As the first production SENIOR Paloma Lancador had ever costume designed, she decided to take on the challenges and stress of designing a Cappies show.

The Cappies, also called the critics and awards program,  is an international awards program that celebrates both high school literature and theatre. 

At the end of a season, a Tony-award-like celebration occurs, where all nominated shows perform a cutting or a critic’s choice song. Then, awards are presented by various theatre journalism and entertainment professionals in the region.

“Designing a Cappies show is super stressful, and it takes tons of extra paperwork,” Lancador said.

While this is the first show Lancador designed, she still goes way back with the theater department.

 “I used to be an actor, but then I realized that wasn’t my passion, but I still wanted to be involved and loved the people on costume crew, so that’s where I went. The first show I did for costumes was ‘Song for a New World’ in Jan. 2021,” Lancador said.

Designing costumes is a lot of work. Lancador’s creative process includes doing a large amount of historical research. 

“The ‘20s in America looked very different from how they did in Sweden, and it’s really important we get every detail correct so the show is accurate,” Lancador said.

Many famous characters were designed after well-known historical figures. Macbeth was based on King George IV and Malcolm was based on Prince Charles of York.

Lancador expresses that the most challenging costume to create was Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. 

“Hecate had a lot of different pieces and many different layers and fabrics. It was especially hard trying to figure out how to make the feather collar,” Lancador said. 

Lancador’s passion for the fashion industry has existed since she was a child. Being a costume designer was always her “when I get older I want to be” statement. 

“Ever since I was a kid I always loved fashion, and my dream job was to be a costume designer for Broadway, but I never imagined I would actually be designing a Cappies show for my high school,” Lancador said.