NR: I don't know if you remember doing it, but many of us have seen the UPN special, The Making of the Scarlet Pimpernel. You were interviewed and you were talking about how an actor can have some input if they want a pocket changed, or a sleeve altered. How does that work?

JG: The actor is bringing that character to life and I feel that you should listen to what the actor says about his character. When you have a fitting, if there's something that he talks about that he has to do, that he has to take a coat off on stage, or he has to put it on, you have to be very aware that that's going to be very difficult. The actor can't be thinking about that. They've got to be thinking about so many other things, so you have to prepare for that, or compensate for that. If an actor has to have a lot of props, then it behooves you to give him a lot of pockets in his clothes because he's going to need them. It's basic common sense really about what people have to do. There's nothing I hate more than getting to a first dress rehearsal, and the actor walks down center stage and will say to a director, "THEY haven't given me a pocket." (It's always THEY.) It's sort of what you don't want to hear, because you've got to be looking at what all the clothes look like and you don't want to be bothered with being anxious about an actor feeling unhappy about not having something, and you don't want the director to have to worry about that. So, you prepare for that by being careful and taking note of what has to be done so that you get it taken care of in the fittings. I always try to have a very good rapport with the stage manager so that every day, or every couple of days, we'll talk. If anything comes up in rehearsal, we'll talk about it so that I can keep abreast of what's going on. I can't sit there at rehearsal every day. I've got too much to get on.

NR: How many dress rehearsals do they normally have?

JG: There's usually a week of technical rehearsals where they will feed the shoes in for one rehearsal so that they all get the feel of the stage with their feet. Then maybe they start putting the wigs on, or wigs and hats so they can get the mikes fitted and they can get them in the right place. Sometimes it's quite gradual. Then you get the clothes on and maybe you do one scene and into the next scene to just get the quick change.

NR: There are some very quick changes in this show.

JG: Yes, very. We worked the scene where the Bounders go up on the boat and change into their clothes to go to France. We rehearsed that a great deal. It just had to be drilled and the clothes had to be made to be put on that quickly. There's a lot of leeway with those things to make it easier. There's a lot of velcro, which we know they didn't have in the 18th century, but we have to try to make them work. Surprisingly enough though, it became almost easier to put a coat on and fasten one button, than to try and get a piece of velcro in the right place.

NR: I know Douglas had that quick change from Grappin into the drawing room. I heard that was really frantic too.

JG: That was very tough. He had killer things to do.

NR: Is Percy going to be taxed as much in the new version?

JG: It's going to be hard. It's different though. It's different coming into the Neil Simon because it's a smaller house and the scenery is redesigned so there's going to be a different sort of ground area to deal with.

NR: Plus, they're going out on the road...

JG: Yes. It's not complicated and we don't have the mechanism that we had at the Minskoff, so I think it will be simpler.

NR: What do you do when there's a costume emergency, such as split seams or if zippers break on the way onto the stage?

JG: I don't worry about those things. (laughing) I let the wardrobe supervisors worry about that.

NR: What do they do?

JG: It is terrible when a zipper goes. You hope it doesn't happen very often and you hope someone is there to cope.

NR: Do you find that you use velcro or zippers more often than buttons for speed?

JG: Not really. It's not really faster. If the men have a coat with three buttons, they can actually get one button fastened quicker than they can pull a zipper up, quicker than they can match a piece of velcro. Velcro is very treacherous because it might not match correctly, it can have a lump in it, it makes noise and it can give if it's not in the right place. There's nothing more reliable than a big hook. If you're putting a skirt on a girl, one big strong hook is as good as anything you can do.

NR: I remember that I read an interview with you when you were doing High Society and Melissa Errico had that fast change on stage with the riding costume. She wore a three piece suit and I think you said you sewed all the pieces together and then just split the sides.

JG: Yes. That was tough. The jacket was separate, but the blouse, the vest and the jodhpurs were all in one. That was a very fast change.

NR: So, what's ahead for you? You told me you're going to do The Great Gatsby at the Met. And of course you're working on Scarlet Pimpernel 3 which evidently has more changes than we're realizing.

JG: Oh, much more. Oh, you're going to love the second act. That beginning is going to be so thrilling. It's all gold and silver and it will shimmer.

NR: Did you get rid of those old masks that we all call flyswatters?

JG: We still have them. They're actually so authentic and it was so wonderful to use those masks and play games with people. It was a different world.

NR: Well I thought they would be fancier.

JG: They're very elegant - that little clean black and that little stick.

NR: (laughing) OK, if you say so.

JG: I'm very fond of them.

NR: Is there anything else that you're looking forward to?

JG: Well, I'm doing The Great Gatsby for the Metropolitan Opera and I'm scheduled to design clothes for Cherry Jones in a new production of Moon for the Misbegotten. I'm working on a musical called The Dead by Richard Nelson and a wonderful Irish musician. I'm working on a new musical for next year based on the stories of Hans Christian Anderson, directed by Martha Clark which is going to be on Broadway. I think that's about it.

NR: So, do you think the Tony award is going to come?

JG: No.

NR: I believe Douglas called you the "Susan Lucci" of the Tony Awards.

JG: I am. But she won finally.

NR: She did. You have twelve nominations, I believe. Is that right?

JG: Um hmm.

NR: Wow. He said it was unfair and I agree with him.

JG: Well, I'm sort of enjoying the fact that I feel I've got past the point where I worry about it. As is often said, it's very nice to be nominated. Actually, there's a certain satisfaction in having had the first nomination. I think it was 1964 for Tartuffe which I designed at Lincoln Center. That was when Lincoln Center was down at Washington Square. The fact that I've been in the nominating part for 36 years is encouraging.

NR: Yes it is. That's wonderful. Thank you so much.

JG: You're very welcome.

Jane was just a delightful person to speak with. I can see why so many directors have chosen her to assist in bringing their creative projects to life. Judging from the sketches I saw, I'm sure the ball scene in SP3 will be magnificent, and I'm looking forward to seeing it for the first time.

Questions suggested by:

Lois and Elizabeth Colpo, Lina Lee, Cync Brantley, Amy Schram, Pat Wafer, Jan Kolb, Leona Hoegsburg, Shari Perkins, Colleen Rosati, Andrea Barranti, Renee Girard, Dolores, Em Friedman, Susan Cassidy, Chris Miller, Jan Combopiano, Amy Lovett, Andrew Reith, Josie Smith, Gillian Girvins, Catherine Tyrone, Jennefer Ahlborn, Dunja

Interview conducted and photographs by Nancy Rosati.