This year I have been back with Bournemouth Musical Theatre Productions for their latest production, 'The Wizard Of Oz' back at the Regent Centre in Christchurch!
It was a fantastic production, with flying, pyrotechnics and multiple quick changes.
While I did make a couple of things again this time for the production - Glinda's Crown and the Tree Dresses - the majority of the costumes were hires and my primary job was wardrobe mistress, and also in this case in charge of make-up.
On to the making aspect before the get-in!
Glindas crown
I made the main shape of the crown from acetate sheets, attaching them together with a glue gun. To make the silver to pink effect I mixed acrylic paint with PVA glue and used a sponge for a soft effect as I wanted the shine to be subtle. It was requested that the crown had elements of the original echoed in it and so I created a front piece, a pointed raised section made of thick plastazote that I covered in a mix of rhinestones, fake pearls in different shades, crystals and pink beads as we wanted to have the pink of the dress subtly reflected in the crown, and then attached this to the front centre of the crown. I then used a mix of the same embelishments in curving lines across the front of the crown, sweeping out from the centre in rhinestones and pearls. To make sure the crown stayed put on Glinda's wig I lined the base of the crown with a headband I made from the same thick plastazote as the front section, and then edged the bottom in a row of pearls so that if it was visible it would be as another line of embellishment and not a thick line of white foam. To that end I also painted the edge to be attached to the now translucent acetate in the same silver/pink as the outside to camouflage it.
After a fitting with the performer the crown was slightly too small so I added a small section at the back.
Tree Dresses
The plain dresses were supplied by costumer Lisa Stead, and I was put in charge of making them look like trees! It was requested that there be some metallic in them, and there is a line in the scene they are featured in that references a munchkin maidens name 'carved in every tree' that due to the choreography needed to be in a specific place, but beyond that I was given free reign. I bought dylon fabrc paint in dark brown, green, gold and bronze and painted them on to create a bark effect including knots and a stylised heart with the B+N inside (this is a nod to Wicked). I stuffed the dresses with news paper to make sure they didn't stick together.
Backstage
Glindas crown
I made the main shape of the crown from acetate sheets, attaching them together with a glue gun. To make the silver to pink effect I mixed acrylic paint with PVA glue and used a sponge for a soft effect as I wanted the shine to be subtle. It was requested that the crown had elements of the original echoed in it and so I created a front piece, a pointed raised section made of thick plastazote that I covered in a mix of rhinestones, fake pearls in different shades, crystals and pink beads as we wanted to have the pink of the dress subtly reflected in the crown, and then attached this to the front centre of the crown. I then used a mix of the same embelishments in curving lines across the front of the crown, sweeping out from the centre in rhinestones and pearls. To make sure the crown stayed put on Glinda's wig I lined the base of the crown with a headband I made from the same thick plastazote as the front section, and then edged the bottom in a row of pearls so that if it was visible it would be as another line of embellishment and not a thick line of white foam. To that end I also painted the edge to be attached to the now translucent acetate in the same silver/pink as the outside to camouflage it.
After a fitting with the performer the crown was slightly too small so I added a small section at the back.
Tree Dresses
The plain dresses were supplied by costumer Lisa Stead, and I was put in charge of making them look like trees! It was requested that there be some metallic in them, and there is a line in the scene they are featured in that references a munchkin maidens name 'carved in every tree' that due to the choreography needed to be in a specific place, but beyond that I was given free reign. I bought dylon fabrc paint in dark brown, green, gold and bronze and painted them on to create a bark effect including knots and a stylised heart with the B+N inside (this is a nod to Wicked). I stuffed the dresses with news paper to make sure they didn't stick together.
Here they are before they headed onstage!
Backstage
My job as wardrobe mistress primarily consisted of finding and timing all changes, finding the quick changes, creating dresser plots, finding where were going to be required and organising dressers - and making sure the wardrobe of costumes was maintained throughout the run - as well as working out how many dressers were needed per change, allocating them, and deciding where the changes needed to take place. Just before the show, two of our dressers needed to leave the run due to extenuating circumstances which meant a last minute dresser search and thankfully the wonderful Alice, a first year from the Arts University Bournemouth, stepped in for the first four days of the run and the rest of the changes I managed to spread amongst the rest of the team.
There were some very quick changes in this production - not as fast as the 11 second change in Spamalot last year but close with the change from character shoes into tap shoes, then a run with the discarded characters around the back of the stage to set them on the opposite side in time for the dancers to change back into character shoes! The most interesting by far was the principals change from Tinman, Scarecrow, Lion and Glinda into their Kansas counterparts all at the same time - and with Dorothy having a quick change simultaneously! Glinda and Dorothy only needed a single dresser each but with the others having make-up to remove as well - and in two cases prosthetics - they all needed two people each on their changes, one to dress and one to assist with make-up removal. I covered Dorothy and a wonderful cast member with wardrobe experience assisted Glinda, while I had a dresser each from my team on each of the other principals changes as a member of the make-up team on each for make-up removal with the exception of the Scarecrow as his make-up was the simplest to remove. For the final three shows one of my make-up team was unable to make it due to prior commitments so for those shows my other make-up artist was able to paint the Tinman as well, and for make-up removal a volunteer cast member stepped in.
As wardrobe mistress I made sure to utilise the skills of everyone on my team, which meant allocating my MUA's to the characters best suited to their skill sets, due to time constraints I was the make-up artist for the Scarecrow, with my primary make-up artist on the Wicked Witch and the Lion, and my secondary MUA on the Tinman.
Here is the Scarecrow - in the dress rehearsal the cheek patch had been dark brown but under the stage lighting it made him look more zombie-like than a friendly character, so I lightened the area around the eyes and made the cheek patch a bright blue.
The Scarecrow;
The Next Show
Yes, the next show is not only planned but organised and advertised with auditions next week! Bournemouth Musical Theatre Productions are delighted to be doing 'Starlight Express' at the Life Centre in Winton, the 16th-18th of November of this year! I am equally delighted to be wardrobe mistress and also making some of the costume pieces, so look out for upcoming posts about that in the next few months.
