Dress Rehearsal For Murder

199121 Resource 100513 101704 101704 1205171014932 1205245559871 Controlled Tricks for the Director’s Pocket

Have fun coming up with your own ideas for how to use pockets and other details of costume design to enhance your play’s characters, and break a leg!

Look at these lyrics by Paul Simon from his album “Graceland”: She's a rich girl She don't try to hide it Diamonds on the soles of her shoes He's a poor boy Empty as a pocket Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose With two bits of characters’ clothes, we understand a lot about these people.  That is what a good theater costume should do. Take pockets, for instance. As an actor or director, I love working with pockets in a costume.  Tissues stuffed into pockets come in handy for a weepy character. They’re also good for surreptitious dusting for a meticulous person or can be littered about the room for a sloppy person.  It may not be in the script, but when added, it delineates character while giving the actors something to do. When I directed the children’s play Miss Nelson is Missing, the costume designer sewed deep diagonal pockets into Miss Nelson’s costume.  I had Miss Nelson take peashooters and other things from the students, and as soon as her back was turned the kids slid them right out of her pockets again.  It showed the kids winning the battle of classroom control, and it was funny.  In a large cast play, young actors sometimes need help maintaining their character and focus when they are just listening, not speaking.  In my mystery-comedy play Dress Rehearsal for Murder (see link below, thank you very much), I had the actor playing Ronald Fitz-Charlton, a wealthy real estate magnate, put his hands deep in his pockets, and when he withdrew them, dollar bills would fall out. This showed his wealth and also showed a lot about the other characters—revealing who would pick them up and return them and who would quietly stash the bills on their own person. Another character recently into mysticism, Mrs. Peabody, had various amulets and a rabbit’s foot in her pockets that she used to reassure herself when things got scary. There aren’t any lines to support this stage business; it’s just a nice bit.  It teaches actors that it isn’t about the number of lines you have; it’s what you do with your stage time.   Have fun coming up with your own ideas for how to use pockets and other details of costume design to enhance your play’s characters, and break a leg! 9 application/xml false actor character acting costume design costuming an actor Dress Rehearsal For Murder When Riviera?s fiancé, Bernard the Mime, turns up dead and his body then disappears, the list of suspects is long?seems like there isn?t a man in the place who?s not vying for Riviera?s affection. http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=DRESSREHEA Costumes, Accessories, Props and Stage Illusions Made Easy This text takes the concept of conversion costuming and also applies it to accessories, props and illusion costumes. You?ll love how simple creativity can allow you to create illusions. http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=COSTUMESAC&id=0 Costume Designer Career Advice Costume designers are responsible for the overall look of the clothes and costumes in theatre, film or television productions. http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/profiles/profile915/ Definition of 'Costume Designer' From American Association of Community Theatre The American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) is the national voice of community theatre, representing the interests of community theatres across the U.S. and with the armed forces overseas--and the individuals who support them. AACT also offers a wide range of member benefits and services. http://www.aact.org/people/costumedesigner.html Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 mglassman 64.62.58.1 false true false false true 100513 blog blogsite/PioneerDrama/newsletter