CONFESSIONS OF A WARDROBE - GODDESS?

Last night i was presented the "DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA" award from my old alma mater.
I was supposed to give a speech...BUT ...i think, no , I KNOW - i was yammering. I cant remember a word i said except, "UHM!" lol  I am like a deer in the headlights when  i am in the spotlight (which is specifically why i work BEHIND the scenes) . BESIDES - who wants to listen to someone they dont know blather on - when there was a PARTY waiting to be had. SO, here is the info i should have imparted - albeit belatedly... that you might want to know about what lies ahead.

So, i started my life at Suffolk County Communty College  - a place for "Vision, Excellence, Wisdom". I didn't know it then what i wanted, but i found it when i "joined" theatre.  I had never done anything theatre-ish until then - unless you want to call the trips to see a show in high school, "doing theatre". That was more like a day of skipping school to me. I was a classmate of Charlie Witterich's way back when. Where did the time go? Just yesterday, or so it seems, i was the student! Had no CLUE where i was going or what i was going to do with my life...but i knew i needed a degree to get a job that would support myself and my kids. I learned to be part of the magic that is theatre. where you take a pile of cloth, lumber, lights and sound ( as well as a host of other things) .... and anything you can imagine appears!
I got a call one day from a fellow student to help work on a movie - and the rest, they say, is history.
From then on i have found new challenges abound all the time. I have been: a wardrobe supervisor, dresser, day worker, laundry person, crafts person and costume designer/coordinator for the last 20+ years. I have worked on movies,TV, concerts, and live theatre. I must admit that theatre is where i gravitate to the most.  There is nothing like it. You never know whats going to happen next - well, of course you THINK you know whats going to happen next...but anything can become a "wardrobe malfunction" in an instant.  I.LOVE.MY.JOB! i cant say that enough! Every day is a new thing, where someone pays me to do what i LOVE.
There is nothing like loading in a new production... crates and crates of scenery , lights, props, costumes...its our own version of a circus. We build sets, hang lights costumes get altered, ironed , repaired, and ultimately hung in proper places. The long hours of  prep, rehearsals, and tech week(S)  -  make it worth is when the finished production comes together.  All of us become one big family working those kinds of hours. We all know the feeling of lack of sleep all that work causes, but we do it anyway, over and over and over again. Because we love it! It is also, all the extended family that you will meet along the way that will help you find your next job - so don't hesitate to network,  ALOT!!!
 So, there is life after college....but it's more hard work! MORE long hours. More new people that will become your "family" -  and i hope you learn to love your job, whatever area you work in,  like i do. Maybe one day we'll meet on Broadway...or some set location.
I have to run now...cause it's SHOWTIME.

Best to you all.....

Bobbi xxxo