BIZBASH CHICAGO LAUNCH PARTY

I designed costumes for Collaboraction for the BizBash Chicago Launch Party. BizBash is an event design publication and they've just opened a Chicago section on their website. The event was all white.

We performed a flash mob dance piece to Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet" (click here for Bjork's music video), the same dance piece as at After Dark at the Art Institute - Ed Ruscha. The main difference was in the costumes. I had dressed the After Dark dancers as 1960s gas station attendants - for BizBash the dancers were dressed as the caterers, cooks, and waiters at the event, all in white. There was also a core group of five performers dressed as angelic guests. They created a tableaux at the main entrance.

MANIFEST 2008

'Wire and Ice' dresses with screen tutus and headdress

The theme of this year's Manifest Spectacle was dreams. This gave us a lot of room to design some really creative costumes! Our line up included three 5 foot diameter floating jelly fish, over-sized animals being lead on a leash by children, businessmen with tentacles for feet and hands, and many others.

'Trashabethans' in the parade line up

Within the theme of dreams we wanted to use reusable materials. We used trash bags as the fabric of our Trashabethan costumes. We created our trash bag fabric by adhering trash bags to a muslin backing. The hoop skirts, bustles, panniers, and women's headdresses have a chicken wire and bamboo understructure and are tagged with strips of trash bag. Despite the wire and wood understructure, these costumes are very light and manageable. The men's epaulettes are made in a similar style. The ruffs were made with old Manifest fliers from years past.

The Trashabethan men wore chicken wire and mache deer head mounted on bicycle helmets.

My design sketch of the 'Trashabethan Deer Head Men'

View the Manifest 2008 video!

ARTICLE FROM COLUMBIA COLLEGE'S theLoop

I was featured in theLoop, Columbia College Chicago's newspaper, last week. I work as Columbia College's Spectacle Costume Shop Manager and Costume Designer.

Manifest, Columbia's end of the year celebration, was Friday, May 16th - I'll be posting photos and sketches of the designs I made for the parade.

Chicago's Pride Parade is the next event I will be designing for at Columbia.

Here's the link to the full article:
A Behind-the-Scenes look at Manifest Spectacle Costume Designs

AFTER DARK AT THE ART INSTITUTE - ED RUSCHA

I designed costumes for another After Dark at the Art Institute with Collaboraction and The Art Institute of Chicago.

Ed Ruscha is most well known for his pop iconic photographs.

The exhibit at the Art Institute: 'Ed Ruscha and Photography' focused on his earlier photographs and the photo books he created. Much of his earlier work is comprised of photos of cityscapes, gas stations, parking lots, and city streets.

For the event we created a large scale choreographed dance on the grand staircase to Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet". A dancer dressed as a museum janitor mopped the stairway landing while listening to head phones. 20 gas station attendants appeared and began polishing the railings and scrubbing the staircase. As the refrain picked up, they leaped into dance in a very theatrical Buzbee Berkley style.














I dressed the gas station attendants in neutral and iconic navy blue pants, blue collared shirt, white socks, and black shoes. Each had an orange rag, which was used to polish the stair case, and an orange name badge - all saying "Ed". Many of the women wore orange hair bandannas.

To create focus and to contrast the blues of the gas station attendants surrounding him, I dressed the janitor in tan coveralls and completed the costume with the orange accessories and "Ed" name badge.

Here's the link to Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet" music video.

'DRIVING MISS DAISY' - Jeff Nominated Costume Design!

Driving Miss Daisy is a memory play. Set designer Angie Miller used old picture frames to adorn the neutral flats that made up the stage. The car was suggested with two simple benches, and other key furniture pieces were brought in for the living room and office scenes.

I wanted the costumes to aid in the journey between an adversarial relationship to life-long friendship between Daisy and Hoke. I began the design process by creating a color plot that tracked Daisy, Hoke, and Boolie through their developments in the play. Daisy and Hoke begin the play at either end of the color spectrum. Hoke is in a dark suit, and Daisy is in a yellow floral day dress. As the catalyst of their friendship, Boolie lives in the middle of the spectrum wearing browns and tans.

As the play and their relationship progresses they move toward each other on the color spectrum, Daisy's colors mellow as she ages, and Hokes soften also. The script spans nearly 25 years, so many costume changes (as well as makeup and hair changes) had to be made to invoke the change in time and age.

In the final scene the characters and their costume's colors have grown very close to one another.

Here are some reviews:

'Driving Miss Daisy' Gets a Tune Up at First Folio - Daily Herald
First Folio Switches Gears to Present Pulitzer Prize-Winning 'Driving Miss Daisy' - The Doings Hinsdale
'Driving Miss Daisy' Fulfills Satire, Sentiment - The Doings Hinsdale
'Driving Miss Daisy' - ChicagoCritic.com

I have been nominated for a Jeff Award for my Driving Miss Daisy costume design!

Photos thanks to David Rice.

'PIRATES OF PENZANCE'

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.

AFTER DARK AT THE ART INSTITUTE - EDWARD HOPPER

Several times a year The Art Institute of Chicago hosts After Dark at the Art Institute - an evening event centered around the current exhibition with live music, drinks, hors' dourves, and theatre by Collaboraction.

The current exhibit is a collection of Edward Hopper's work. Collaboraction created living replicas of some of Hopper's most iconic paintings. I dressed the actors to match the people they were portraying.

'JEEVES INTERVENES' - Jeff Recommended!

Jeff Recommended Jeeves Intervenes opened at First Folio Shakespeare Festival this weekend to full houses and rave reviews!

Jeeves Intervenes is a hilarious adaptation based on P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series.
Hapless Bertie Wooster is in the grips of his Aunt Agatha's talons as he becomes entangled in an unwanted engagement to the girlishly romantic Gertrude Winklesworth-Bode. Bertie's old prep-school chum, Eustace Bassington-Bassington, is caught deceiving his Uncle Rupert at the same time as he tries to win Gertrude as his own. ...and just as events seem beyond repair, Bertie's ingenious valet, Jeeves, smooths over all "misapprehensions" and dissipates any hard feelings.

While staying within the style and silhouette of the 1920s, I used the costumes to further the comedy of the play.

Jeeves is dressed in blacks, grays, and white in the unofficial uniform of an English valet.

Bertie and Eustace wear pin-striped suits, typical of young English men "cursed with too much money, too little character, and virtually no brain whatsoever" (as Aunt Agatha would put it.) Bertie's navy suit and red tie are brighter and reflect with bold contrast Bertie's attitude towards his life and duties, while the more unassertive Eustace wears a slightly nerdy green sweater vest and pale yellow tie under his gray suit.

'Jeeves Intervenes' is full of warm, vibrant, and lively characters set against a cold background. Gertrude is a very pink and girlish character with a very straight edge. For the first act, Gertrude is in a shorted pleated pink dress, a sparkly sweater and fur wrap.

I built a peachy-pink gown for Gertrude in the second act.
"Set designer Angela Miller's ice blue and snow white accents make Bertie's upscale, London flat suitably wintry, while costume designer Elsa Hiltner injects a shock of peach (for flirty Gertie) among the proper gray pinstripes." -from Barbara Vitello's review in The Daily Herald.

Aunt Agatha's clothing is as fussy as she is. I used high collars to illustrate Aunt Agatha's uptight view of social roles. I added a large high standing fur collar to Agatha's overcoat to aid in her dominating presence.

For both Aunt Agatha and Uncle Rupert I used line and styles from the turn of the century as well as the 1920s to influence their costumes. This helped to reflect their admiration for traditional values and family hierarchy.

Uncle Rupert arrives to London wearing a frock coat and top hat over his trousers, shirt, and vest. In the second act, as Rupert is on his way to a military reunion dinner, he enters in a kilt, and tail coat covered in military medals.

Here are some reviews for Jeeves Intervenes:
ChicagoCritic.com, 2/2/08 - 'Jeeves Intervenes'
Chicago Tribune, 2/19/08- 'Jeeves' brightens a dull winter
The Doings-Hinsdale, 2/14/08 -'Jeeves' is the next best thing to having your own gentleman's gentleman
The Daily Herald, 2/18/08 -First Folio pulls off sharp revival of comedy of manners
SteadstyleChicago.com - 'Jeeves Intervenes'
Windy City Times, 2/13/08 - 'Jeeves Intervenes'

Jeeves Intervenes runs through March 2 at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, IL. For tickets, and to see more photos, please see the First Folio website!

Photos thanks to David Rice.

'BOURBON AT THE BORDER'

I loved working with Eclipse Theatre and the artistic team for Bourbon At The Border! The show opened last weekend and runs through December 16th at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse in Chicago.

The play has many deep and interwoven themes, and one of the main themes is love through adversity- Charlie and May's devotion to each other, Rosa and May's friendship are tested yet remain intact. In my costume design I wanted to show the differences between the two couples: Rosa and Tyrone, and May and Charlie. Each of the couples had very different views of how to live their lives and what role their lives play in the world. I reflected Rosa and Tyrone's more carefree attitude towards life in the bright and contrasting colors I chose and more fashionable style of their clothing. They are both more engaged in their outward personae and images than May and Charlie.



Conversely, May and Charlie are inwardly reflective and are less open to the outside world, or even with themselves. May and Charlie's clothing were more comfortable in style, subtle and calming in color, and soothing in texture, with less thought towards 'fashion.'

'THE MADNESS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE: A LOVE STORY'

My first Chicago show - The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story just opened! Co-Founder of First Folio Shakespeare Festival David Rice wrote the adaptation of several of Poe's short stories, and it's been Jeff nominated for best New Adaptation.

I will also be designing Jeeves Intervenes at First Folio in January, and Driving Miss Daisy in the spring.

'THE KING AND I'

The King and I is a classical musical on a grand scale. With well over 30 actors in the cast of Western Washington University's production this summer, it was the biggest show that WWU has put on in many years. The show required grand costumes and colors that lived together on the stage in harmony - powerful but not overwhelming.

I always begin designing by creating a research book. I collect art, photos, historical sketches, and other images that help to illustrate the specific characters within the social, historical, and geographical setting of the play. The research I collect is both historical and emotional. This research book leads me to the overall concept for the costume design and individual design choices in my sketches.

After I created a research book like this for The King and I, I made a color plot. The director, Gregory Pulver, traveled to Thailand to study Thai culture, dance, and art shortly after we discussed the color plot. While he was traveling he collected fabrics that matched the color swatches I gave him. Many of the fabrics that Gregory bought in Thailand had gold threads woven into them or were printed with very ornate designs. These beautiful traditional fabrics looked amazing on stage, and gave the whole show a more magical appearance.

I shopped for other fabrics in Vancouver, BC's "Little Pakistan." The sari fabrics sold at many of the fabric stores in that area of the city had the same ornate qualities of the Thai fabrics.

The Siamese royal wives and children with Anna surrounding the dying King.

While the people of Siam were in deep, vibrant jewel tones I kept Anna Leonowens in calming blues and creams. In fact all the visiting British were in blues, whites, and pastel tones. I wanted to create a clear distinction between the two cultures at the beginning of the play.

As the play progressed and each culture learned more about the other the colors and silhouettes of the costumes came a little closer together. At the end of the play as Anna and Louis are preparing to leave Anna is wearing a traditional sash and Louis is in traditional Thai pants: panongs.

Anna reads a letter from the dying King as Louis, Prince Chululongkorn, and Lady Thiang stand by.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN NOMINATION

My design for It's A Wonderful Life has been nominated for Best Costume Design by the Bellingham Theatre Guild in their 2006-2007 season.

'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'