Second-year Bachelor of Fine Arts, Design for Performance student Danielle Rodriguez recently worked as a runner and buyer for The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale, gaining invaluable hands-on experience in costume design and production. Collaborating with industry professionals and NIDA alumni, Danielle played a key role behind-the-scenes, including creating new looks for the Breelanders and assisting with consistency across costumes. Reflecting on her first professional theatre job, she shares how the experience shaped her approach to design, from balancing details with the bigger picture to seeing her contributions come alive on stage. Now, as the 2025 SCON President, Danielle is eager to support her peers while diving into the challenges and opportunities of her second year at NIDA.
Can you describe your role as the runner/buyer for The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale?
I worked closely with the costume supervisor and designer to bring the show’s costumes to life, whilst they were in meetings, rehearsals and fittings, I went out into the world to do research, drop off and collect garments, as well as purchase anything necessary for the show. My days would be varied, and a lot of the time would be spent outside the studio jumping from location to location. Sometimes I would have very clearly defined jobs I had to complete, this was more akin to the role of the runner where the tasks would be, for example, go purchase fifteen of this exact zipper type that we need and deliver it to our costumier who is operating out of another studio. Sometimes the tasks were less defined, the designer or costume supervisor knew they needed something but didn’t know what until they saw it, this is where the buying aspect came in, and this required more design thinking and researching, working closely with the designer and costume supervisor to refer to the design brief and help them resolve the task at hand. It is one of those jobs that helps get the little, but necessary things done that you often don’t think about immediately when approaching a project.
What were some of your favourite aspects of working on this production? Were there any moments that stood out to you?
The full duration of my first week there was this constant ‘pinch me’ moment, I have loved The Lord of the Rings ever since I was a child; I remember being brought onto the project and was in awe that my first job in theatre would be The LOTR musical – I kept telling everyone that it was fate!
The other major moment for me was shopping for the Breelanders (habitants of Bree), a new addition to the Australian run. The designer wanted to ensure that once Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin reached the Prancing Pony in Bree, the ensemble cast would look less like the Hobbits they had been playing until that stage. Because of this, I was tasked to work closely with the designer to purchase and dress the ensemble crew in their new outfits. Of course, much of the designing was done by the Designer, Simon Kenny, but being the one that went out and selected the pieces to send to Simon, getting to be a part of that design process and seeing it on stage was so gratifying.
Did you collaborate with any alumni or fellow students from NIDA while working on the musical?
NIDA is everywhere. Everyone at NIDA kept telling me this was the case, but you really have to be a part of it to understand the extent of it, and it didn’t just stop at NIDA alumni and current students! I worked alongside industry professionals who teach at NIDA and others who had come in to direct our school productions. The theatre world in Sydney is small and NIDA works so closely within and alongside that industry, even the way I got this job just by impressing the heck out of an external hire that I worked under in the October Production Season, so it just goes to show how that networking aspect is constantly going on in the background during your time here and it’s something that you don’t always realise until you become a part of it.
Have you had the opportunity to see the musical yourself? How did your experience working behind the scenes compare to seeing the final performance?
Yes, the production studio (GWB Entertainment) was wonderful enough to get the crew opening night tickets, so I got to be there to see the Australian run kick-off at the State Theatre! I thought seeing all our hard work come together was an incredible experience. There is something so gratifying about being a part of a role from start to finish, it’s something that you don’t fully understand in your first year during production season, but there was this moment when I was watching the show, and it felt like everything I learnt at NIDA in first year as well as on the project really clicked and made all the hard work worth it.
How do you think your role and experiences in this production will influence your approach to design and theatre in the future?
Seeing those Breelanders up on stage was a major teaching moment for me, when I purchased those pieces, I had an image in my mind for how this single piece would look on the stage and once I saw it there, it looked completely different. Colours I thought would pop up on stage looked muted whilst other options I reluctantly suggested to the designer thinking they may be ‘too much’ ended up looking amazing. Seeing how all the pieces of the costume and the show came together and how it read at a distance as an audience member completely changed those pieces. With all of my projects, I get so bogged down by all the details, that I become overwhelmed by these little details that I think I know will mess with the design of the show, but seeing all of my purchases up on stage, they didn’t look anything like what I expected, it was a smack in the face, to remember in future projects that you really don’t know what you have until you stop, zoom out and see the big picture.
Looking ahead to your second year at NIDA, what are you most looking forward to?
Design 2 is a bit of an unknown, the curriculum has been rejigged so it is all new and our course leader, Bob Cousins, is such a passionate guy who’s stoked to get the best out of the Design curriculum and the students, which makes me excited to see what he has planned for us this year.
This is also the first year that we jump straight into designing our first real show. We started the project in Term 4 of 2024 and we get straight back to it in Term 1 of 2025. This was something usually left till the final term of Design 2, but the ability to work with Master of Fine Arts directors on a real show so early in our studies is such a game changer. To see your work come to fruition in real life is so different to working with hypotheticals; we’re about to see all of the design theory be put to the test and how our designs work and don’t work. I am excited to see how my cohort and I deal with those new experiences.
You’ve been named as the 2025 Student Council of NIDA (SCON) President, what do you see as the biggest challenges and potential rewards from this role?
The biggest challenge will be finding funding to achieve the things I want for the commencing and returning students of NIDA. I have one major objective as SCON President and that is to find new ways to support students and relieve stresses during moments of pressure, through the NIDA and surrounding communities. With the economy the way it is, it’s hard for students to support themselves whilst meeting the pressures an intensive course load puts on you. I have no doubt this is at the forefront of NIDA’s mind, but I hope I can find ways to implement even the smallest changes to help relieve stress for the students. If, because of me, the students can find even the slightest bit more time to look after themselves outside of the institute, then I will consider that a huge reward.
*Header Image: Danielle Rodriguez working on the Mother during NIDA’s 2024 October Production Season. Photo by Juliette Amies.