From stilted soldier costumes to shoe work, Jan Creger, 21-year wardrobe supervisor for the Rockettes, provides an inside look into what it takes to put on a show.

Once she arrives in the city they are going to be working in, she is given a group of dressers whom she teaches what to do during the show. “There is just as much going on backstage as there is on stage,” Creger says. It takes 15 people, whom they hire locally, to do a show, and that is just to dress the girls. More than 100 performers and backstage helpers contribute to each show.

With the performers varying in height, Creger has to make the woman appear equally tall. “Hems all have to be the exact same length off the floor and jacket lengths have to be the same length all the way across, throughout all the girls. This creates an illusion that they are all the same height,” she says.

Keeping busy during the show

With eight costume changes per show, according to Women Magazine News, and 350 pairs of shoes, there are always plenty of repairs to be done. “Repairs are the most demanding part of my job,” says Creger.

With the Rockettes performing anywhere up to five shows a day, Creger is always getting things and having to repair them as quickly as possible for the next show. “Sometimes things will tear or break within a minute of them going on stage, and I have to do a repair really quick,” she says. “I have even had to sew one of them in to a costume before. Her zipper was broken and we sewed her into the costume, and then when they come off stage we cut them out of it.”

The Rockettes crew also does all of their own cobbling for their shoes.

The parade of wooden soldiers are the most iconic part of the show, with that particular design being included since 1933.  Even though the other numbers have revolutionized and changed over the years, that section has always looked the same.  To give the soldiers their stiff effect, designers have to actually put stilts into the pants.

Beyond the Rockettes

Creger has also done work for a variety of Branson shows as well as weddings, and the Miss United States pageant. With working with such an area of people, she has come across a variety of personalities.

Creger was once doing a costume for a rude woman who was not being understanding, so Creger  took the woman’s dress in just a stitch. “She tried it on the next day and freaked out because she thought that she had gained weight,” she says with a laugh.

“I didn’t really choose to go into costuming,” Creger says, whose degree was in musical theater.  She performed at Silver Dollar City in Branson as well as in shows at places such as the Grand Palace, and people found out that she could sew.

“They would always ask if I could sew or do this or that,” she says. “In a way, God just kind of guided me down this path.”

Creger started sewing when she was 8.  She did competive sewing in 4H Club, and as a child, she went to the state fairs and won ribbons on her work. Then, while pursuing her musical theater degree in college, she also worked in the costume shop. Her biggest influence? Her costuming professor at Kansas State.

“My performing and dance experience has helped me to be a better costumer because I know how things need to move for the theater and dances,” says Creger.

She was at the Grand Palace as the wardrobe supervisor when the Rockettes were brought in to perform. She was then told that she was going to be their wardrobe supervisor.  “They pretty much just appointed me that position, and I have been doing it ever since, and what a wonderful career it has been,” she says.

For more information and ticket sales for a Rockettes show, visit www.ticketliquidator.com.  You can catch some of Creger’s other creations in action at shows such as #1 Hits of the 60’s, Red Hot and Blue, and Showboat Branson Belle in Branson.