La Bricoleuse

The sad announcement came through on the USITT costumers' e-list digest, that Costume Designer Irene Corey passed away on October 13th.

In addition to being an award-winning costume designer whose work has been seen the world over, Ms. Corey was the author of two textbooks, The Face is a Canvas on makeup design and Mask of Reality on costume design theory. Dr. Carale Manning Hill wrote her doctoral dissertation on Ms. Corey's career.

Corey was born in 1925 in rural Iowa, and began working in theatre in the 1940s. She has designed for numerous productions and her character creation company has produced walkarounds for children's television, film, theme parks, sports teams, corporations, you name it. She will be sorely missed among the professional costuming community.

Things are crazy busy right now as the costume shop rolls toward tech for our next production, The Importance of Being Earnest, but i scraped together a few spare minutes this morning for a quick post anyhow.

First up, i'm shocked and disappointed to hear that Brandeis University is abandoning all theatre tech/design graduate programs. For now their retaining their Acting MFA program and their undergrad theatre department, but without any design or production faculty, i suppose those students and the entire Brandeis theatregoing community has a lot of "yoga pants on a bare stage by ghostlight" productions to look forward to. I suspected this might be coming for them, when i read how hard the Brandeis endowment ate it with the Bernie Madoff scam, but i guess i held out hope that they'd somehow cling on.

The Brandeis grads and faculty are PO'd (rightfully so, as apparently many of them found out via press release), and have started a Facebook group to mobilize. There's some fascinating discussion going on in there about the projected fallout of this decision, various alternatives being proposed (from selling off university assets to ditching the graduate actors instead, etc etc), heated discussions but largely respectful.

And, i promise once i have a bit more time for writing, i'll follow up on how my willow block turned out, but for now, a few behind-the-scenes pics of the Earnest Frippery Factory! I have to say, i literally couldn't do this show without my cadre of crafts assistants and volunteers--PRC Costume Technician Erin Rodgers and assistant milliners Candy McClernan and Liz Morrison. Thanks, ladies! Everything is going to look beautiful!

( parasols, hat blocking, and a sneak peek at Lady Bracknell's derby-Eugenie... )

The surface design, fiber art, and dyeing community has lost a valued member in Pat Williams, who passed away earlier this month.

Pat was a weaver, fiber artist, textile production teacher (particularly in jacquard weaving technique), and an active member of the Surface Design Association. She was the founder and moderator of the DyersLIST, an email list for textile surface design artists working with the medium of dye. Of particular note for me--Pat was bravely participating in a clinical trial for a potential treatment of pancreatic cancer, a horrific iteration of the disease which also claimed my aunt Mary Ruth this past October. I know that Pat will be much missed in so many areas of the textile community.

Here is the official obit:

Patricia A. (Pat) Williams, age 65, of Brighton and Alpena MI, passed away Thursday, December 17, at University of Michigan Hospital with family by her side. Pat was a participant in a clinical trial for treatment of pancreatic cancer.

She was born on April 19, 1944, in Corpus Christi TX, to parents Ellsworth and Charlotte Johnson, who preceded her in death. After living in several areas of the country, she settled in Ann Arbor, teaching at Eastern Michigan University as a professor of textile arts. In 1990 she married Lawrence (Larry) Stewart, the cherished love of her life, who preceded her in death. Pat is survived by her brother Rick Johnson (Sue); nephew Erik Johnson and niece Stephanie Johnson Chambrovich (Hugh); step-children Shelly and Duncan Stewart; and granddaughters Samantha Boyer, Jennie and Julee Stewart.

As a master weaver in her own right, Pat's interest was in translating the colors, forms, and textures of nature into woven works of art. A celebration of her life and art is being planned for the spring, in conjunction with the generous donation of her loom and educational support materials to Eastern Michigan University.

Condolences may be posted at Pat's online memorial guestbook.

How about bad news first? (Well, i guess some might consider the flagrant abuse of alliteration in the post title "bad news," too, but that's beside the point.)

As a former longtime member of the greater Boston area theatre community, I was sad to see North Shore Music Theatre announcing their closure after 55 years. Some time back, they put out an emergency call for funds, needing to come up with $2M in order to stay afloat, a sum that proved too much for them to raise.

Add one more to the casualties list:

RIP, North Shore. I've run into performers the nation over with fond memories of your weird-shaped house and appreciative audiences. Thanks for all those outsourced garment-distressing jobs you used to send us over at the ART; seems like i cut my painter/dyer teeth on your grime needs. May your staff find new jobs, commensurate and swiftly.

But, to follow up on a positive note with another recent panic-button klaxon: Oregon Ballet Theatre is only a hop, skip, and a jump away from THEIR fundraising goal of $750,000 to remain operating for next season! I've been following performing arts company closures and layoffs in the news since the bubble burst, and thankfully, for every one of us that falls, several more manage to cling on a bit longer. Guess Portlanders aren't ready to sacrifice ballet yet; great news for the OBT and the greater community of dance production professionals in general.

And, here's some exciting news closer to home for me:

For the second year in a row, the National Endowment for the Arts has awarded PlayMakers Repertory Company of Chapel Hill a prestigious Access to Artistic Excellence Grant in support of our production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and the in-depth outreach program we're launching in conjunction: The Dickens Initiative (which will emphasize literacy through the rich storytelling of Charles Dickens, and partners our theatre with libraries, schools, book clubs and university organizations throughout our region).

And, as part of The Dickens Initiative, I'm super-excited to announce the launch of the production blog, Nicholas Nickleby Page to Stage. The blog will update on a weekly basis, featuring a different guest blogger each week (including Yours Truly at some point soon!). For any LiveJournal folks who'd like to read the blog via an LJ flist, I've set up a syndicated account for it at nicknickleby.

As much as i appreciate the convenience of blog post aggregation, there are definitely some cool features on the NNP2S homepage though. In addition to posts by "Bloggers of the Week," dynamically-refreshing sidebar features include an excerpt from the original novel, a "Dickens vocabulary word of a day," links to other Charles Dickens sites on the web, and a "quotable quote" spotlight.

The inaugural post is from Joseph Haj, PlayMakers' Artistic Director and one of two co-directors of our Nicholas Nickleby production (along with Tom Quaintance, who's going to probably be the next blogger-in-line). Joe talks a bit about the relevance and import of this play-cycle in these times, and also makes reference to the exciting news that playwright David Edgar will be in-residence at PRC during a portion of our production process! Man, can you tell i'm psyched about this? :)

I find the idea of production blogs to be really inspiring, fascinating, and of great academic interest for future dramaturgs. (I almost went that route, dramaturgy, instead of costume production, in fact, due to how much i love research and history. But i digress.) The production process has always been something that treads a fine line between the practical and the magical--the psychological alchemy of an actor's character development exists side-by-side with the highly technical capabilities of say, the theatre's electrician. On any given day during the gestation period of a play, you might have a hundred people doing a hundred different things, all equally important to the piece of artwork the production eventually becomes, and how do you document any of that?

I mean, clearly, you have some people like myself, writing about it in blogs or emails, or letters or journals or published articles or books. After the fact, you have a series of tales told by its participants which become the stuff of legend ("I'll never forget, one night early in the run, when he missed his mark, stepped right off the apron of the stage into the orchestra pit and broke his ankle...but he finished the monologue!"). You have reviews in the paper from critics who discuss the performances and production values, and perhaps even accounts from audience members who particularly enjoyed or hated it in their own blogs and letters and such.

I'm excited though about the concept of production blogs tracking the process itself in something close to real-time. It doesn't need to be something as extreme as say, an actor microblogging a rehearsal on Twitter (which would probably be about as exciting to read as watching paint dry..."OMG we're running act2sc4 AGAIN - time 4 break plzzzz" [1]), but the formation and maintenance of a public avenue of textual expression--complete with the opportunity for readers to respond with comments--is pretty cool.

In talking about the nature of the collaborative process of theatre, i don't mean to imply that the individual's talent is lessened any--i fully believe that a good actor can give a monologue in a sweatsuit by flashlight powerful enough to make an audience member cry; a skilled scenic painter can produce a backdrop so beautifully done that it stands alone as a piece of 2D art; and I know i can make a hat or sculpt a mask worthy of solitary display in an exhibit box. But, as accomplished as ALL those things are, when that actor puts on my mask or my hat and performs that monologue in front of that brilliantly-painted drop? That's the next level. That's theatre.

So, i can write my blog here at La Bricoleuse, and that's great. This blog is something of which i am inordinately proud, creeping up on hubris. (Don't worry, i don't plan to kill any strangers at a crossroads.) But seriously? As diverse as this blog's focus can be, it's still filtered through the lens of a single writer with an occasional collaborant. It's a particular slice of the theatrical pie. A production blog like NNP2S, with a roster of bloggers all offering their singular take on their experience of a collective experience, well, wow. Just as theatre practitioners today find themselves looking dramaturgically at plays we produce in terms of prior productions, I like to think about some company twenty or fifty or 200 years from now being able to look back and read what various members of our company thought and did while bringing this production about.

I don't know that the production blog will become something common or standard--i know ours isn't the first, nor will it be the last. Perhaps it will be successful, or perhaps it won't actually function in the way that we hope or envision. Who knows. For my part, though, i'm certainly interested to see where it goes, regardless!


[1] Jokes aside, PRC is tweeting as well, and they're also x-posting the blog via their Facebook page.

First, the good news:

The New Zealand Hat and Hair Awards were just held on November 29th! The article has a photo of the winning entry, and the event's website has a lot of photos of the past two years' worth. What with this and the World of Wearable Art awards, NZ is certainly the place to be for wearable artwork! Amazing stuff.


...but, there's bad news, too.

I feel i'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the economic casualties in the American regional theatre community of the past few days.

• California: San Jose's American Musical Theatre closing and declaring bankruptcy.
  The final decision to cease operations was made at a board meeting last week, and the employees were notified Wednesday. [You're reading that correctly: the AMT laid off their staff on the day before Thanksgiving. Personally, i'd have at least waited til Monday after, on principle.]
  
  
• West Virginia: Theatre West Virginia to close, an announcement that came just three days after their 2009 season programming announcement.
  [General Manager Gayle] Bowling said Tuesday the board of directors has given her two weeks to decide how to dispose of the company's assets, its offices in Mabscott and an amphitheater at Grandview Park. She expects total shutdown within a month.
  
  
• South Carolina: Charleston Stage cuts staff, salaries.
  Charleston Stage, the city’s largest theater company, announced today that it cut three full-time staffers from its payroll and issued a 6 percent pay cut for everybody else, including Julian Wiles, the company’s founder and director.
  
  
• Wisconsin: Madison Repertory Theatre to lay off half its staff.
  Positions they decided to cut: managing director, production manager, development officer, graphic designer, scenic painter, and props master.
  

My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all these folks, not only for the loss of their jobs at a particularly unfortunate time (midwinter/holidays), but in two cases for the dissolution of their theatres altogether as well. When a theatre goes under, it leaves a hole in the community that it serves.

They say things are going to get worse, in general, before they get better--i wonder how many more regional theatres will go under before it's all over?

Two memorials in a single day, one for a theatre and one for a genius in the field.

Upon arriving at work today, i saw posted in the foyer the lengthy obituary article for Kermit Love from the Times.

Love is by far best known as the production artisan who created Jim Henson's iconic best-friend duo, Big Bird and Snuffleupagus. He was also a reknowned costume designer for stage and screen, particularly ballet. For me, Love's most incredible work was Ravel's The Spellbound Child, which i saw broadcast on PBS many years ago, featuring (among a host of amazing puppets) a singing, dancing armchair. I was fairly young when i saw it, and it really made a lasting impression on me.

The Theatre Development Fund has an extensive bio of Mr. Love on their site from when they awarded him the 2007 Artisan Award. All the obits in the news right now mention the fact that Mr. Love is survived by his partner of 50 years, Christopher Lyall. Mr. Love was 91.

I came home from an exciting first day on Shrek to the sad news that legendary SFX artist Stan Winston has lost his battle with cancer.

Mr. Winston's LA studio created ingenious effects work, creatures, and animatronics, everything from the titular apparati of Edward Scissorhands to the Alien Queen to his most recent, the Iron Man armor. His workshop produced mindblowing stuff of unparalleled quality, and Mr. Winston was the recipient of four Oscars. I don't know anyone who works in entertainment production who wasn't completely floored by Winston's creativity, skill, artisanship, and artistry.

The LA Times has a slide show of images of his best-known work.

We've truly lost a master of his art.

As we approach our own November production tech week here at PlayMakers/UNC, i want to pause and mark the untimely passing of one of Yale's MFA tech production graduates, Pierre-Andre Selim.

Mr. Selim was killed this past weekend in a load-in accident preparing for Yale Repertory's forthcoming production of Tartuffe. Because Mr. Selim was working as a student and not an employee of the company, OSHA is not investigating the accident, and according to the local news station WTNH, Selim was wearing a hardhat at the time of the accident. More details are available at the Yale Daily News.


Pierre-Andre Selim
image courtesy of Facebook.com



So often i hear people talk about theatre production as "fun" (which it certainly is) and refer to the work that we do as "play" (which it frankly is not). Though we create wonder, entertainment, and artwork, we also practice sophisticated artisanship and craft, employ tradesman's skills and put in hard labor. Danger is always present--one can fall from the lighting grid, be scalded by a toxic dye process bath, or as in the case of poor Mr. Selim, be crushed by set material shifting in a truck.

At this time when so many of us in America are approaching a holiday season of family, sharing, and gratitude, it is especially tragic to see a loss of one of our own in the theatrical production community. (Mr. Selim was from Indonesia and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Singapore before coming to the US for graduate study at Yale. Perhaps his family doesn't even celebrate winter holidays, i don't know.)

My heart goes out to Selim's loved ones in their loss, and on behalf of my own theatre family and graduate program, our thoughts are with those at Yale mourning the loss of their colleague.