchison each created a work, which will become integral to the production’s scenic design and then will be auctioned after the show’s run ends to support Theatre Charlotte. Learn more about each student and their contribution to Love, Loss & What I Wore below.
Sophia Bradley is a junior majoring in theatre with a concentration in tech/design. She is currently a student worker in the costume shop and is working as draper and stitcher on costume pieces for the upcoming performances of the 2022 Spring Dance Concert (March 31-April 3) and Pippin (April 21-24). For this project, she illustrated a character in a 1940's era brown dress coat with matching leggings and galoshes and brightly colored knit mittens.
Lily LaFave is a senior theatre major at UNC Charlotte with a background in architecture and design. When she graduates, she plans on working in the film industry with the goal of becoming a production designer. She illustrated a 1940's era Brownie uniform for Love, Loss & What I Wore.
Angeli Novio is a junior theatre major concentrating in tech and design with a film studies minor. She recently won the KCACTF Special Citizen Artist Award for her costume designs for the UNC Charlotte Fall 2021 production of Gather. Her painting for the play is of a yellow wool dress.
Mandy Worley is a theatre student focusing on costume design. She has spent her life making arts and crafts and found her passion in costume design and technology. She enjoys creating art using a variety of mediums and methods and is excited to participate in collaborative projects. Her digital artwork for the project is of a Diane von Furstenberg green print jersey wrap dress.