He is currently the Department Head for Wardrobe at the Curran Theatre, a position he has held since 2006. Mr. Foster is an award-winning costumer who has served as costume constructor, stitcher, dresser, wardrobe assistant and wardrobe supervisor for innumerable plays and musicals including Wicked, Jersey Boys, A Chorus Line, The Lion King, Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème, Top Dog Underdog, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Contact, Cabaret, Crazy for You, Guys and Dolls, Grease, The Graduate, Slava's Snow Show, As You like It, The Allergist's Wife and Wit. He began his professional career with the Tandy Beale Company and has dressed or made costumes for most local and U.S. National dance companies including the American Ballet Theater, Kirov Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Joffrey Ballet, Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris and the Oakland Ballet.

In San Francisco, you are one of three local dressers who have been hired and trained by the show's traveling wardrobe supervisor to dress the actors. The show and its production staff arrive one morning, meet your local wardrobe team, you receive an hour of training and the show opens that night. The direction of this whodunit comedy is fast-paced and zany with 79 quick changes. How do you learn the show and keep your cool with so little training?

With good notes, a good teacher and years of experience. I'm not so sure about keeping my cool because inside I'm very tense. It keeps me on my toes. Besides there really is a lot at stake especially on a show like The 39 Steps. With so few actors, in so many roles sometimes moving in and out of two or three simultaneously, if one misses an entrance or arrives in the wrong costume it's more obvious than it would be in a large musical number. Also in this show once it starts it doesn't stop. There are very few chances to vamp if someone is late.

Explain how it works when a touring show comes into town. What are your responsibilities and those of your wardrobe crew?

Assuming it's not the first stop shows usually come with notes that were worked out in production and fine tuned at subsequent stops. The locals look them over and if there are really difficult, technical or quick costume changes there is usually a chance to run them after the sound check when we are introduced to the acting company. Sometimes it's just talking them through. If the show doesn't load in and open the same day there may be a rehearsal which makes things much easier for everyone.
I help the traveling wardrobe supervisor settle into the theatre, coordinate outside services, dry cleaning, shoe repair, shopping, etc. Also, I protect the interests of SHN and TWU Local 784 while seeing that the wardrobe needs of the visiting Production are met. I may help the traveling supervisor place crew members in the dressing track or position that suits them best. As far as our respective responsibilities as dressers they are the same. Be at the call on time, dressed in black (usually but not always) and make sure your actors have what they need to make their entrances on time and in the right costume. Simple.

The quick costume changes are an integral part of the show's personality. Did you know anything about The 39 Steps before the production arrived in San Francisco?

I received a copy of the technical rider and a brief e-mail from the road supervisor explaining what she needed and expected from the local crew. I watched the video on the SHN website and of course I googled it. Before I was told it was coming I only knew of it as a Hitchcock movie.

Tell us the specifics of how you learned the off stage "costume choreography" for the show?

The 39 Steps came to San Francisco with a supervisor and what is a referred to as an advance, a person to help teach the show in this case for the first two performances. One taught Stage Left and one taught Stage Right by walking us individually through our assigned tracks. After the sound check we ran the quick changes with the actors for an hour or so. They were also on deck observing those two performances and prompting us. The supervisor continues to be on deck. Just in case.

What makes The 39 Steps different from working on a musical or is it different?

Its pace and physical comedy. I don't think a musical could move as fast as this. Also dressers always take their cues from the action on stage rather than cue lights or stage managers and for me personally it's easier to follow music and pick out sound cues than to follow dialogue. Musicals always have a lot of backstage monitors. Plays are usually harder to hear backstage. Then there's the rushing around, crossing over and under, tracking costume pieces that may be needed again. It's much easier to be driven by music than dialogue.

Does it take a certain kind of person, a certain temperament to be a dresser?

It's good to be calm because well, actors can be dramatic. You can't let their energy get to you or yours to them so calm is good. Also it's good to internalize a little nervousness to stay alert. Really a perfectly executed show and happy audience feels great and is magic for everyone.

How long have you been in this business? Did you study theater? The first professional show you worked on?

My first professional job was in 1983 but remember I was very, very young. My first Broadway show was Les Misérables at the Curran in 1989. I was a Literature Major at UC and had a Work/Study job with a regional theater company where I picked up some skills and made some valuable connections, but I didn't study theater per se.

Any wardrobe malfunctions or nightmare stories from any of the SF shows you've worked on that you'd like to share?

I know it's boring but none I can think of. I guess I've been lucky. Of course things break or tear but I've always been able to get the actor on stage. I have made a few mistakes though. The worst that comes to mind was in Jersey Boys when I mixed up the jackets in a hand off to the actors playing Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio who were vastly different sizes. They carried them on and dressed in the scene for "Dawn (Go Away)." I was running up the stairs to my next cue when I heard the music stop and one actor break character and say to the other "Nice jacket!" Frankie Valli's sleeves were several inches past his finger tips, Bob Gaudio's sleeves ended several inches above his wrists and the audience was laughing at a point in the show that isn't generally considered to be funny. They threw off their coats and the show went on. After a good natured ribbing all was forgiven but I still felt lousy.

What is the most versatile or essential tool, device or special item you and your crew always have on hand to assist in a wardrobe crisis?

Besides our hands and hopefully our wits we actually carry very little with us, an Etui with a few threaded needles, scissors, and a flashlight or bite light. You never know, a zipper might break and the actor may need to be sewn into their costume and cut out when they exit. No one uses safety pins any more but we have a few of those on hand. We are often in the dark so we use the lights the most. Sometimes there are specialty tools say allen wrenches for puppets on The Lion King or hand tools for monkey wings and such but we usually just carry the basics.

Anything else about working in wardrobe or The 39 Steps that you'd like to share?

I would like to say though how great the traveling company is. There has been a lot for all the local crews to learn in very little time and their patience and understanding is greatly appreciated and makes the job so much easier. Also the actors are fun and amazingly talented. They're also experts at covering our little mistakes as we learn.

For more on The 39 Steps, click here.

Production photos: Craig Schwartz. Additional photos: Cece Hugo

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