Tuesday 30 June 2015

A Bit of the 50's!

On Sunday night, my friend asked me the best place to get a circle skirt, 50's style, for a hen party at the weekend. There is nowhere about where we are to get one in person on any kind of budget and online the delivery was more likely to be some time next week, so I offered to make it! So off to the fabric shop yesterday afternoon.

Quirky as she is, in the very best way, this was the fabric chosen! She still wanted to go with the polka dot 'traditional' element but have it in a more fun way. And who doesn't love a good teapot?

The pieces ready to be made into a skirt!

This was a brilliant way to discover that I can make a full 50's style circle skirt to measurements in an afternoon! I decided to make the best use of the sunshine and hand sew the zip in and do the slipstitching to finish the waistband in the sun! Something about the 50's styles is very summery, or at least I think it is.
One of the things I find interesting about this type of skirt is the combination of hand and machine stitching, and how simple it is to make very effectively.
Pre-shortening

The finished skirt!

Hopefully she will be able to model it for me later this week before I hand it over. Fingers crossed!

Monday 15 June 2015

Goodbye to 'Oliver!'

So Saturday was the last day, a matinee and an evening show, followed by the get-out! I decided to work from the studio, as there were only two jobs to do before the first show started - the matinee show was for the understudies of Oliver and Dodger to have their chance and the Dodger coat for the understudy needed a pocket added to the inside, and another set of trousers needed to be patched, and had the standard assisting one of the ladies into her costume (corset training coming into play again) so it was a fairly relaxed run up to the show.! During the shows the standard issues and quick changes arose but nothing that couldn't be quickly fixed. The cast were all revved up and excited, and the audience reception was fantastic.
Between the two shows there were actually no repairs that needed to be done, but I had one job in preparation for the get out - costume designer Lisa had assembled the wardrobe and knew what belonged to where, but getting everything collected for cleaning/returning with such a large cast could have proven very time consuming at the end, so Lisa devised the idea of setting out bin liners on chairs in the studio (backstage) with signs for the type of garment for each bag, so I set about laying out the chairs, bags, and signs. With the costume changes that many of the cast had they finished with certain costumes and costume pieces at various points through the show and could then place them in the bin liners without taking extra time. This worked really well, and as there were several points during the show where I was without repairs or quick changes I spent the rest of the show folding the costume pieces in the bags to make sure they would pack down more neatly and smaller so that they could be transported more easily!
At the end of the show things got really busy for myself and Lisa, with the cast out of their finishing costumes, they were delivered to myself and Lisa, with the exception of the childrens costumes which one of the chaperones very kindly folded and sorted into piles and left them for us outside the dressing rooms (thank you again so much for that!). The adults dresses and coats were not put in bags, instead I asked the cast to lay them over the back of one of the chairs and they needed to go on coat hangers to be transported flat.
The get out for costume was relatively short due to the organisation - only just over an hour - but I stayed to try and help out with the get out of the set and equipment though there wasn't very much I could do the crew had it very much in hand!  
We managed the whole of the get out before midnight and all of us were pretty much ready to collapse by then but it was a really fantastic day, and a fantastic week with a wonderful show and cast and the songs are still stuck in my head! Bournemouth Musical Theatre are a brilliant company and definitely one to watch, if you're in the area when they're doing a show they are worth coming to see!

Thursday 11 June 2015

Second show down, three to go! And a tribute.

Tonight' show was another triumph! There were very few costume problems, only a few of the standard rips and tears (primarily trousers and skirts) all easily fixed, using my corset training, and assisting on the same quick changes as last night and it all went off perfectly.
 
Today also marks another event, the passing of THE Fagin, Ron Moody, that so many of us grew up watching in the original musical film that made Fagin such a beloved character and lovable rogue, so Bournemouth Musical Theatre dedicated tonight's show to him.
 
It was strange being in a theatre during a heat wave, the last three years I have been on outdoor productions, in 2012 for the Olympic opening ceremony at Weymouth, the year before last it was Romeo and Juliet, and last year for Landance! It is interesting how quickly and how much the theatre heated up, and concerning for those in the cast with thick layers of costume, but thankfully with everyone keeping hydrated and being sensible about it there were no incidents.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Final Run!

Tonight was the last run before opening night, and as to be expected was full of last minute breaks and adjustments! The majority of my time was spent repairing last minute tears, holes and issues (tripping hazards and failing buttons), ironing, and myself and costume designer Lisa 'dirtied' the workhouse costumes predominantly with black and grey eye shadow.
 
The next job will be to repair the adults costumes that were damaged during the second act of the run, for which I have a to-do list for tomorrow! The cast is sounding fantastic and the set looks incredible, it is a brilliant show.

Sunday 7 June 2015

Oliver continues!

Today was the start of the final week, that's right, the final seven days of the show have arrived! The tech is tomorrow, the dress run on Tuesday, and then we're into the show, so its an exciting, stressful and very busy time.
Today was all about the last minute issues with costumes, all entirely the usual last minute tweaks and problem solving, primarily adjusting fastenings and assigning the last of the costumes. One of the biggest jobs today was making 'false' pockets for the front of a waistcoat, as it was noticed in last weeks rehearsal that the false pocket on the current jacket needs to have a pocket watch fit into it and it wouldn't fit. So today I was in charge of making larger false pockets out of black satin fabric provided by the costume designer Lisa. I made them to fit over the current false pocket top to create a clean and professional effect.
To make the false pocket I cut the black satin to double over, measuring the width against the current pocket tops, with a seam allowance on all sides. As satin is difficult to work with (due to being a slippery fabric with a tendency to fray) I left a large seam allowance. I turned in the seam allowance, pinned, and slip stitched round the edged to make sure it was a neat edge and clean lines, then slip stitched the pocket tops on, with the base flush to the original pocket and extending upwards.

They need a good press, which they are having tonight, but they are the right size for the pocket watch now and that is one of the more time consuming jobs ticked off the list. I have it on good authority that we will be dirtying up the workhouse costumes on Tuesday, a fun aspect of breaking down.


Tuesday 2 June 2015

Its a fine life with 'Oliver!'

Yes, I included a pun in the title of this post. I am delighted to be on board as wardrobe mistress for Bournemouth Musical Theatre Production's latest production - Lionel Bart's 'Oliver!' at the Regent Centre in Christchurch!
I attended the first dress run on Sunday, a staggered run as this was the first time with all the costumes and my first chance to meet the cast, crew, and get to know the costumes as well. The show is wonderful, the cast very talented and I am very excited to see the shows reception next week on the stage.
The costumes were all assembled on Sunday, though and most assigned with the exception of some of the accessories and the childrens workhouse costumes. Sunday's tasks - aside from learning the show and the costumes - were assisting with last minute alterations, assigning the workhouse costumes, and sewing in labels - a must in any costume department with a large cast and a number of virtually identical costumes. There is little in the way of quick changes, mostly it will just be making sure everyone has what they need, dealing with any last minute repairs or alterations and packing things down at the end - but we shall see what the show brings!