Once again this August I headed down to the Alex in Brum for Stage Experience 2018, this years production; Boogie Nights; The 70s Musical. Due to the refurbishments happening at the New Alexandra Theatre, we were situated in Wardrobe on the top floor, which I think was better than the dressing rooms we usually occupy as the room was bigger. For the first 3 days we organised the vast amount of costumes Jane had collected for the production onto rails, sorting a women's wear, men's wear and fancy dress rail ready for the cast to be costumed. As the cast came up we quickly realised we would need even more as each cast member needed 4 costumes; Daywear, Disco, Fancy dress and a wedding outfit. previously they have only needed 2 costumes each, this meant throughout the process we were bringing in more costumes almost daily. I made costume mood boards for the cast notice board so they could familiarise themselves with 1970s fashion. In addition to their 4 costumes certain groups of cast needed specific outfits for dance numbers, including sailor costumes and rock and roll skirts. This meant we had a hectic week but it was great fun styling colourful, clashing 70's outfits. We also made more than usual this year as we had to put flares into a fair amount of trousers, we made flare cuffs to put over the legs and arms and put flare inserts in modern trousers so they matched the period. I was more confident this year about helping Jane make garments. I made a bandeau top with fringe to match the hot pants we had styled on Isabella Kibble, playing principal character Debs. We chose a black stretch fabric with gold glitter pattern and I folded a wide rectangle of this into a tube and cased the top and bottom, threading elastic through the casing. I then found black fringing that I put around the bottom edge. Isabella loved the finished product and I was so pleased she was happy with her costume. We also worked out how to make a Princess Leia dress, which Jane then made for Melissa, playing principal character Trish. I watched the stagger through run to help me created a costume plot and change list for show week, once again taking charge of running wardrobe, which I was more informed about thanks to working on Fermented Honey. I printed out copies for me, Jane and Jane C in wardrobe, and all the makeup girls from UCB who again were helping us out, they were invaluable as we had lots of quick changes which included wigs. The change list meant Jane C could take charge of quick changes on stage left while I took charge of stage right. I detailed the scene, the character, what they were changing out of, what they needed to change into and where the change was happening on each sheet then highlighted all the changes happening stage left for her to follow. Having never seen any run throughs she did amazingly and we quickly picked up a routine for the show.
The first dress rehearsal was the most stressful part for me as it was the first time I could put my paper plan to the test, but from experiencing the dress rehearsal for Fermented Honey I was more prepared for things to go wrong, meaning it was easier for me to then sort them out for the next dress rehearsal because I was in a better place mentally to deal with mishaps. I also knew how to support the actors, who were of course stressing when things went wrong as I gave the same reassurance given to me on Fermented Honey. This showed I had also developed as a costume dresser as I was better equipped to support the actors personally as well as professionally and build a trusting relationship. The second dress the next day went much better and we were prepared for opening night that evening. I took care of the principal boys this year, with Jane's help taking care of Elliott, playing staring role Roddy, and me taking care of Jonah, playing principal character Dean. We also had 1-2 make up students each side of stage to help us with quick changes and wigs. I also pre set for the other boys but their changes didn't need assistance as they weren't as quick. By the last show we had our little routine down pretty well.
Though being a more hectic and costume heavy show this year I think it's been the best year for me as I took responsibility for running wardrobe on a full scale production and it went well, proving to myself I can do it on a professional level.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/review-boogie-nights-birminghams-new-15069889
http://www.blackcountryradio.co.uk/blogs/theatre/post/review-boogie-nights-at-the-new-alexandra-theatre/
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-alexandra-theatre-Birmingham/
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