Artist Profile: Theatrical Designer Julie Szeszol Kinsey

In addition to being home to terrific actors, the Oswego Playhouse is home to one of the most talented and prolific designers in the Fox Valley. Julie Szeszol Kinsey's elegant costumes can be found at theater companies throughout area.

Kinsey first fell in love with the theater in eighth grade when she had her first and only on-stage role.

“I liked theater, but not so much being on stage," she said.

She attended Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora. The technical director, David Calvert, inspired her to focus on the behind the scenes part of theater.

After high school Kinsey went to Northern Illinois University. NIU's degree in theatrical design and production included all facets of technical theater, which allowed Kinsey to pursue her primary interest in lighting design while learning other aspects of technical theater.

During a millinery (hat-making) class, Kinsey developed a interest in costumes. Furthermore, the department had a large need for costumers.

“I got 'stuck' doing costumes a lot.” she said.

While at NIU, Kinsey worked as a stage manager, lighting designer, master electrician and assistant director.

After graduating with a bachelor's of fine arts, Kinsey worked for a year at Naperville Central High School as an assistant auditorium manager.

“It was a good job. I had a lot of fun with the students. They were a good group of kids," she said.

The following year, Kinsey and her husband moved to Ashville, NC, for family reasons. That was the start of a break from theater for Kinsey. Despite returning to the Fox Valley area a little more than a year later, Kinsey did not return to the theater.

It wasn't until a friend, Kate Schultz, approached Kinsey about doing the costume designs for a production of The Elephant Man did she go back to the theater. When asked what brought her back to her art, Kinsey cites a love of the play itself.

“I love the time period, and I love the show," she said.

The show at Bolingbrook's Theatre on the Hill was success. Kinsey agreed to design costumes for Theatre on the Hill's production of Amadeus the following year. Set in the late 1700s, the play represented a huge challenge to the young costume designer.

“I worked on that play nearly single-handedly from May until November," Kinsey said.

Her work paid off and word of her talent spread. Since Amadeus, Kinsey has worked with the Steel Beam theatre, Spotlight Theatre and with the Oswego Playhouse. Oswego residence will remember Kinsey's costumes in Miracle on 34th Street and more recently in Time of the Cuckoo. For Cuckoo, Kinsey, also, designed the scenery and ran lights and sound.

Cuckoo needed a lot of research.

“Research is key for any production,” Kinsey said.

The play is set in 1955, and it was a big job to match costumes to that year.

“I built some of the pieces. Others I found at Goodwill stores or the Salvation Army," she said.

For the scenery of Cuckoo, Kinsey wanted to capture the light, airy feeling of Venice. For the backdrops, she relied heavily upon a book of Venice watercolors by Huck Scarry. She tried to capture the same feeling as Scarry's watercolors.

Kinsey continues to work throughout the Fox Valley. In almost any season, audiences can find her work in several different local companies.