A lot of clothing in play about taking it all off

Nine ‘divas’ work hard to prepare for elaborate ‘Gypsy’

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Photo by RICHIE DOWNS A team of nine costume designers had to create nearly 590 pieces for the stage production of ‘‘Gypsy” being performed at the Port Tobacco Theater. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

They had to, to be able to create the 580 to 590 pieces the director Joe Stine required for the colorful stage production.

The Divas had to design and create all pieces of the 43 actors’ numerous outfits, from shoes to hats to slave-girl arm bands.

The Port Tobacco Players are performing the musical ‘‘Gypsy,” the story of Gypsy Rose Lee, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until Aug. 10. Lee was a burlesque performer who became famous in the 1930s and ’40s.

Karyn Peterson, lead designer for the play, was approached by producer Cheryl Reckeweg and director Stine in February 2007, and asked if she could do costumes for the show.

‘‘Joe shared a vision of what he wanted,” Peterson said. ‘‘I made it happen.”

Peterson did extensive research into vaudeville and burlesque productions from the ’20s and ’30s. She also looked at other theater productions and watched movies.

Peterson paraphrased a famous quote from Gen. George S. Patton to explain her leadership philosophy, ‘‘Don’t tell people how to do a thing,” Peterson said. ‘‘Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

Peterson then assigned sections and scenes to each of her divas.

Tammy Kuhn made 42 costumes for the production.

‘‘I took off seven days from my job,” Kuhn said, ‘‘just to make the costumes. Not only do you have to make the costume, you have to teach the actors how to wear it. It is a challenge to get 21st-century kids to keep their pants up, tuck in their shirts and to keep their shirts buttoned.”

Kuhn had just returned from a successful hunt for argyle socks.

‘‘Some of our actors are female who will play the part of a male when we need them to,” Kuhn said. ‘‘One of my Boy Scouts was on stage with white frilly ankle socks the other day.”

Kuhn learned how to sew in junior high school, but she got to practice her skills as a Marine Corps wife. She also worked in a sewing factory for awhile.

‘‘I learned a lot of sewing tricks there, ‘‘Kuhn said.

Melody Sciarreta is the owner of Magic Needle Creations. By day, Sciarreta makes custom costume and theatrical re-enactment outfits. She also makes doll outfits and dance costumes.

‘‘We will bring your fantasy to life,” Sciarreta said.

Sciarreta made 12 very intricate outfits for Gypsy, played by Angela Brockunier. One of her costumes actually has flashing lights incorporated into the design. One of the challenges Sciarreta faced was making the stripper costumes, which Gypsy wears on stage, to look tasteful enough for a G-rated audience.

Her other big challenge was that the costumes had to be easily removed, as Gypsy has one scene where she goes through four different dresses in 10 minutes.

‘‘The actress is literally saying her last line as she is starting to undress and walking off-stage,” Sciarreta said. ‘‘We use a lot of Velcro and snaps.”

The divas were able to make most of their outfits from items people donated and the contents of the Port Tobacco Players costume vault, which has been collecting pieces for 60 years. Some of the outfits were original to the period.

‘‘Yonkers, one of our characters who is a waif in the play, wears an authentic jacket from World War II,” Kuhn said.

Gypsy also wears a blue dress in one of her scenes, which is an authentic designer piece.

‘‘We used a lot of wedding dresses, bridesmaids dresses and prom dresses in this production,” Peterson said.

‘‘Half the content of my closet is up there on the stage,” Kuhn said, laughing.

Carol Scheer is in charge of accessories.

‘‘I had to make headdresses for the showgirls,” Scheer said. ‘‘I originally wanted to make them out of black and white feathers, but we ended up black and turquoise.”

She also made the fans in the production, and the slave girl arm bands, which she worked on during the interview.

‘‘They were bronze when I bought them, but they didn’t show up well in the light,” Scheer said. ‘‘I have to dye them gold.”

When asked where slave girl arm bands can be purchased, Scheer said she was able to find them on eBay.

The costume divas said they were fortunate to share a lot of the same ideas for the project.

‘‘There was great synergy going on,” Sciarreta said.

After their hard work, the divas go out for margaritas some nights.

‘‘Then we are divas with ’ritas,” Peterson said laughing.

‘‘Tell everyone to come see the show,” Peterson said.

‘‘We have everything from dancing cows to burlesque showgirls.”