Get it while it's whacky
The St. Michael's drama club outfits students for Halloween

Brittany Hutton | fact checker
bhutton@smcvt.edu

Students at St. Michael's College have been known to spend a fortune on a Halloween costume. This year, on Oct. 18 and 19,  the Drama Club sold its used stage costumes at inexpensive prices, giving more bang for the costume buck.

Used costumes cover tables in Alliot

Used costumes, sold by the Drama Club, covered tables in Alliot. Alex McIntire, photo

The used costumes were sold for no more than $4. Drama Club President Christina Shantz helped arrange the event. Over the two days, the club made $427.06

“We sold costumes back in 2003 and it was really successful, but we have not sold costumes since then,” Shantz says. “It [the costumes] needs to build back up.”

According to Professor Peter Harrigan, he made the decision on which costumes needed to go.

The price of the costumes ranged from $1-4 depending on the item. T-shirts sold for $1, pants were $2, and novelty and special items were around $3-4, Shantz says.

The Drama Club wanted to sell the used costumes during the
Halloween season so students could get costume ideas.

“The prices of the costumes are really cheap and people have found Halloween costumes,” Shantz says.

Harrigan says most of the costumes are well-made and the clothes selected are not useful for the club anymore.

“The majority of the costumes are in good condition, but there is definitely some that have been ripped or torn,” Shantz says. “Some people have taken the fabric and turned it into something.”

Harrigan says the clothes the Drama Club receives come from the spring theater, the main-stage shows, and student productions. The club stores its costumes in the basement of McCarthy Arts Center, which is known to drama students as “costume heaven,” and in the playhouse on North Campus, he says.

First come, first serve

Drama students working the costume sale try on the old costumes. Drama students from left: Michelle Merola, Josh Bardier, Christina Shantz and Kyla Waldron. Alex McIntire, photo

Senior Kyla Waldron worked at the sale to help support the Drama Club.

“We had a lot of fun and a lot of good stuff went out,” she says.

Waldron says the drama and theater clubs encouraged its students to put on outfits and get crazy with the event.

“We yelled at people who walked by and we were like ‘yeah, we’re having a costume sale!’” Waldron says.

She says that there were a range of costumes for males and females. For the sale on Oct. 19, the Drama Club added 12 more bags that were not displayed the day before.

“There are definitely some whacky dresses and skirts for the girls and straight forward pants for the guys,” Shantz says.

Harrigan and Shantz took the costumes that were left to Goodwill or kept them for another costume sale.

Benefits for the club increase

The money earned from the costume sale supports the club's budget for trips, speakers and workshops, Shantz says.

She says the Drama Club receives a budget from the Student Association (S.A.), but the club still needs more money.

“We have a great budget, but we didn’t get the amount of money needed for other things,” Shantz says.

She says every show has a budget and a static amount of it is reserved for costumes. Depending on how hard the costume is to make, the club either borrows, buys or makes them.

One financial obstacle, in particular facing the club is a trip to New York City. The club would like to see a Broadway production and the money from the costume sale will go towards that, Shantz says.

The Drama Club takes time out for some fun at the costume sale. Alex McIntire, photo

“It is a really expensive trip and it’s a lot of money that we can raise ourselves and don’t have to pay quite as much to do it,” Shantz says.

Shantz says there is no guarantee the trip will happen, but it is something the club is looking into. The New York City trip is open to anyone on campus, but the majority of the people who end up going will be part of the club, she says.

Waldron says the Drama Club would also like to have more speakers, such as Judy Shepard, to attract more students from the campus.

Harrigan is impressed by the hard work the club has done to get events organized, he says.

“The costume sale was a lot of fun and helpful for our club because now we have the $427.06 for more events,” Waldron says. “We are doing what we can to make some money for the club.”