Incredible costumes don’t just happen at Encore Youth Theater’s production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr., they are brought to life by one very talented woman and her crew.

“Incredible,” “intricate,” “stunning,” “creative,” “professional,” are just a few of the comments we have received about our costumes for Encore Youth Theater’s production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr.  In fact, so many people have commented on the high quality of our costumes—many feeling like they are on par with costumes from a professional theater company—that we thought we should share what went into the process of creating them, as well as the mastermind behind them.

At the helm of a sizable costume crew for this production is Kristine Stuenkel.  Kristine has been involved in creating costumes for theater for the past six years.  She initially joined a costume crew for a production her daughter Madelynn, then in 3^rd grade, was in.  At the time, she had very limited sewing skills and was quite nervous when she was handed a bag a fabric and asked to make several dresses.  She dove in and found through the process that she could make beautiful things happen with a little courage and creativity.  Kristine has since directed or assisted the costuming efforts for 15 shows.  

The first show where she was chair of the costume crew for The Hartland Players’ Encore Youth Theater was Suessical.  This was a very exciting production which called for 70 fantasy costumes.  For our current production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr., Kristine was tasked with creating 85 costumes for a cast of 42 kids.

Planning started back in August when she met with Skip Schultz, Director, and Amy Shettler, Assistant Director, to discuss the overall concept for the characters.  She then spent many hours researching the characters and developing sketches of what she planned for each costume.  She compiled it all in an idea book and referenced it throughout the process.   In October, Kristine started shopping for the perfect materials to turn their concepts into reality.

The costumes often evolved from her initial ideas and drawings.  Kristine needed to remain flexible as several costumes needed to be adjusted based on how the character was supposed to move, how the characters would interact with each other, and how they looked on stage. 

Throughout the process, Kristine has had to look for ways to make the costumes more economical.  Creating professional-quality costumes on a youth community theater budget can be quite challenging.  To do so, she repurposed existing costumes when she could and looked for alternative materials when they were available.  One shining example of this are the costumes she and her team created for Scuttle and the three gulls.  Kristine was pondering how to make the costumes look like they were covered with feathers (which are very costly) when she came upon a Christmas wreath one of her girls had made years ago out of torn and tied garbage bags.  This was the inspiration Kristine needed and she designed a way to create the costume using old men’s tail coats with hundreds of strips of cut white and gray garbage bags tied to it.  Each coat took approximately 15 hours to create—but the result is absolutely stunning! (Be sure to click on the attached photo to see for yourself.)

It is difficult to calculate the many hours that Kristine and her crew have donated to this production.  She spent 40-50 hours just in the planning and prepping of materials.  Then there is the time spent on each costume, which varies.  The most time-consuming costume belongs to Ursula, which took approximately 50 hours to
create. 

Kristine volunteers her time, like so many other parents, to be involved with her daughter’s passion for the theater.  Through her involvement, Kristine has discovered she has quite a passion for costuming.  She loves the creativity of it.  She states, “It’s like creating a painting—you start with an idea and you keep adding layers and colors until your idea has come to life.”  

Kristine has discovered a hidden talent through her years in the theater and says that one of her favorite things, besides working with the kids, is working with the parents and watching them go through the same process she did—discovering something they didn’t know they could do until they tried.

Madelynn is now in 9^th grade and is still as passionate about theater as ever.  She is in the cast at Encore Youth Theater and also acting in her high school’s theatrical productions.  Her older sister, Mackenzie, became involved during our production of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs last summer—where she discovered she had a hidden talent and passion for applying fantasy stage makeup.  Mackenzie has continued to be interested in stage makeup and has been honing her skills.  She will have the opportunity to demonstrate her talent this spring as student lead of the makeup crew for her high school’s spring production.  This will prove to be another family affair as Madelynn is part of the cast and Kristine has already offered to assist with costumes.

At Encore Youth Theater, we feel very privileged to have had Kristine donate her time and talents to this production and so many others.  And, judging from the response to the costumes for this show alone, we are certainly not her only fans!

Encore Youth Theater’s production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr. will be performed on Friday, March 15^th at 7:30 pm and Saturday, March 16^th at 2:30 pm at the Performing Arts Center of the Hartland Educational Support Service Center, 9525 E. Highland Rd, Hartland, MI.  Tickets are just $6 and are available at the main branch of the Cromaine Library, at our website at http://hpencoreyouththeater.weebly.com, or at the door a half hour before show time (if available).