Trying On
BY MARIE ANNE CHIMENT ’ 78
ONE DAY in the late ’ 70s , I was walking past one of the Quonset hut classrooms and heard a theater professor discussing design with her students . I was fascinated , and I stayed for the class . Then I came back for more .
The professor was Deborah Dryden , teaching costume design . Her husband , Dan Dryden , taught scenic design . To put it simply , this husband and wife duo changed my life . After that day , I took all of their classes , designed productions at UCSD , and worked in the costume shop until I graduated in 1978 . Before those classes , I could draw and paint , sew and craft , sing , and play piano , yet I never knew that there was a way to combine all of these things I loved into a career .
Following graduation , I worked in the Repertory Theater in Berkeley , Calif ., before I felt ready for “ the Big Apple .” After earning my graduate degree from NYU ’ s Tisch School of the Arts , I designed sets and costumes for New York theaters big and small for 25 years , then moved all around the country designing for opera , theater , and dance .
To take art “ from page to stage ” requires people skills , organizational skills , time management , financial savvy , and hard-earned knowledge of the craft . Costume design is one of the hardest , most demanding , and challenging careers — it is also one of the most rewarding artistically . Today , I ’ m a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia , teaching theater design to the next generation . I hope my students see that there are many paths to choose from and that they are free to try on those paths , to sit in on classes until they find what resonates with their hopes and dreams , just as I did in my journey to costume design . A journey that began one day in a little classroom at UC San Diego , thanks to the inspirational guidance of Deborah and Dan Dryden .
— Marie Anne Chiment ’ 78 is head of costume design for the Department of Theater at Temple University .
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