The Stinky Cheese Man

South Coast Repertory, 2013-14 Season

Designed by Ann Closs-Farley 

The last show at SCR has finally come to an end. And what a doozy. 

Various dyeing, building of ridiculous hats, animal heads, ANOTHER wisk (How many wisks can one person build in a single season? They're not very common.) and MANY other random things! 

Click photo to view the next. 

Tartuffe Article Feature!

Take a look at some of the amazing work that was featured on SCR's blog for Tartuffe. 

"From hand-making over 240 covered buttons to embroidering gloves to hand-crafting a whisk collar, Tartuffe called upon every able body to accomplish the design." 

I have to say that I take special pride in the fact that EVERY above-mentioned item was something I built. 

Link.

Closing Out

Tartuffe is nearing previews. Here's a look at some of the crafts as they near completion! 

Finished both ruffs! Obligatory selfie. My craft clothes never looked so upper crust. 

Over 250 buttons. Our arms didn't hurt as much as our lower abs. Slamming that grommetting arm is like doing standing crunches! 

Ribbon embroidery on custom dyed and constructed opera gloves. An absolutely beautiful craft, but definitely one that takes days to complete. 

One More Thing

Did I mention how many cartridge pleats there are in this show? Oh yeah. Consider yourself gobbled up by the skirts these ladies are sporting. #Tartuffe

Technician Catherine Esera adjusted the fit of a servant skirt over its petticoat

Tartuffled

Wow, this is a HUGE show. We start tech rehearsal tomorrow for Tartuffe at SCR. I've counted the number of crafts we've built from scratch on this show and it exceeds the number of fingers on my hands. Here are some process photos for you to chew on: 

Late 17th century rebato for the Officer

30 yards of hand-cut silk taffeta ribbon to be gathered into jailor ruffs

Silk souffle dyed to color, ribbon-embroidered with cherry blossom motifs, to be constructed into opera-length gloves

My assistant, Kaitlyn Kaufman, making fishnet gloves for an extra large set of hands

All In

directed by Charles Muscarella, 2014

cycle film, Chapman

Fun times! I can't wait to see the final edit. Varun is a maestro with stitching video together. This was such a great group of people to collaborate with, and some of the tamest extras I've ever supervised. Will update a reel once it's available. Until then - enjoy these teasers! 

And how could I forget this random happenstance! It's so true - our industry is a small, small world. I worked with both Tatiana Kuilanoff (production designer, pictured right) and Danielle MacInnis (2nd AD) on this film without knowing either was involved! 

Until Next Time, Class Mine!

I had the pleasure of teaching Advanced Techniques in Costume Design at University of the Redlands during the winter/spring of 2014. It was an absolute pleasure working with such determined students! Each was so dedicated. I pushed hard, and every time yielded strong growth from them all. 

Below are a few examples of projects from their final presentation: As You Like It, early twentieth century American designs. 

Elana Gurewitz, bound for her degree in illustrative arts, focused the class on learning photoshop and research skills. 

Kristen DeNardo, graduating stage manager, came into the class to learn about communicating with costume designers. She began the class with absolutely no artistic background - her growth was palpable. 

Hana Lee is interested in cultural identity in the contemporary world, and focused her curriculum on exploring Orientalist aesthetics throughout costume history. 

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, No! It's The Seagull!

Okay, a little too punny (haaaa, get it?) but this show had some great little behind-the-scenes factoids. 

I couldn't find the knit I wanted for Masha's black collegiate sweater... so I knit the sleeves myself. 

Two yards, 140 loops wide! I won't dump the hours here... 

Every women's hat in the show was built from scratch by undergraduate students! 

The University of the Redlands has one shop manager, and the rest of their labor comes from undergraduate work study students. These students built six full women's ensembles for the show. 

Nina's pink tea dress (left) has a chevron pattern that was inked into the fabric by hand. The embroidery on the bottom of her over skirt and belt was embellish to look like beaded lace.  

Of the six ensembles build, I had to dye four before construction could begin. All together, I dyed upwards of twenty-five yards for the show.

Including Masha's striped walking suit. 

Last cool tidbit! 

Every costume has a striped motif to indicate pier and boat planks, as well as captivity within the home. (Including those six ensembles built...oy vey~)