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"It's such an unusual twist having so many WCU students out here,"said Dean, who decided to go into costume design when she was a student at WCU. Dean said she prefers backstage to on-stage.
"I always liked theatre and I always liked sewing, and it wasn't until I went to WCU that I realized how to mesh the two,"said Dean, who completed her degree at UNC-Greensboro.
"Costumes are my big thing,"said this daughter of Harold and Fern Hensley of Sylva. The Hensleys travel frequently to Colorado to visit their designing daughter, her husband, Steve, and their 13-year-old son, Eric.
"To research the era and the authenticity is an art into itself,"Dean said about her work. Before the season begins, she spends an intense six week designing, building and sewing all the costumes needed. The pressure is on because Diamond Circle has the reputation as one of the best melodramas in the country.
Begun in 1962, the theatre was acquired in 1987 by its present owner and artistic director, Jeannie Wheeldon, whom Dean describes as "fabulous to work with. "Wheeldon travels around the country to find actors who spend the summer performing this unique style of choreographed melodrama. The action requires precise movement and timing, as well as stamina and strong vocal strength. The versatile actors have to act as well as sing, dance and wait tables.
Dean's credits include "Once Upon a Mattress,""A Christmas Carol,""Falstaff"and "The Lion in Winter.²
But the "most fun thing I've ever done,"she's excited to tell about, was as costumer for Aretha "Miss R-E-S-P-E-C-T"Franklin.
"A local film director here was using Aretha Franklin as Mother Nature in an environmental film. This was my one-shot deal,"said Dean, who envisioned Franklin as "not just Mother Nature, but the Queen of Nature."Dean started with the concept of a Queen Elizabeth - type collar and royal purple colors.
"It was challenging,"Dean admitted. "We didn't have any time for personal measuring beforehand, although I did speak to Aretha on the phone. Then I had one fitting at her home beforehand. She was so nice and gracious and luck was with me. All I had to do was hem the gown. I had the feeling she really liked it because she had a magazine interview that day and kept the dress on during the interview.
"That was my 15 minutes of fame,"said Dean, who gained R-E-S-P-E-C-T from the project.
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Glenda Dean, right, formerly of Sylva, made this costume for Aretha Franklin, who was recently cast as Mother Nature in an environmental film.