“I made costumes for my dolls when I was little,” recalls Charlotte Palmer-Lane, the Cold Spring resident who now designs professionally for theatrical productions. “I knew from age 13 what I wanted to do.”
Palmer-Lane, under a full scholarship, studied theatrical design at the Wimbledon School of Art in her native England, receiving a B.A. degree in theater design with honors. Graduation saw her moving on to BBC in London. For seven years she assisted with productions of “Miss Marple,” “Doctor Who” and “Chronicles of Narnia.”
Relocation to America put her in touch with such notables as Robert Redford, then directing “Quiz Show” starring Ralph Fiennes, for which she was an assistant costume designer. Now a family woman residing in Cold Spring for the past 12 years, she chooses to work from home where the tools of her trade include two dummy figurines for fitting costumes, one for women and one for men.
“I returned to my profession while raising my children. Two of them appeared in productions at Garrison”™s Depot Theatre for which I designed costumes,” she says.
“I was occupied this fall creating costumes for Mark Twain”™s undiscovered ”˜Is He Dead?”™ which winds up three weekends of performances on the last weekend of November at the Half Moon Theatre in Poughkeepsie.” The project included designing an in-mourning costume for Marie, who was engaged to the leading character, Francois Millet.
Palmer-Lane is a familiar figure at Depot Theatre where she designed for “Threepenny Opera” last fall and “Seagull” in the spring of this year. The latter is a production of the newly formed World”™s End Theatre Company founded by Gordon Stewart with John Christian Plummer as artistic director.
“The first two acts of ”˜Seagull”™ take place outdoors, so we used white, cream and beige colors, whereas with the second two acts inside there were more rich colors. In the event of inclement weather, the outdoor scenes were moved from the gazebo area to inside the Depot Theatre.
“For ”˜Threepenny Opera”™ I kept costumes simple, because the background has detail from which we did not want to detract.”
The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival availed itself of her expertise for this past summer”™s productions. “I designed for ”˜Hamlet”™ with Terry O”™Brien, artistic director. I love ”˜Hamlet.”™ I think it is one of the best plays in the English language. We used a lot of black and red, as it is a tragic story.”
At a production of “Pericles” there was no formal scenery, so costume colors were used to designate countries: Tarsus, red and gold, and Pentapolis, blues and greens, she explains.
A special challenge to a costume designer, she says, occurs in productions in which actors play multiple roles and must change quickly from one costume to another. She worked with Chris Edwards, associate artistic director for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, on this year”™s spring educational tour in which six actors played multiple roles. “If actors have to change quickly from one costume to another, I use snaps and Velcro rather than buttons or hooks and eyes.”
Palmer-Lane is married to John Lane, an intellectual properties attorney. They have three children: Cal, a Haldane High School senior; Alex, a Haldane High sophomore, and Jocelyn, a seventh-grader at the Haldane School. A Wheaton Terrier, Ollie, rounds out the family circle. For the past 11 years Palmer-Lane has gone twice weekly to the Garrison Yoga Coop. She is a Girl Scout leader of Cold Spring”™s Cadette Troop 2505.
Challenging Careers focuses on the exciting and unusual business lives of Hudson Valley residents. Comments or suggestions may be e-mailed to Catherine Portman-Laux at cplaux@optonline.net.
