Sajata Epps with her son Dasan.

Have you noticed a tall, striking black woman with blue hair purposefully striding through the All Stars 42^nd Street Center? That person is none other than the wonderfully creative volunteer costume designer Sajata Epps. Sajata, who has designed costumes for several Castillo productions over the past four years, was the Costume Designer for the Youth Onstage! production of Crown Heights.

Outside of the All Stars, Sajata has her own clothing and accessory design business, called Sajata E. She also designs costumes for school pageants and parades often with only 4 1/2 weeks to make as many as 25 costumes (occasionally with help from talented teachers).

Sajata is featured in an upcoming documentary called: New Yorkers in the City, Why they choose the lives they live. This is part of a trilogy of documentaries made by Dree Andrea, the other two being Life Underground, about people living in the tunnels of the transit system and DoorMen & Their Interactions. Cameras have already been following Sajata for a year and will likley be shooting her at All Stars soon.

Sajata’s route to being costume designer for Crown Heights began when the All Stars’ Volunteer Director, Gail Elberg, contacted her about Youth Onstage!, the new All Stars youth program designed to introduce young people to the many activities and disciplines of professional theatre. Since helping young people is something close to Sajata’s heart, she contacted Dan Friedman, the new Artistic Director of Youth Onstage!, to learn more. Dan was happy to bring her on board and asked Sajata if she could, in addition to designing the costumes, also teach the young people about costume design as well.

She jumped at the chance!

If you would like to find out more about volunteer opportunities with the All Stars, contact Julie Lenner at jlenner@allstars.org or call 212-941-9400 ext. 336.