Candide goes dumpster diving

It's been a while since I've posted any of my classwork. These two are from the first round of Candide sketches for David's class. All made from found objects and trash. The girl, Cunegonde, would be constructed out of wrapping paper, gift bows, etc. The gentleman, her brother Max, is made out of wallpaper and first place ribbons (as Candide gets the second best of everything, one assumes the best goes to Max). As part two of this project, I am building Max's costume. My wallpaper arrived on Friday, but before I was able to retrieve it from the main office, our secretary had left for the day. By the kindness of the props supervisor, I was able to get into the office this weekend and work on the cassock. Wallpaper's not as difficult to work with as you might think, except it rips as soon as you try to wear it.

Gravitational force and Walters Hall

"Each particle of matter attracts every other particle with a force which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them."

I wonder if this has anything to do with the difficulty of leaving my office even after all of my work is done...

Early Release

Tuesday nights are usually spent in the costume shop until 10pm doing shop hours. Apparently we are so far ahead on the current show that we were released an hour early. Too bad my dance designs have not been approved. The shop could start on those now without interfering with Scapin or Peace Prize. C'est le vie. The production manager from the dance program has yet to send me any budget information, so I can't move much further at the moment.

I am having trouble motivating myself for David's class, as usual. We presented our roughs for the entire musical of Candide (entire is a lie...we had 35 of roughly 70 costumes to design). After critiquing and encouraging he chose two costumes for us to build, one male and one female. This wouldn't be a concern if it weren't for three minor points:

1) These are Georgian garments--18th century panniers and frock coats. These dresses took three weeks for us to mock up in draping last semester.

2) We are building these from found objects, meaning mostly paper. In addition to coming up with the pattern, most of us will be making yardage of material out of products such as newspaper, magazines, jello boxes, etc. I did luck out on one--wallpaper already comes in decent sized pieces; however it will take several hours to prepare the magazines for the dress. Tape spray adhesive or rubber cement?

3) We have two weeks. In addition to full color renderings of all 35 costumes of course.

It is a fabulous project and I look foreword to doing it. I just don't believe David fully thinks out the projects. He himself cannot sew nor drape, which makes me doubt he realizes how time consuming this project will be. I will be keeping an hourly log. At least I have the pannier pattern already from last semester. I'll be sure to post pictures of the muslin from draping next to the magazine concoction from David's class.

Lonesome West

Last night was preview of Lonesome West. Certainly in the running for best show of the season against Mud. Funny how both of Rutgers better shows were directed by the students...

The show was visually pleasing, though at times hard to understand. The men playing Valene and Coleman did a fabulous job maintain their accents, unfortunately the accents were not that easily understood. And when you have as large of an English as a second language community as we do, this tends to be a bit of a problem. I ended up explaining a good portion of the plot to two of our designers at intermission.

The costumes worked very well, despite the shift away from the designer's more stylized punk feeling to a more traditional Irish look. Girleen remained very punked out, but her character can play this very easily. The set on the other hand, while very beautiful, it looked like it belonged to a different show. Yes, the house was appropriately worn down and dilapidated, but during every blackout your focus was pulled to a beautiful hillscape/mountainscape painted above the acting area. It didn't seem to fit. And the landscape does not hold enough importance in the script for it to be the focus of every scene change. That and the neon orange stove. The color made it seem as though the designer were attempting to make some deeper statement or metaphor by have such a vibrantly colored stove on the set. No. She really chose that color because it was odd, something Valene might be able to afford. Why not have it be an existing stove color, like mustard yellow or avocado green? Instead you couldn't take your eyes off of it, the brightest piece of anything on the stage. It distracted from the actors, who were already struggling to hold your attention with their garbled dialects. A shame really, this was a professional scenic designer hired for the production.

The pace felt a bit slow and the acting a bit flat. It was a fabulous show, but between the dialects, the stove, and the pace I had a hard time becoming engaged. I'm sure the pace will pick up. I'll try to see it next weekend before it closes to see the improvements. I'm thrilled to see our student direcotrs and actors bring such solid work to Rutger's, all nitpicking aside.

Release the Mind Because the Body's Stuck in Dog Pose

Well, not quite the yoga class of doom, but not as much of a workout or a stretch as I was hoping for either. This was a mixed level class, so once we all find our groove all may go a little more smoothly. I have discovered, however, that since I've stopped doing Tai Chi on a regular basis (i.e. never since I've left Point) I have lost a substantial amount of my balance. I used to be able to hold a pose similar tree pose for upwards of twenty minutes without faltering. Now five minutes is a stretch. But thanks to Susan Gingrasso, I will always know where my COG is.

The beautiful jacket for Lonesome West is no longer quite as beautiful. Distressed. Like its been worn for 15 years. It better look that old under the stage lights tomorrow. I think I may stop by the tech rehearsal and take a gander.

A little bit of extra work is coming my way. My roommate discovered I work with clothes, and her sister is in a wedding tomorrow. A dress needs to be altered. And another round of rehearsal skirts to make for the actors. Yea for cash on hand. That gives my credit card a bit of a breather.

Back to the Grind

Today marks the end of the first week. My abs are still sore, despite not going to the class yesterday afternoon. Instead, I watched pretty dancers move around. Paulette's piece has come further along than I thought. They have all of the material they will be working with. And she chose music over the break. Now it is a matter of making all of the pieces fit in a unified manner. So far the costumes will be of the Russian folkwear persuasion. A nice contrast to the fitted, colorful, modern costumes Julia wants for her piece. And a peak in a rehearsal for a restaged dance revealed beige and cream pants suits. The concert should have a nice variety. I still have yet to hear about the third piece I am costuming.

To make up for yesterday's toning class, I'm attending yoga today. No partner this time around.

And I've finished all of the work thrown my way this week, except for David's 14 sketches. But I have a knack for putting off his work.

And the beat goes on (dada da da)

Second day of classes and I'm already sticking around in the building until 10pm at night. Blah. I shouldn't complain...in two days time I've only had one class. Corsets at that. Too bad We took measruements of ourselves today to alter the patterns with. At the rate I've been moving the last two weeks it may be to big by the time I finish it in March.

I've comminted to a resolution of working out. Yesterday was my first body sculpting class--a basic 45-minute aerobic and strength training class during the lunch hour. My abs are still sore, though I didn't notice until I rolled off of my stomach this morning (I never sleep on my stomach). I attribute the pain in my thighs to the sheer amount of walking I've done in the last week. I discovered it is much easier to walk from school to home than vice versa, and it's quicker than waiting for the bus (half hour verses 45 minutes). I do not believe it is only a mile and a half jaunt--it feels like three by the time I'm home. Mondays and Fridays I have a standing Yoga date with Rebecca, a fellow classmate. Thursdays I was hoping to do the scuplting class again, but alas, that is the only chance I have to watch a dance rehearsal. Man it feels better to move around.

I finally finsihed my project for Lonesome West. The biker jacket out of plaid wool. It's cetianly Ellen's favorite piece out of what she's designed. She didn't even notice the mistery seam that resulted from me needing to cut out a hunk of the garment to replace a welt pocket I cut in the wrong direction. Fabulous job matching the plaids to hide the mistake, don't you think? The concensise is that this coat was the most challenging proejct. It would have been done two days earlier had it not been for the pocket mishap.

Slowly the dance concert is progressing. While one piece is. I may even have some rough sketches for it by next week, but I have yet to here any music. Still, Pari Passu is much further along than the other piece. Unless something miraculous happened during break. Best be getting home. I have to teach makeup design tomorrow.

Rain, rain go away

Today I was witness to a siege upon New Brunswick of the wind and the rain, dashing all hopes of getting anything accomplished. The gray day turned into a windy, rainy night as evening came around. Supposedly the rain will freeze into a nice coating of snow by the morrow. This lends itself well to the lethargy and melancholy, as I had cloistered myself to my room for the day before I discovered the weather. I had hopes of cleaning the kitchen and perhaps chipping away at David’s homework. Instead I found myself passing between reading spurts of a new book and bouts of sleep, broken by a few phone calls. It was wonderful to hear from some many people, all so far away.... though it did nothing to motivate me. Instead I sunk lower into my lethargy, poured another class of wine and began to type an entry to post on the blog in the morning. I promise my posts will become more regular once the semester is underway.

I have yet another movie to post on, in addition to the already late Narnia and Casanova. I’m sure the need to procrastinate will result in these posts sooner or later, but for the moment you must wait. The most recent viewing was Friday: Walk the Line. I’ve been hesitant to like Reese Witherspoon, but I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by this one. And I’ve a fondness for Johnny Cash ever since my sister spent one summer up north and brought “Ring of Fire” back with her.

<>This last week was slightly more eventful than last week. The work on Lonesome West is coming to a close. I’ll probably be the last one done; though this wouldn’t be the case if it weren’t for a misplaced zipper and a welt pocket incident. The mantra measure twice, cut once applies to more than just the scene shop, and would have saved me from matching plaids to correct my mistake.

We had a much more social week as well. Not only did I go out on Friday night with our shop supervisor and a fellow student; Wednesday night the costume shop planned a heritage potluck. The end result was more of a bring-a-dish-you-like potluck than anything overtly cultural, but we did have a sprinkling of ethnic flavors from spring rolls and fried noodles to stroganoff and latke. Jell-O salad and deviled eggs proudly represented the Midwest as well. Sadly no green bean casserole and several people lamented the lack of cheese curds after I had made such a fuss about them earlier last week. I miss good cheese. While occasionally I do find a nice fresh mozzarella, it’s just not the same as well-aged cheddar or squeaky curds. Nonetheless, the meal was announced a huge success and plans have been set for another. Of course we all over did it and had plenty of leftovers for the next two days.

Two days remain before we are back to the grind. I find myself looking foreword to David’s class and corsetry. The next four months should breeze by.

Slow week of work and sleep

I can't say much is going back in New Jersey yet. Classes don't won't start for another week yet..we are only here early to work on the production that opens a week after the second semester begins. In a way these two weeks make us feel like every other 9-5 employee out there. No homework to dread in the evenings.

Despite the free time, I can barley shag the feelings of depression and loneliness when I head home in he evenings. Break was too short; I didn't manage to visit everyone I wanted, let alone actual see everyone I was hoping to. Though it was pretty impressive that so many of the Pointers managed to get together for those two days.

In the evenings I have David's homework to work on. Candide, the musical constructed and designed out of trash and found objects. I must say I have a pretty impressive list of garbage I plan on using for these costumes, but I would love an extra idea or too. Got a trash idea, please send it my way. Also, I've got a book to curl up with every night. Currently it is Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger. A bit predictable and formulaic, but a good read nonetheless. This book and her other, the Devil Wears Prada, is Ellen's attempt to introduce me to the fashion and socialite circles. Apparently it is unbearable for her to imagine a costume designer up on her haute couture. To quote Ret Butler: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. I prefer Shakespeare and Chekhov for a reason. Besides, even in modern shows (not TV and Hollywood mind you) do you run into a designer wardrobe. Anyway, it's thrilling to be able to get a little bit of personal reading done before I have to dive back into the world of the script.

Tonight I will be seeing Casanova, bringing the total number of films I have yet to critique up to four. If I wait any longer, I probably won't be able to give Producers, Memoirs, and Narnia their due. I still have time. Maybe I'll manage a review or two before I leave tonight.

Free at Last

So I've been horrid at keeping my promises of reviewing the movie and the play, but as Wednesday morning I have little to do but wait for Andrew to get off of work and hem or haw over my portfolio photos, I will get around to it. But I am officially done for the semester. Review went well. They still love me (though no grades are posted as of yet). Everyone was pleased with Audrey and thrilled that I took a chance to incorporate the ink style I was using in my drawing class on a set of sketches for the costume design class. (Ballsy, as David put it) And Mitch even went so far as to say he hopes to be there when they swear me into United Scenic Artists. As thrilling as it is to be given praise such as this, I can't help but feel like their pulling my leg. I rarely receive honest criticism, even when I asked outright. I'm here to learn and improve, not have my ego stroked.

Nothing left to do but celebrate tonight, pack tomorrow and get on a plane. Cheers!

Like father like daughter

Now that I've had time to sort through my photos (and decide that I want to see the other shots taken that night), I can post a few more. Here we have daughter and transgender father. Amazing how similar they ended up looking.

And for those who have waited

Photocall has just ended. Here's a taste of what I've done (no this is not the transgender character, this is the bride. I'm good, but I'm no miracle worker).

Opening Night

It has arrived. Tonight the show officially opens, and as I skipped out on preview, I feel slightly obligated to attend tonight. Please there is snaking a schmoozing do to afterwards. And always thanks to pass around (especially to my fabulous wardrobe crew).

Last night I did skip out, due to the fear of an inappropriate crowd. Many of the actors were nervous as well, some to the point of wanting to cancel a preview performance. But you need a first audience, regardless of how immature the previewers may be (all of the Mason Gross Theatre Students, both graduate and undergrad--shocking to think of a college crowd as immature). By all accounts, the show went off wonderfully. They laughed when they needed to and reacted less to the actors and more to the characters--a first, especially given that these are their peers on stage, not to mention one gentleman is in a dress and another does a strip dance. I was told Rico carried himself with such dignity that it would have been challenging to laugh at him.

Instead, I viewed Parson's dance company again, although only 3 of the 6 pieces were ones we had already viewed. It was an interesting experiment: seeing how well some dance worked from the front row verses the balcony. David's Wolfgang piece was much more successful from afar. Granted, his costumes were beautiful, but at a distance they were not as distracting (never, ever put shiny burgandy velvet panties on your dancers unless you want to call attention to their butts and midriffs when they twirl--they should have been in matte leotards underneath the bodices and skirts). Caught was just as effective from the balcony, though it took a second longer for my eyes to adjust to the strobe light this time. Hands was better up close, but the dancers also felt slightly off during that piece. William Ivey Long's costumes for Scrutiny were the most boring out of the bunch. Effective, yes, but with that name you expect a little more glitzy and showy than black tank tops and black pants. David's piece to the Dave Matthew's Band was run of the mill for dance and costumes. Ellen's right--the clothes (modern) were a 50 year old gay man's interpretation of what is young and hip. They all looked fabulous in their jeans though. I was glad I went though.

Employed

Well, there is one giant weight off of my chest. I receved a call from the production manager at APT, called him back with dates, and agreed on a salary. A contract is in the mail--I will be back in Spring Green from May 16-Aug 19 working with people I love, getting a wage I agree with, building for shows I prefer (no modern, thank god!) and living close to home. Win-win all around, though the head of our design program is less than thrilled that I am considering going back...apparently this is the time I should be whoring myself out to several theatres instead of creating a stable relationship with one. I figure, I'll be whoring myself out for most of my career, why not try to establish myself in one location as well? C'est la vie I guess.

I have some complaining to do about tech for Audrey as well, but I want to see how tonight goes first. Costumes are fabulous. Done as far as I'm concerned. The director loves them, the shop supervisor and my professor pointed out weaknesses, but found the costumes sucessful on the whole. And I could not have asked for a better costume crew. It's the lighitng designer that is the problem. We'll see how tonight goes.

Let Tech Commence

Dress rehearsals have begun...as have the headaches. No major problems yet. All of the costume changes are going smoothly and I have a wardrobe crew with enthusiasm and cool heads. A pure joy to work with. Most of the changes are notes that can be fixed during shop hours. A few suit alterations which may take a bit of time, but again, nothing too major. However, we have only done Act I. Act II has a few very fast quick changes, but fewer costumes in general...ones that I'm more pleased anyway. But in the meantime...I have managed to draw for myself. I little punk girl named Rooster. I think she's too overtly sexy for her own good. Listening to Gwen Steffani and seeing previews for Aeon Flux has put me in an odd place artistically. Or maybe I'm just tired of making women out of men.

Bagel Saturday and Glutton Thursday

If this holiday has shown me nothing, I have seen how wasteful our society is. How do we celebrate the bounty and blessings of having enough to eat? By stuffing ourselves stupid and throwing away the leftovers. I had the opportunity to witness this phenomenon twice over. Thanksgiving day, of course, but again today, on Bagel Saturday.

Bagel Saturday is a tradition of the Rutgers costume shop. The day before first dress, all of the shop assistants come in to finish the work for the show. We gather around 9am to eat bagels, fruit, cheese, and whatever other munchies our professor, fellow students, and shop supervisor may provide. By 10 o'clock we usually get down to work, taking frequent breaks throughout the day to peak into the conference room for more food. This continue until all of the work is done. The longest bagel Saturday I've been to so far was Doll's House--8:30 pm. We just missed that deadline--most of the work was done by 7:50 tonight.

But food was wasted. Sure, the loaves of bread, bagels, fruit and some of the salad was divided up among the other students to take home, but the soup, which did not go over well with most of us, was dumped down the drain. Perfectly edible, but an acquired taste. Is it a coincidence that the Asian students tend to be the least picky and thus least wasteful?

Thursday, despite the glut, was a very good Thanksgiving. We cooked a la A&P Supermarket. By we I mean, Ellen and our two Korean classmates. A lot of food for four people, but we ate well, divided the food and are still eating well. A burnt pie ended up in the garbage, as did the congealed remains of the stuffing and the partially picked apart carcass of the turkey. I could have rescued more meat if I tried.

While I enjoy spending such holidays with friends, I certainly miss my family (and soon to be family).

Anarchy

Paper's done. I have a decent start on David's homework. Show's in a reasonable place. And I will be stuffing my face with Ellen and two Koreans on Thursday. Boston Market was sold out of turkey dinners in a twenty mile radius. I'm not sure how that happens. I'll be able to get my replacement driver's license tomorrow after our shop hours. Things are finally coming together. Now the question is whether to sleep tonight, or stay on top of things.

The image is courtesy of Ellen...it looks as though Lonesome West will have a slightly punk feel.

Preview? Two Weeks? Ha!

Two weeks to preview. And I don't have to go to the East Village to find a new accessory for our male dancer. Nor do I have to cry over miles of poorly pleated silk organza. Or second guess the overall look of the show. Everything has arrived in the shop (minus the tuxes coming in on Tuesday). Budget is no longer an issue with so little left to buy and all of the returns. Last round of fitting on Tuesday and then, after the turkey induced stupor, we go into tech. I'm all a-tingle. After the show closes, there is only a portfolio review and a flight. Two weeks of family and friends (and a whole lot of fiance).

And I'm taking the evening off to see Harry Potter.

Never-ending pleats

Today I became the bearer of bad news. It is a bit of a thrill actually. First the bomber that $&@*ing bomber jacket. It could be leather or it could be grey, but not both. That and the idea of grey scale to make a person appear to be part of a different world (or in this case a figment of the character's imagination--I don't know about anyone else, but my figments aren't grayscale--full blown color with detailed tattoos, thank you very much) doesn't work. And the budget restrictions of course. We're pushing a cushion of about $200 now. I need to save some for tech, and for dry cleaning.

The director was very accommodating in this situation.

Bad news #2: Promise me if you drape or build a garment you actually look at the rendering or ask what fabrics to use. Our top stitcher in the shop (also one of the best designers in the program at the moment) did her own thing and had to redo the waist on her dress. I thought she was going to kill me when I pointed that out.

Bad News #3: Pleats. Pleats gone haywire. The wedding dress is suppose to have a petticoat/ underskirt with three tiers of tightly pleated organza. Pleating that apparently cannot be done beautifully in our shop with our equipment. So bad news for me. With no budget left, we cannot send it into the city to be professionally pleated. With no budget left, we cannot buy new fabric. I could come up with an alternative petticoat. Or go over budget. Either way, the poor theater practice student (i.e. practicum) spent four hours pleating fabric that will have to be undone.

Bad News #4: Maybe there wasn't any more. I just felt like the dark storm cloud all day today.
On the bright side, I slept for ten hours last night and am second guessing my designs less.

Sunrise, Sunset

I witnessed both today. It's very disturbing how dark it is and how late the sun actually rises, even after day light savings ends. I don't think the sun peaked its head until almost 6:30. But it certainly got bright quickly when it did come up.

Thanks to the shenanegans and distraction provided by a fellow costume major, I made it through the night intact, though battle weary. It took a while for the effects of the midnight diner run to wear off. Diner food seemed like a good idea at the time...

David's class went well. Still think he's too linenant on my work. I know this project was well below par for me, yet I manage a high grade. I dispise the favoritism that seems to occur with certain professors. At least David gives honest feedback, regardless of the grade. Nine full color renderings for the first scene of Awake and Sing by Clifford Odets for next week. If I can finish reading the play tonight I'll be in a good spot. If I manage six hours of sleep all the better.

Third round of fitting with our actor palying a woman today. Without the aide of the shop supervisor. One of the new grad students is lacking in basic stitching abilites and it shows in the dress he tried today. It's frustrating to see a decent mock up of a garment progress into a trainwreck like that. Especailly with the shop supervisor's eagle eyes missing. His other items went well, but I've reached the point in the process when I begin to second guess everything and see the limitations of budget, time and expereince take their toll. But on the bright side, three dresses (two of them the wedding dresses) were cut today, the second major round of fitting sis just around the corner and only accessories (and a grey leather bomber jacket) need to be hunted down.

Things are looking up, as frustrating as life is. I'm sure the rest of the week will go swimmingly, until Sunday night when I find myself still painting in the office at five in the a.m. And I will be seeing two Moliere pieces nect Saturday. Which means I need to stay on top of thing for the rest of the week.