Martha Smith ’99
Martha Smith ’99 landed her first job out of college by cold-calling costume shops. Could she make body padding, one proprietor asked, but use birdseed for the filling? Smith said she could, and the New York shop welcomed her aboard the next day.
She stayed for the season.
Over the years, Smith has made a fat suit for ABC’s 20/20. She has worked on costumes for Radio City Music Hall, the TV soap opera Guiding Light, and Broadway’s Kiss Me Kate.
A year after Smith graduated from Mary Washington, Guiding Light hired her full time. She spent three years there before starting graduate school, which allowed her to work in costumes on Broadway at night.
“It’s all about people and hard work. Mary Washington – and the theatre department in particular – never let up on these things. In this business, it’s all about reputation,” Smith said.
At UMW, “it didn’t matter if we were college students, or if we were established in the department. We were expected to take things on in a professional manner and could never expect a handout.”
Smith planned to study classics in college. “I wanted to be involved in the theatre department, however,” she said. “They were so friendly and welcoming, it just became a great bunch of people to be around. Then I started sewing in the costume shop.”
Smith had been sewing since childhood. When she met Rosemary Ingham, theatrical costume designer and former UMW professor, she was hooked.
“In our department we had to be aware of everything – all aspects of the creative process. A liberal arts approach to
Smith designed the costumes for the 1998 production of Sweeney Todd, above, worn by classmates Mike Henrickson ’99 and Natalie Joy Johnson ’00.
Today Henrickson is a teacher; Johnson originated the role of Enid Hoopes in Legally Blonde on Broadway then played Paulette in the musical’s national tour. Photo by David Hunt Jr.
theatre. That attitude serves me well now,” Smith said. “I get a lot of respect from other departments because I am aware of their process, like what lens we are shooting on or which prop the actor needs. It’s really important in what I do.”
After Guiding Light and Broadway, Smith worked as Katie Couric’s dresser for the evening news. She decided that she liked costumes better than clothes.
“Costumes tell a story, which is what I like about what I do,” she said.
Smith now works as a set costumer in film and television. She ensures that outfits are “prepped” to be on camera, which could mean they appear dirty and wrinkled or neat and clean, she explained. She also must ensure that a costume appears the same from take to take – whether the takes are filmed a day apart or five weeks apart.
Smith worked this fall on a film called The Wolf on Wall Street, set to come out in 2013. She hopes to return to some theatre work in the future. “Back to my roots,” she said.