I, like many other designers started out on stage but found my calling backstage. I studied acting with Mario Siletti, Stella Adler and William Hickey among others. What I learned from these brilliant human beings and from my years as an actress has certainly enhanced my life as a designer and given me some of my most indelible and soulful moments.

Early on I was privileged to be an assistant to two wonderful designers, Ben Gutierrez-Soto and Sharon (Holly) Hollinger. With Holly I worked at the Martha Graham Dance Company where I knelt next to Miss Graham pinning hems and made a pair of pants for Rudolph Nureyev. With Ben I sewed costumes for The Puerto Rican Travelling Theatre and worked for him at The TDF Costume Collection in it’s earliest days up on 125th Street. Working for Lili Costume, the BOCES Arts in Education Program and on so many wonderful shows provided me with experiences to expand and to share my knowledge.

And now in Maine I have had such amazing opportunities come to me, designing Shakespeare, spreading my wings anew. There is a rich and varied theatre community here. Please feel free to call or write if there is a project or an idea or a vision that you would like to discuss. Everything is possible!

516-784-0834

annecollins153@yahoo.com

About

It is all about telling a story in the best way possible. It is about a collaboration of ideas to bring to life the director’s vision. It is about staying true to the author. It is about helping the actors to feel just right, secure and comfortable.

It is about the audience, inviting them to step into another world, to come along on an adventure.

And sometimes when you are standing in the wings or in the back of the theater and you hear that little collective intake of breath, that little gasp of surprise or delight at the unexpected but perfect choice, you know you have gotten it right. Never a distraction. Always an enhancement.

I like to think that there will be a memory, a swirl of red cape, a row of golden buttons, a tilt of hat, a glimpse of petticoat. This collage of remembrance, different for each person, the feelings that these ingredients conjure up go home with you.

It is a gift to be able to be a part of telling the story. The stories are what we are.