What's in a name?

By Jeanette Reyes

Jean Charles Black trained in Great Britain and had extensive professional experience in costume and wardrobe. She was hired in 1973 to take over the Production side of the school. She was asked by Jack McAllister to take after Blu Brennan, the first costume instructor at the school - and taught everything that had to do with costuming such as pattern drafting, draping, sewing etc. At the same time, she was also teaching wardrobe at York University. Jean was a busy bee; if she wasn’t teaching, she was helping out with show productions. Jean noted, “nothing went out of the wardrobe room that I wasn’t proud of.”

Sandy Black

Her husband was Sandy Black, the first head of technical production and later the school’s chair. Sandy brought complementary attributes to Jean's working style - he was gentle, sweet, and quiet. When they would attend parties and events, both were very social. They were both THE production bosses, the power duo.

Community Impact - LOFT

Jean Charles Black also made an impact on surrounding local communities. When Black was the school director, LOFT Community Services reached out to get more support for the production of their Christmas concert fundraiser. After the success and partnership of the first show, Black agreed to provide Technical Production support from the school annually. Black introduced many to LOFT, and students always come back to volunteer. Thanks to Jean Charles Black, the relationship between LOFT and the theatre school is more vital than ever.

Students and Children

Jean was very supportive of the students and their kids. One time she bought a playpen for a staff member’s daughter, since they were working in the same office space. She would often run around and play with Tony Abram’s nephew, Dom, and later in the years with Peter Fleming’s daughter, Katie. 

Swear Jar

I’m sure you can already tell what this is about from the title, but believe it or not, Jean made a swear jar. At the time, students would use swear words so frequently in almost every sentence and as an adjective to describe things, she had to put some courtesy back into the classroom. If a student swore, they would have to put a quarter or more into the jar. After every year, Jean would donate the money to a charity. I asked her how many trips she had to make or how full the jar got; she remembers that it was a decent amount. The swear jar rule was intact for about 10 years. 

Jean is quietly enjoying her life somewhere on the globe, but I know she will always answer the phone if I need help with anything.