Pirates of Penzance ran this weekend at North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, IL. This was the first high school show I have designed as a professional costume designer. There were nearly fifty students in the cast, including 27 'daughters'! 
I wanted to keep the world of the play bright and colorful, while at the same time creating contrast between the rough lives of the pirates and the innocence of the daughters. Like the most productions of Pirates of Penzance, I dressed in daughters in pastels. However, I kept the pastels vibrant and accented the colors of the daughters' skirts with slightly darker waist sashes. The pirates' color scheme was darker and more shadowed, but I chose jewel-tones that brought vibrant color into their clothing. Frederic and The Pirate King were accented with white - a color not seen on any of the other pirates. The police uniforms were royal blue, rather than the more realistic dark navy.Having so many actors in the cast posed certain challenges since I was working without an assistant or costume shop. I also knew that I would have to rent the police uniforms, and had to set aside most of the budget for the rental fee. The daughters wore elastic waist-banded skirts in a variety of pastels (some of which I made and others I borrowed), white high-necked blouses and waist sashes to conceal the elastic waistband in the skirts. I was able to pull all of the pirates' costumes with a few additions that I thrifted and shopped.
