Projects: Crafts Responsibilities for The Bluest Eye, PlayMakers Repertory, Chapel Hill, NC

[labricoleuse]

This post though is an overview of the crafts projects involved in the PlayMakers Repertory Company's current mainstage production, The Bluest Eye, running through the end of the weekend at the Paul Green Theatre in Chapel Hill, NC.


Crafts Builds

First off, it's a good thing i took my own photos and wrote such a nice post on Soaphead Church's top hat, because not one good stage photograph exists of it. This is a prime example of why you can't rely on what's taken at photo call to be anything representative for your portfolio.

My assistant on this show, Amanda Phillips, built three other hats for the production:


Maureen Peal's red faux Persian lamb beret


Mrs. Breedlove's maid bandeau, straight from a research image in a 1939 Ivory Soap ad


Daddy's distressed leather work cap
(other projects in this image: custom dyed trousers and gloves, general distressing)


Millinery Refurb and Retrimming

In addition to the freshening treatment on all vintage straw hats used in the show, we had a fair amount of hat business other than the builds.


I added fun fruit clusters to this trio of vintage green straw garden hats
(other projects in this shot: dyed vintage dresses and rubberized vintage shoes)

I also added mourning veils to four broad black straw funeral hats and refurbished a satin top hat for Mr Bojangles tap number, but the funeral scene and the tap number took place in such low light none of the photos came out well.


Distressing


Pecola's costumes all had a lot of distressing.
This is the only photo that shows any of it on any of them.
(other projects in this shot: custom dyed cotton tights on Maureen Peal)


Dyeing

The majority of the craftwork on this show was custom dyeing. Here are a few nice sample images, not remotely a complete overview. We had a total of 43 dye projects for this production.


All layers of Shirley Temple's dress were dyed shades of pink.


We hand-dyed a lot of vintage items for this show, such as these cardigans.


Every "white" fabric you see in the show was also dyed to shades of cream and grey.
Pecola's dress looks white here, but it's actually a really wrecked shade of grey.


This picture gives you a better idea what the actual colors of the "white" fabrics were.


And, this photo has nothing to do with my handiwork whatsoever, but i thought it was perhaps the best-captured photo of the character of Pecola that was taken during photo call:




So there you go! That's a brief overview of the kind of work someone in my job does on a show of this sort.


All photographs copyright 2006, PlayMakers Repertory Company; may not be reproduced without permission.

Comments

[lovefromgirl.livejournal.com]

*ecstatic sigh*

Everything looks so real!

[labricoleuse.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you! In terms of aging/distressing, that's a really amazing compliment.