Scott Dunlap's business card says he is the costume designer at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.
If he had to list everything he actually does there, his cards would be the size of poster boards. He has designed sets and costumes, directed and starred in plays, cleaned the bathrooms and swept the floors.
Contributed Photo by Alex McMahan
Scott Dunlap, foreground, is surrounded by others in the cast of the "The Company," which was staged at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.Last season, he starred in, designed the set and did the costume alterations for "The Producers." He also did set and costume design for "The Fantasticks," which he also directed. For the upcoming season, he will design the sets and costumes for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Rent," the set for "Hairspray" and the costumes for "The Women." The latter will involve at least 44 costumes.
It's easier for him to list the things he doesn't do at the community theater.
"I try not to learn anything about the air conditioning," he said, "and I try to stay away from anything to do with the lights. There is so much to learn on the front end before the zen happens."
Dunlap's career at the CTC began with the Youth Theatre during the center's days as The Little Theatre. After high school and college, he visited the new facility in 1996 just to take a tour. He was offered a job "pretty much on the spot," and he has been there working or volunteering ever since.
Scott DunlapHometown: Cleveland.Education: Cleveland (Tenn.) High School, North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles.Age: 38.Vocation: Costume designer at the CTC.FavoritesMovie: "A Room With A View."Book: "Tales of the City" series, Armistead Maupin.Play: "Hair"Song: "I Want To Be Evil" by Eartha Kitt.Actor: Maggie Smith.Expression: My mom told me something I try to pay attention to: "Everyone knows something that you do not, and you can learn something from everyone."
Q: When I mentioned to people that we'd be talking for this profile, the universal reaction was, "You won't have enough space to cover everything he does."
A: I learned pretty early on that I didn't like somebody telling me I couldn't do something.
That happened in high school. I had designed a set, and the teacher said, "We can't make a curved platform." I knew that there was no way that somebody was going to tell me that something can't be done.
Q: Do you ever get overwhelmed?
A: I do sometimes get pretty overwhelmed and I have a hard time saying no. I also have a hard time watching someone struggle. I do spread myself pretty thin, but for me it's not a job, it's a lifestyle.
Q: How do you figure out which combination of things, like set and costume design and directing or acting, you will do for a show?
A: The only thing I can really control is whether I've volunteered to be in a show as an actor. To be honest, there are not a lot of roles that are that pressing for me to do. They have to be fun. Sometimes "Death of a Salesman" can be fun and I don't mean it can't be a lot of work. Sometimes the work is fun.
Q: Do you prefer doing period costumes or ones where you have free reign?
A: The problem with (freedom) is that sometimes you can contradict yourself. Even with free reign, you have to have rules.
I love the television show "Mad Men." It's incredible because they use some cheats. Even though it's set in a certain year, they go back a couple of years for the fashion, which is what people do in real life.
Doing period costumes is fun because you can actually go back two or three years prior to the actual year and mix it. It is fun to try to recreate a period because it's almost like a fairy tale and you get to pick and choose what you want it to look like.
I'm also a trained actor so I approach each piece with the attitude of what would I want to wear to get into this role.