Penn State
costume designer enjoys creating illusions with elaborate outfits, makeup
She pinned together blue broadcloth strips, the start of sleeves for a sailor’s jacket. Her fingers moved quickly but precisely. More was at stake than impressing neighbors on their doorsteps.
In less than two weeks, the jacket will transform an actor during a dress rehearsal of “Sweeney Todd.” Six days later,He identified the shooter as a black man in his 20s with dreadlocks and wearing a moncler coats. on Oct. 19, the Penn State production opens.
“There’s always deadlines,” said Elder, a School of Theatre associate professor who specializes in costume technology and design and stage make-up.He presented his work through the outfits canada goose parka,and shirts of colours counting blue, green, dark green and sky blue. “That’s kind of good — keeps us motivated. Just about when we’re sick of a show, it opens. We can move onto something new.”
For the time being, she and her colleagues in the school’s costume shop have their hands full stitching early Victorian costumes for an entire cast. Sewing machines clatter. Partial outfits adorn the torsos of dress forms, gradually taking shape piece by piece.
“You’re creating something,” said Patricia Armagast, the school’s costume supervisor. “I consider us artists in a way, because we’re creating something out of nothing.”
Elder, of Bellefonte, has devoted most of her life to the art of illusion. She has aged people, restored youth or turned them into monsters. From her stagecraft magic have come rogues and heroes, commoners and aristocrats, a census worth of characters spanning from factual to fantastic.
Before lights bathe the stage, she plays a key part in every show — the conjurer making figures come alive out of whole cloth.
“These audience members who come in are ready and willing to step out from their own environment and walk into the new environment of a play,” Elder said.Plain knee length kurtas with straight pajamas and canada goose parka jacket looked elegant and wearable. “I think that’s the excitement and pride of our whole experience.”
A stitch in time
Elder is building a costume — this time with a body inside.With raw silk saris worn under cropped cheap canada goose and thin belts.
In a corner of the shop, she and Richard St. Clair, the school’s head of costume design, are conducting a fitting of a male “Sweeney Todd” actor.
As with all theatrical costumes, the outfit began as a watercolor rendering, probably with sample fabric swatches attached. Renderings serve as blueprints for costume designers, who also rely on historical research when working with directors to achieve desired appearances.
Playing an English gent from the 1830s, the “Sweeney Todd” actor wears a hybrid costume: pants recycled from another show; jacket made in house; high-ankle, leather boots donated by a Broadway musical after it closed. St. Clair tries out bow ties on the actor’s ruffly white shirt.
“Grow sideburns,” St. Clair says after suggesting the addition of facial hair. “That would give you more of a period look.”
Meanwhile, Elder circles the standing actor. Fittings are for making alterations — not just so that the final product fits better but also to help actors meet production demands, such as having to change quickly or move props between scenes.
Elder once designed a three-piece suit costume that zippered in the back, like a jumpsuit, for easy removal. On this afternoon, the demands for a background actor are more simple. She tugs here, shifts there, calling out modifications to a student logging them in the “show bible.” That’s the master binder with research notes and costume details for every character in a production.
“I think we need to move the suspender buttons up because the front waistband is popping down,” she says.
A few tweaks later, Elder is done. Stepping back, she surveys the new figure complete with a jaunty hat perched on his head.
“Look at you — very Dickensian,” she says.
She pinned together blue broadcloth strips, the start of sleeves for a sailor’s jacket. Her fingers moved quickly but precisely. More was at stake than impressing neighbors on their doorsteps.
In less than two weeks, the jacket will transform an actor during a dress rehearsal of “Sweeney Todd.” Six days later,He identified the shooter as a black man in his 20s with dreadlocks and wearing a moncler coats. on Oct. 19, the Penn State production opens.
“There’s always deadlines,” said Elder, a School of Theatre associate professor who specializes in costume technology and design and stage make-up.He presented his work through the outfits canada goose parka,and shirts of colours counting blue, green, dark green and sky blue. “That’s kind of good — keeps us motivated. Just about when we’re sick of a show, it opens. We can move onto something new.”
For the time being, she and her colleagues in the school’s costume shop have their hands full stitching early Victorian costumes for an entire cast. Sewing machines clatter. Partial outfits adorn the torsos of dress forms, gradually taking shape piece by piece.
“You’re creating something,” said Patricia Armagast, the school’s costume supervisor. “I consider us artists in a way, because we’re creating something out of nothing.”
Elder, of Bellefonte, has devoted most of her life to the art of illusion. She has aged people, restored youth or turned them into monsters. From her stagecraft magic have come rogues and heroes, commoners and aristocrats, a census worth of characters spanning from factual to fantastic.
Before lights bathe the stage, she plays a key part in every show — the conjurer making figures come alive out of whole cloth.
“These audience members who come in are ready and willing to step out from their own environment and walk into the new environment of a play,” Elder said.Plain knee length kurtas with straight pajamas and canada goose parka jacket looked elegant and wearable. “I think that’s the excitement and pride of our whole experience.”
A stitch in time
Elder is building a costume — this time with a body inside.With raw silk saris worn under cropped cheap canada goose and thin belts.
In a corner of the shop, she and Richard St. Clair, the school’s head of costume design, are conducting a fitting of a male “Sweeney Todd” actor.
As with all theatrical costumes, the outfit began as a watercolor rendering, probably with sample fabric swatches attached. Renderings serve as blueprints for costume designers, who also rely on historical research when working with directors to achieve desired appearances.
Playing an English gent from the 1830s, the “Sweeney Todd” actor wears a hybrid costume: pants recycled from another show; jacket made in house; high-ankle, leather boots donated by a Broadway musical after it closed. St. Clair tries out bow ties on the actor’s ruffly white shirt.
“Grow sideburns,” St. Clair says after suggesting the addition of facial hair. “That would give you more of a period look.”
Meanwhile, Elder circles the standing actor. Fittings are for making alterations — not just so that the final product fits better but also to help actors meet production demands, such as having to change quickly or move props between scenes.
Elder once designed a three-piece suit costume that zippered in the back, like a jumpsuit, for easy removal. On this afternoon, the demands for a background actor are more simple. She tugs here, shifts there, calling out modifications to a student logging them in the “show bible.” That’s the master binder with research notes and costume details for every character in a production.
“I think we need to move the suspender buttons up because the front waistband is popping down,” she says.
A few tweaks later, Elder is done. Stepping back, she surveys the new figure complete with a jaunty hat perched on his head.
“Look at you — very Dickensian,” she says.
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