A Dreamcoat of many colors
April 16, 2014
By Anne Halliwell
Beyond the vocal and instrumental noise emanating from the practice rooms, an assembly of students busily hand-sewed sequins onto Converse shoes.
The costuming for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” opening April 25, is one of the largest endeavors that the studio has taken on, said Nelson Fields, an associate professor of theatre in costume design and arts administration who presided over the students.
The plan was to buy pairs of ready-made shoes for the cast to wear, but since the Converses were only available in women’s sizes, it was necessary to improvise on behalf of some of the men, Fields said.
So amid racks of vivid clothing, penciled costume sketches, bolts of gold cloth, sequined mesh and foam heads sporting headpieces and embellished wigs, the plain Converses began to shine just as brightly as the others.
Fields, a faculty member since 1996, specializes in draping and tailoring. Tracy Ward, lecturer and costume shop manager in the theatre department , handles projects like the shoes and headpieces.
“Her real magic is crafts,” Fields said, pointing out pieces like the Pharaoh’s chest piece and Mrs. Potiphar’s hat, both stiffened, embellished linear pieces.
The costume department was in the middle of a series of second fittings, which Fields handled with assistance from Sarah Fahmy, an arts administration and theatre freshman.
“I really enjoy working backstage,” Fahmy said. “I haven’t really set in stone exactly where I’ll be working (after I graduate), but definitely in theatre someplace.”
As ensemble member Cassady Gorrell tried on each of her four costumes, Fields and Fahmy checked the fit and mobility of the outfits, and fashioned a drapery for Gorrell out of sparkling fabric for her moment as the literal star in a musical number.
“Actually, we just came up with this idea yesterday,” Fields said. “I try to be flexible so when we see something in rehearsal, I can be like, ‘We can be that much better by doing this.’”
Fields finished the costume variation by waving some silver stars around Gorrell’s head to approximate a future headpiece.
The department ordered vintage clothing from the 60s and 70s for the end number, “Go, Go, Go, Joseph,” but either created or heavily modified the other costumes.
“All the brothers, all the wives, all the Egyptians, all the Canaan people, we built all of that,” Ward added.
The two dreamcoats — one for the main show and one for the finale — were time-consuming, Fields said. The first was pieced together with fabric from around the costume studio.
“These are all scraps from shows dating back to the 70s, probably,” Fields said. “So in some ways, this is a history of our department.”
Maxine Preston, an art history and theatre freshman, contributed heavily to the costumes for “Joseph,” but said that the second dreamcoat, a sequined number, was her favorite to work on.
“I think it’s one of the coolest, flashiest pieces in the show,” Preston said. “And I like flashy.”
Fields began designing the costumes for the show last summer, Ward said. Since production began, she and Fields have put in 40-hour work weeks, along with an average of 6-7 students putting in similar times.
“The average costume in here probably took 30-40 hours to do,” Ward said. “Something like Mrs. Potiphar’s costume probably took 60-70 hours. The Pharaoh’s — 100.”
Fields and Ward expressed hope that the costumes impress audiences as much as the music.
“Ideally, everything’s at the same level,” Ward said. “The acting and the costumes and the lights … it’s about the spectacle.”
