Starring role: Costume design another piece of storytelling for Penn Hills' musicals

When it comes to school musicals, one of the most important supporting roles is the costumes.

Diane Tirio, a costume designer at Penn Hills High School, has been making the costumes there for the past 22 years.

“We don’t always make all the costumes, but we always create them,” she said. “We will often start with dresses that exist and then modify them.”

They do all of the creation in-house.

For the spring musical “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” which was staged April 3-6, Tirio had nearly a dozen people working with her — “Several people whose kids were never in the musical.” For Tirio, that holds true as well.

“It has been a lot of fun,” Tirio said.

She started out as a family and consumer science teacher at the high school. When the principal asked her to assist the former director, who needed help getting kids measured for costumes, Tirio agreed.

At the time, she was teaching full time and had kids in high school and college.

“My life was pretty busy. That was the start of a very interesting, long road,” she said.

“The next year, we just did the costumes. And from then on, we have done the costumes.”

The work is mostly volunteer. Tirio receives a small stipend so she can have access to the high school as an employee of the district.

“The volunteers are great. I would guess I put in somewhere around 500 hours over the course of the year. It’s probably more than that,” Tirio said.

The bulk of the work takes place between December and April, but they also maintain the costume room as well. All the costumes need to be washed, hung up and organized.

“When the fall plays come along, the director might say, ‘I need this or that,’ and we provide the costumes for that. If the chorus needs something, we will help them out for that. ”

Tirio said creating the costumes and working with the students is very uplifting.

“I love teaching, and this is like the best part of teaching,” she said.

“There’s no grading. It is just teaching, and the kids all want to be there and they are very appreciative,” she said.

Students have come back, even those who have gone off to college.

“When they come back, the first thing they want to do is say how much they miss all of the camaraderie. It is a very secure place for high school kids,” Tirio said.

“You have to cooperate with the person next to you because their success is your success.”

According to Tirio, there’s a lot that goes into costume design. The first thing she does once the director has decided on a play is speak with all the people involved to understand the direction. She then looks at Broadway. “What did Broadway do? What does this play look like in the most professional setting?” she said.

The main goal is for the student to look like their character and feel good.

“Sometimes, I have to say, ‘Listen, you’re a sailor. This is what you are wearing,’ but sometimes I’ll have two dresses, and there’s an option for which one they want me to fit onto them.”

For “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” Tirio had a dress taken in and up so the dancing could be done in the costume and it would stay in place. For the boys, suit jackets were taken in three sizes.

“We just make it work. The kids all get that these are multiple fittings, and they are really happy about it,” she said.

High school plays have become a coveted event. In Penn Hills, there was a tradition where people just came to the musical, especially before covid, according to Tirio.

“They have been going to the musical for 10 years with their friends,” she said.

The community support behind all parts of the production is important. Last year at Valley High School in New Kensington, the school faced a costume catastrophe when the costumes they rented were never delivered by a third-party company.

“It was all a sham. And the year before, at Elizabeth Forward High School, their costumes all were burned (when a fire ripped through the auditorium). Everyone tries to help each other in the theater community,” Tirio said.

In both cases, Penn Hills High School offered their costumes for whatever was needed.

“There’s a lot of sharing and support going on,” Tirio said.

Ashleigh Pickens, 16, a Penn Hills sophomore, served as the costume and makeup designer for the spring musical. She has been involved since 2020.

“I put a lot of time and effort into finding time-appropriate and piece-appropriate makeup and hair designs,” Pickens said.

“I love to help people. The directors are amazing. They’re very supportive. They always help,” she said.

Pickens said being a part of theater has helped her confidence.

“Before I was in theater, I was shy, and I didn’t even like public speaking,” she said. Since she has been in theater, she has gotten involved in student government and is comfortable speaking in larger crowds.