Presenter Profile

Maile Speetjens serves as Costume Shop Manager and Costume Designer for the School of Music, Theatre and Dance at Colorado State. She teaches courses in Costume Design, Costume Construction and Makeup Design, and acts as advisor to student Costume and Hair/Makeup Designers.

Originally hailing from Kauai, HI, Maile Speetjens attended Emerson College in Boston, MA where she received a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre and worked as a stitcher in the Emerson Costume Shop. After College, Maile worked as Wardrobe Manager/ Costume Designer for Boston’s Actors Shakespeare Project (The Tempest, Coriolanus, Much Ado About Nothing), and continued as a cutter/draper at Emerson College, working on theatre, dance, and films such as Disney’s The Game Plan.

Maile received her MFA in Costume Design and Technology from the University of Georgia, Athens, where she taught courses in Costume Design and worked as lead draper. While at UGA, Maile’s Design work included The Dance of Hands (UGA), The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild and Hidden Man (7 Stages, Atlanta). While studying at UGA, Maile had the opportunity to explore skills such as Patternmaking, Draping, Millinery, Corsetry, Tailoring, various fabric modification techniques, wig styling and life drawing.

Maile has also worked as Costume Designer and educator for Hawaii Children’s Theatre (The Little Mermaid, Once On This Island, Mulan Jr, Rent, 25^th Annual…Spelling Bee, Avenue Q).

Maile continues to design locally, including productions at OpenStage Theatre (August Osage County, La Bete, True West) and Bas Bleu (Elephant’s Graveyard). During the summers, Maile serves as the director of KDIA, a Children’s Theatre Camp at CSU that focuses on devised, original pieces of Musical Theatre created 1 week at a time.

Maile is honored to work with such creative, kind, and enthusiastic staff members and students.

You can view Maile’s work at: www.mailespeetjens.com