'AFTERMATH' Reviewed by VARIETY

Signal Ensemble's Aftermath was reviewed in Variety earlier this week!

Aftermath is currently running at Signal Ensemble through January 23, 2011.  For my post on the show when it first opened in May, click here!

And here are some more reviews of the fall remount:
Review: Aftermath/Signal Ensemble by Brian Hieggelke for NewCity
Review: 'Aftermath': Internal Implosion Results in a Super Nova! by Kate Walsh for TheFourthWalsh.com

'AFTERMATH'

Aftermath is a new play about founder of the Rolling Stones Brian Jones' life, work, and early death written and directed by Signal Ensemble's Ronan Marra.

I designed costumes for the show, including portrayals of George Harrison, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, and, of course, Brian Jones.

The play is narrated by Brian Jones and seems to come from his memories. I wanted to limit costume changes, especially for Brian. I often feel that too many costume changes in memory plays can be distracting to the story. I chose key scenes and moments for the characters to change costume based on how necessary the costume was to the storytelling.

Costume designs for Brian Jones

One set of costumes that I felt was very important to the storytelling was Anita Pallenberg's ensembles. Costume was the perfect way to underscore Anita's relationships with Brian Jones and Keith Richards.

Anita Pallenberg's while seeing Brian Jones (left) and while with Keith Richards (right)

Costume designs for Keith Richards

Aftermath sold out the entire run just three days after opening! Luckily, we're remounting the production in November- so if you missed it you can get your tickets here.

Reviews:

"The lighting by Mark Hurni, costumes by Elsa Hiltner, sound by Anthony Ingram, props by Mary O'Dowd and videos by Jack Newell are just the icing on the cake of a production that has every detail covered." -Aftermath by Alan Bresloff for SteadStyle Chicago

'Aftermath' by Signal Ensemble: They've Got The Rolling Stones Under Their Thumbs by Chris Jones for The Chicago Tribune

'Aftermath' is Signal Ensemble's Jukebox Musical That Nails a Tricky Genre by Chris Jones for The Chicago Tribune

Review: 'Aftermath'/Signal Ensemble by Neal Ryan Shaw for Theatre for Newcity

'Aftermath' by Tom Williams for Chicago Critic

'Aftermath' at Signal Ensemble Theatre by John Beer for TimeOut Chicago

Life of Brian - A Rolling Visionary by Scotty Zacher for The Chicago Theatre Blog

Signal Ensemble Shows the 'Aftermath' of Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll by Jonathan Grabinsky for The Maroon

'GIFT'

GIFT, a new devised work by Sam Porretta, opens November 16th at Collaboraction. Previews begin tonight!

Use promo code 130 to get tickets at Collaboraction.org

Photos by Saverio Truglia

'THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO'

The Castle of Otranto, the theatrical adaptation by David Rice of the novel by the same name, is opening October 3rd at First Folio Theatre.

Here are a few costume sketches:

Matilda, Manfred's unwanted daughter, falls tragically in love with Theodore.

Manfred is ruled by a curse that was put upon his family.

Bianca, Jacques, and Diego - the bumbling, saucy servants.

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE FEATURES 'EL GRITO DEL BRONX'

Last Tuesday's New York Times included an article on Collaboraction's money-back guarantee for their latest show El Grito del Bronx.

A Chicago Production Lures the Wary with a Money-Back Guarantee by Erik Piepenburg for the New York Times, September 1, 2009

This photo, taken by Saverio Truglia, was included with the article.

'EL GRITO DEL BRONX' - Jeff Recommended!!

I've designed costumes for El Grito del Bronx, opening this week at The Goodman's Owen Theatre.  El Grito del Bronx is being produced by Collaboraction and Teatro Vista, in conjunction with The Goodman Theatre.

This is the world premier of Migdalia Cruz's dramatic play. As Lulu prepares for her wedding, she reflects on her violent and abusive childhood, and the events that have drawn her and her brother, Papo, apart.

For tickets visit Collaboraction.org! The show runs July 17th through August 2nd.

View the online program.

Here are some reviews:

'El Grito del Bronx' by Hedy Weiss for The Chicago Sun-Times

'El Grito del Bronx' a Mixed Bag by Chris Jones for The Chicago Tribune

'El Grito del Bronx' by Kris Vire for TimeOut Chicago

'El Grito' Can't Quite Imbue Its Bloody Violence With Meaning, by Kerry Reid for The Chicago Reader

'El Grito del Bronx' (In English) by Randy Hardwick for ChicagoCritic.com

And, here are a few video clips from the production:

'CONSTRICTION' - SKETCHBOOK 2009

Constriction is one of the short plays in Collaboraction's annual short play festival SKETCHBOOK.

A gang of girls are way over their heads when they kidnap a teacher and she accidentally overdoses on laughing gas...

SKETCHBOOK 2009 - 'NEW AMERICAN FABLE'

Collaboraction's SKETCHBOOK 2009 - New American Fable opened last night to a packed house at Chicago's Building Stage! Seven new short plays and seven devised works were chosen to be part of this year's festival. There is a huge variety in the types of theatre, dance, mime, and movement pieces that make up this year's festival. I designed all sorts of costumes ranging from space suit liners and turn of the century migrant farmers to a WWI German Zeppelin pilot and a Harajuku inspired girl gang.

With over 200 artists involved in SKETCHBOOK 2009, the design process was extremely collaborative. Each of the individual pieces are all so unique, yet as a whole the festival needed a design that flowed through out - unifying the pieces into a collective work of theatre. I kept an eye of wonder in all of the costumes I designed. Something new and fresh, or slightly magical that gave a new perspective on what could be fairly ordinary. Since there is such a variety in performances I interpreted this differently for each piece.

In Para Carmen - a choreographed dance based on Lhasa de Sela's piece 'De cara a la pared' - I used a whimsical, light, and ethereal palette to create the early 20th century migrant farm worker's clothing. A light yellow bonnet shared by 3 dancers signified the passing of one woman's lifetime as it flashed before her in her death.

In What Am I Supposed To Be I created caricatured, storybook-like costumes for many characters, including a blushing bride, an experimental scientist, a convict on death row, and an American soldier. But unlike a storybook, these characters were all not what their costume suggested they were. The bride was nervous and unhappy, the scientist's experiment had gone horribly wrong, the convict was not just waiting for his death, and the soldier struggled with society's simultaneous expectations and neglect.

For Beatrice and Beau I coordinated outfits to create the picturesque cute couple. Both were completely dressed in very light colors - creating an other-worldly tableau. There was also a care-free ease to their costumes which contributed to the "roles" the characters were forced to play within the piece and highlighted their disillusionment at the end of the play.

Here's a short video from WGNTV in Chicago!

Tweets in Collaboractions' Sketchbook fun to follow'by Hedy Weiss for the Chicago Sun-Times

Theatre Review: Sketchbook Festival by Nina Metz for The Chicago Tribune

I will be posting more photos and information of my designs in the next few weeks.

Special thanks to my crew of wonderful and talented assistants:
Bethany Kelly
Kelly Coll
Kelsey Rhodes
Krystal Troutman
Stephanie McNair
Stephanie Paradiso

Don't miss SKETCHBOOK 2009 - New American Fable - there's no other theatre like it playing in Chicago. The shows run through May 10th. Use promotion code 165 for $3 off any tickets at Collaboraction.org.

'PARA CARMEN' - SKETCHBOOK 2009

Para Carmen is one of seven devised works in Collaboraction's annual SKETCHBOOK. Para Carmen is a dance piece created by Sandra Delgado, and is inspired by Lhasa de Sela's piece 'De cara a la pared'.

Michelle Nolan photographed the dancers last weekend.

Photograph courtesy of Michelle Nolan Photography.

SKETCHBOOK opens this weekend at Collaboraction, April 18th and runs through May 10th. Get your tickets now, and use promotion code 165 for discounts!

'SPACELAB 2030' - SKETCHBOOK 2009

This is the SpaceLab 2030 photo shoot with mime, actor, and devisor Dean Evans for SKETCHBOOK 2009 - New American Fable at Collaboraction. SKETCHBOOK is an annual festival of 14 short plays and devised works. It opens on April 18th - don't miss it - there will be a huge variety of theatre, dance, music, ...and costumes!

Check out this great time lapse video of the shoot from photographer Ryan Robinson.


SpaceLab 2030 from Ryan Robinson Studio on Vimeo.

SKETCHBOOK 2009 - New American Fable runs through May 10th at The Building Stage in Chicago.

Video and photo courtesy of Ryan Robinson Studio.

'JON' - Jeff Recommended!

Collaboraction's Jon opened last night at the Building Stage! This premier based on George Saunder's short story by the same name has gotten a lot of attention from the press.

Jon is set in the corporate facility where a group of teens have lived and worked since birth, knowing very little about the outside world around them. They rate designer clothing, fad energy drinks, and new teen-consumer items under the management of the facility staff.

Jon falls in love with Carolyn, both having grown up in the facility, and soon Carolyn becomes pregnant. With the prospect of raising a baby as a teen mother in the facility, Carolyn begins to question if the only life she has known would be the best for their child.

I created a bold color scheme to make the group of teens cohesive, and within the group I designed character-driven silhouettes that distinguished the teens as individuals. Kimberly has a punk streak, Ruth is a bit of a goth, Carolyn is the class-president-type, Josh has a little young republican in him, Brad is a video game 'nerd', and Jon is a stoner-jock. I used these labels loosely, as all of the clothing they wore (and the way they wore it) needed look as if it were designed for the mainstream American teen, but with an added edge. I drew a lot of my design inspiration and research from advertisements and store fronts.

The facility staff wore the office "uniform" of corporate America: khaki pants, blue collared shirt, a bland tie, cell phone holster on the belt, and key card lanyard.

Chris Jones reviews Jon on CBS Chicago - view the video here!

A video clip from Jon posted by video designer Mike Tutaj.

A second video clip posted by Mike Tutaj.

And, a third video clip posted to blip.tv.

An interview with George Saunders about the play Jon:
Consumed with Desire: Writer George Saunders Discusses His Collaboraction Collaboration, by Monica Westin from Newcity Stage

An article about Director/Adapter Seth Bockley's meetings with George Saunders from Collaboraction's website.

Collaboraction's 'Jon' Has Finger on Pulse of Our Robotic, Materialistic Society, by Hedy Weiss in the Chicago Sun-Times

Hyper-Marketed Worlds Rings True In 'Jon', by Chris Jones for The Theatre Loop at ChicagoTribune.com

'Jon' - Theatre Review, by Kris Vire for Time Out Chicago

'Jon,' by Tom Williams for ChicagoCritic.com

'Jon,' by Tony Adler for the Chicago Reader

The Medium Is The Mess: Collaboraction Adapts A "Genius" Short Story, by Jonathan Messinger from Time Out Chicago

Teens Try To Get Real In Fleshed-Out 'Jon', by Mary Houlihan for the Chicago Sun-Times

'THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS'

I was Associate Costume Designer for Book-It Repertory Theatre's production of Isabel Allende's novel The House of the Spirits, running in Seattle June 7-24.

As Associate Costume Designer I worked closely with Costume Designer Pete Rush. I collected research, made design choices, and created and altered costume pieces. Most importantly I guided the costume design through tech week after Pete left for the east coast due to prior commitments.

Maintaining the connection between the generations of women in the family was the most important design element. The play spans over 70 years and nearly five generations in three acts. Costumes were not only the main tool used to illustrate the passage of time, but also the key visual sign of the women's interconnections. Beginning with Nivea, and continuing to Alba's future daughter, the women were dressed in whites and creams. As each woman passed their knowledge and traditions down to their daughter they added a light blue scarf, shawl, or sweater over their white costume.

Reviews:

The Seattle Times: 'This old "House" opened a lot of doors for Isabel Allende'

The Seattle PI: 'Book-It's version of 'House of the Spirits' offers insight into Chile's own 9/11'

'THE SPINNING'

The Spinning opened at Balagan Theatre May 10th at the Capitol Hill Arts Center in Seattle. I designed and constructed the costumes for The Spinning, a new S&M musical and a modern love story written by Seattle's Dashel Milligan.

Collaboration is the most important part of creating theatre, and my favorite aspect of costume design. I have loved working on an original piece because the process of arriving at the final show was really a collaboration of all theatrical design aspects.

The Spinning was a timeless story and much of the action was set in an alternative reality. I didn't have the set restrictions of time period and place that normally accompany a script. This allowed me to use aspects of a variety of places and time periods to create a distinctive look for each character. Mood, tone, and line came first in my costume designs, and a through line of S&M wear kept the group of individual characters cohesive.

Here are some reviews:

From the Seattlest: 'The Spinning' @ CHAC:
http://seattlest.com/2007/05/11/the_spinning_chac.php

From the Seattle Weekly (Scroll down past the In The Kafka Colony review):
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-05-16/arts/in-the-kafka-colony-treats-all-things-kafkaesque-with-a-light-touch.php