By Stephanie Gambill
Growing up in East Kendall, Rick Peña from a very young age would spend time with his grandmother sewing together, this skillset would prove to be useful in the future when he found himself working as a costume designer as a career.
As part of FIU’s 2008 graduating class, Rick Peña spent four years active in the performing arts as an actor while simultaneously learning as much as he could about everything that had to do with putting together a show.
He chose to pursue a career as a costume designer for the Slow Burn Theatre Company after graduating. His inspiration was his enrollment in Theatre Appreciation, a class still available under the instruction of Marina Pareja, who still teaches at the University.
The first thing that normally comes to mind when recalling a theatre production is the actors and the scenery laid out on stage. It is easy to forget that behind every costume, every light change and the sound cue is a real person that remains backstage or in the sound/light booth.
Too often are the technicians behind every successful production forgotten because they are not seen. It’s disappointing that the actors and technicians and stagehands are not always seen of equal importance because, without the technicians, designers, stagehands, a show would be a lot harder to put together. Many people do not realize the amount of work and dedication that comes with being a great costume designer.
“I read the material the first time just to get a general idea, the second time is where I take notes, and the third time is when I break down every scene, I take a look at an environment like whether the characters are inside or out. Then I meet with the director and we begin a collaboration,” said Peña.
Peña begins working on designing the costumes months in advance because he is in charge of creating a budget since Slow Burn is the primary company of the Broward Arts Center. By putting together a budget and presenting it to the Arts Center ahead of time, he gives both himself the center enough time to make any modifications based on the cast list and allocated funds.
“I’m working on Secret Garden right now, but I already have finished the design and concepts behind my next show.”
Every career has it’s harder moments, and Peña recalls working on well-known musical Into the Woods where he was all by himself.
“I was really ambitious, I wanted to build everything myself. Definitely a life lesson there.”
While all productions on such a grand scale take months, sometimes years in preparation before they are ever performed in front of an audience, Peña recalls Big Fish is a show that took the longest to prepare for due to all of the elements involved.
“There were giants, werewolves, mermaids, circus performers and ringmasters, and while it was set in modern time, every time a story was being told, the characters had to be transported back in time.”
Having worked on shows like Heathers: The Musical, Spring Awakening, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame just to name a few, Peña shows his creativity and skill set with every character’s costume he designs. However, he shows that passion is instrumental in success. It was obvious in the way he spoke of his job, he truly loves what he does. Passion cannot be taught, skills can be taught but without passion, the skills can be deemed redundant.
For theatre students who may be finding themselves in a period of self-doubt and worry over the future, Peña had some advice.
“If you love theatre, learn every aspect that you can learn about it because if you can’t find a job as an actor, you can probably find a job in a different aspect of theatre.”
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