Jill Parzych
BFA in Theatre with a concentration in costume design/technical production, 2017
Parzychji@vcu.edu
Jill originally thought she would pursue a career in political science, but things took a turn while she was taking classes at John Tyler Community College. Jill was miserable in school, and her aunt asked her the simple question, “what would you do if you could not fail?” After some soul searching and a behind-the-scenes documentary about the costumes in Harry Potter, she decided that if she could do anything, it would be making movies. Soon after, Jill refused to participate in a pig dissection in one of her classes. Sitting in the hallway while other students were working, she found a VCU booth. Jill saw costume design as a major, and everything clicked into place.
Jill was accepted into the University, and although not yet a theatre major, she was lucky to have her advisor be Shaun McCracken (former Theatre Academic Advisor and faculty member, now Academic Affairs Coordinator for the Performing Arts). Shaun told her, “I will get you into theatre classes.” Jill took Intro to Drama and loved script analysis – she was hooked and applied to change her major.
She then says she had the “most awkward conversation ever” with Bonnie McCoy (the department’s longtime Administrative Director and Assistant Professor who has now been Chair since 2021.) Jill laughs and says “I was so young and naive…I had no clue who Toni-Leslie James (former Head of Costumes) was.” Bonnie told her to google Toni, and Jill quickly found out about her impressive professional resume. She says, “I couldn’t believe Toni was in my backyard…there’s no way it wasn’t meant to be.” Jill then interviewed with former Costume Shop Manager Neno Russell. She got an acceptance letter a few weeks later and cried happy tears. “I still have the letter,” she says.
Neno threw Jill into mainstages right away. Her first ever theatrical experience was being on the wardrobe crew doing wigs for Sweeney Todd, and she felt “so cool.” She says, “and then it just never stopped.”
Jill admits that she never felt totally comfortable with her renderings, but things changed when Jill found her love of building and draping. When Toni saw one of Jill’s draping projects she said, “Well that’s the problem. You’re not supposed to be a designer. You’re a draper. You need to go to Carnegie Mellon.” Junior and senior year, she focused solely on the technical production side of costuming and took independent studies with Neno.
Fast forward a few years and multiple moves, Jill completed her Master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon over the pandemic, and held two professional shop management jobs in Florida. (Her first shop management job out of undergrad, she applied as an intern and was called back to interview as shop manager! She attributes that to the strength of our costume program.) Then, Neno ended up moving to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the VCU costume shop needed a new manager. Neno and Bonnie both courted Jill for the gig, and she’s now in her third semester teaching and running the shop.
Reflecting on changes between her time in undergrad and the program now, Jill says that most importantly, it still feels like home. “The program is still built on merit and who is putting in the work. Other universities who have professionals working on the shows – those students don’t get the same hands-on experience, so they aren’t graduating at the same caliber as our students.”
She also reflects on the positive changes in how different bodies are treated on stage and behind the scenes. She mentions Desirée Dabney (current Head of Musical Theatre) who directed the department mainstage “Rent” in April. “Our shows are cast based on talent, skill, and work ethic, and not based on dress size. It’s refreshing, and only recently happening in the industry. I’m happy we are having that conversation at VCU, and I’m having that conversation with my students…reducing harm in the costume industry, being more inclusive with how we address bodies and fittings and draping.”
Compiled by Liz Hopper (professor emeritus), Jerry Williams (BFA ’71), and VCUarts Theatre for the August 2023 Theatre Alumni newsletter