Oral Histories

Interview of Jenny Green

Costume director for San Francisco Opera and L.A. Opera. Shop manager for Star Wars: Episode VI, Return of the Jedi.
Series:
The Crafts in Hollywood: Costuming
Topic:
Film and Television
Biographical Note:
Costume director for San Francisco Opera and L.A. Opera. Shop manager for Star Wars: Episode VI, Return of the Jedi.
Interviewer:
Collings, Jane
Interviewee:
Green, Jenny
Persons Present:
Green and Collings.
Place Conducted:
Green's office at the L.A. Opera in Los Angeles, California.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library’s Center for Oral History Research.
Interviewer Background and Preparation:
The interview was conducted by Jane Collings, principal editor and interviewer, UCLA Center for Oral History Research; Ph.D., Critical Studies in Film and Television, UCLA.
Processing of Interview:
The interviewer prepared a timed log of the audio recording of the interview. The interviewee was given the opportunity to review the log in order to supply missing or misspelled names and to verify the accuracy of the contents. Green made a few additions, which were entered into the text without further editing or review on the part of the Center for Oral History Research staff.
Length:
2 hrs.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Interviewee Retained Copyright
Audio:
Series Statement:
This series of interviews documents the work of costumers in the film and television industries in Los Angeles. The interviews preserve a dimension of Hollywood history and Los Angeles history that has been under-documented to date.
Early life in post-WWII England--Training in sewing, the theater, and the arts as a child--Begins work at the Royal Opera House in London--Specializations at Covent Garden--Unionization at Covent Garden--Skills required to be a costume designer--Work on Star Wars: Episode VI, Return of the Jedi.
The outfitting and capacity of the LA Opera shop--Audience taste in production design--The training to work in opera costuming--Achim Freyer's staging of Der Ring des Nibelungen at LA Opera in 2010--The audience for opera.