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Costuming on a Budget

1/24/2022

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PictureThe Chicken Family from "The Tale of Chicken Licken"
Having a budget commensurate for all of the great ideas you have as a director of a Children's Musical would be great, but is usually not reality. 

Some Children's Theater companies will only mount shows for which they have collected costumes, sets and props for years.  They just rotate around the same shows utilizing resources they already have.  That's about the only way they can manage to make a small profit from their programs year to year. 

School and workshop productions usually require the children to wear the Workshop T-shirt and shorts, or to provide their own "costumes."  Even with coaching as to what to provide, the costumes will not look very coordinated.  Some shows are much easier to costume than others, and director's take that into consideration when choosing the vehicle.  If they have to make a choice between spending money on costumes or providing the many other things needed for the show, they will often opt for getting the other things.

As a writer, I have a certain vision for what I think my show should look like --- including costumes for the characters.  Where I would love to employ some clever costumer to create costumes to suit my vision, I usually end up making them myself.  I try to reuse costume pieces from other shows as much as possible to make ends meet.  I frequent thrift shops to find anything that could be possibly be reworked into something different at bargain rates.  I save a little here so that I can spend more there.
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For example, I was able one year to buy many dark blue/green and pink peasant skirts from some thrift stores.  They have been used in many shows for different purposes.  In "Parizade's Quest" they were the Persian dancing girls' skirts.  In "The Adventures of Dick Whittington," they were the kitchen maids' skirts.  Different tops and an added scarf, apron or hat changed their look.
I have collected black knit pants and solid colored tops for years --- in many different sizes.  Black pants and T-shirts with added colorful tutu or shorts was the basic costume for "The Ants and the Grasshopper."  Black pants with a solid colored top became the children's basic costumes in "A Successor to the Throne."
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About 15 years ago, Chinese kimonos were popular as bathrobes.  I have managed to amass quite a variety of kimonos from thrift stores in all different sizes.  I have 3 shows where I have used them.  "Momotaro," "A Successor to the Throne," and "The Empty Pot," 
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Don't underestimate the value of bedsheets and oversized T-shirts!  We made chitons, togas, and robes out of these for "Never Cry Wolf" and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."
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Costumes are invaluable to helping the children get into character.  Even if they are simply done, costumes make a HUGE difference!
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The Auditioning Process

1/17/2022

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Will 2022 be the year we can put on more Children's Theater Productions?  I know that many schools have been hard pressed to even cast their shows completely this year because of Pandemic problems.  And getting everyone to come to rehearsals has been rough.  But maybe by Spring, anxieties will ease.

In the meantime, many young hopefuls do not understand the Auditioning Process.  Some show up to auditions completely unprepared because no one told them what to expect.  
Other kids know to come with a head shot and a short resume' including personal information (age, height, grade in school, hair color, voice or dance training, a list of previous roles or plays they have participated in, etc.).  

​I have been known to have the unprepared kids just sing "Happy Birthday to You" in the key of F major.  The melody is known by nearly everyone and presents some telling problems.  The octave jump for example lets me know a lot about the kid's vocal range, quality, and ability to sing in tune.  Of course, I prefer children to come with at least 16 bars of a prepared song.  The song should be familiar, in a style matching the play (but not from the play), well suited to the actor, and have a copy for the accompanist in the right key.  

A memorized monologue is great to come prepared to perform, but is not always called for.  Some directors have the kids read a few lines from the script or recite a poem or Nursery Rhyme with some kind of affectation (sweetly, angry, agitated, poised, etc.).  The director wants to check for ability to show various emotions, project the voice, and observe how well facial expressions and body language can be read from a distance.

Then there will usually be a dance component.  The choreographer will take the kids in a small group, teach them a few steps, and watch them repeat it.  The director will be watching to see which actors have dance abilities or finds out what he can or cannot expect from his cast.
In lieu of a picture and resume', something good to do when auditioning for a show is to be sure to come to the initial audition and any call backs dressed exactly the same --- including hair-do.  And be sure to wear something unique --- like a bright orange shirt, colorful skirt or braided hair.  The director may see 100 individuals in auditions for one show.  Be sure to do something to make yourself easy to remember, within reason!  (Green locks or purple frizz might not work for a traditional show.)
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Be aware that when a director looks to cast parts, he takes into consideration the physical characteristics of the people he sees, size relationships in particular.  But that also includes length of hair.  Once I cast a 12 year old girl in a lead role and assumed that with her long hair, she could easily wear it in a particular up-do style for the role.  When we started rehearsals, she appeared with a pixie cut.  She was definitely the right person for the role, but cutting her hair so dramatically made creating the proper "look" for her character challenging.  We finally decided that she could wear a bonnet and some hair extensions.  It was not the right look, but was the best we could do given the circumstance.  (This was for the premier production of "The Adventures of Dick Whittington")

​Because I typically work with very young children or first-timers, I often depend on Acting Games to help me cast the show, especially for a Summer Camp situation.  The right Acting Games help me get to know the kids and their abilities very quickly.  

​Oh, how I hope that we can do more Children's Theater soon!

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Stuck in England

1/11/2022

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My sister and her husband and daughter just spent the Christmas Holiday in the U.K.  She sent me pictures of the various castles they toured in Scotland and Wales and texted me about the midnight mass they attended in an ancient cathedral on Christmas Eve.  They enjoyed revisiting some people and places they had seen before in England.  Then, because of COVID, they had to get tested before getting onto their flight back home.  Her daughter tested positive,  so, that changed their plans.

Barbara and Grace ended up staying at a Bed and Breakfast near the Heathrow Airport and David took the flight home to America.  The protocols said they'd have to stay for two weeks, then test again before taking the new flight.  So, they have been stuck in England.
One of the perks of being stuck in England is that no matter where you are some interesting place may be just outside your window.  Their B&B overlooks a 900 year old Pub thought to be the fourth oldest pub in the entire country. It opened in 1106, when King Henry I was on the throne.  It has some fascinating, yet grim history.  The husband and wife owners of The Ostrich back in the 17th century committed 60 murders before slipping up and getting caught.  (Think "Sweeny Todd" or "Arsenic and Old Lace.")  Some people think the place is haunted.  Outlaws through the centuries have used it as a hideout.  Nowadays, it is a restaurant and hotel.  You can get your fish and chips there and even spend the night.  (Tempting, right?)
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I love seeing this ancient Pub with the airplane just above it, and the satellite receiver.
This reminds me of a few years ago when I was doing the research to write "The Adventures of Dick Whittington."  The setting was circa 1605.  The vehicle was Old English Pantomime.  The sets were half-timbered buildings.  The costumes were Elizabethan.  Even the songs were based on Nursery Rhymes and Sea Chanties from that time.  All I can say is, I wish I had been stuck in England a few years back so I could have soaked up even more of that Old English atmosphere!
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Researching for New Picture Book

1/4/2022

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New Year.  New ambitions.  Not exactly resolutions, but projects I'd like to get started on right away.

One of my earliest memories of my grandmother was when my mother was gone on a trip and we were staying with our grandparents.  I must have been in Kindergarten.  The grandparents had recently moved in with my aunt in her tiny house about six blocks away from our house.  My mother was gone for a week and my father had to work, so my two brothers and I had to stay with the grandparents.

I just remember how my grandmother set my hair to go to school the next day.  It was school picture day and she had used ancient metal ringlet curlers on my hair.  They were miserable to sleep in.  And the next morning, oh, how I hated the way I looked!  I had never had ringlets before and I thought it made me look awful!  Yeah, the school pictures reflected that, too.  My face was all pinched from a 5-year-old sourpuss attitude.  (I may or may not have destroyed all of those school pictures.)

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By the time I got to know my Grandma Lora, she was already old.  At least my young self thought so because she was crippled and walked with a cane, wore false teeth, and had an old lady voice. She already called herself "Grandma Grunt."  At 68 then, she was only a couple of years older than I am currently.  Thinking back from my 2022 vantage point, I think I have developed an entirely new perspective on her life now.

A couple of years ago, my sisters and I came across a life-sketch of my Grandma Lora written in her own handwriting.  She briefly told about some exciting events in her life that I really had not known.  For example, when she was young, she worked as a clerk in their family's General Store.  She told of how Butch Cassidy's outlaw gang tried to rob their store multiple times.  She was absolutely infuriated when the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid came out in 1969.  "How dare they aggrandize those hoodlums!" she wrote.

She actually led a very full life and had many interesting experiences.  I am sure while she was going through them, she didn't think much about them.  It was just life out on the frontier.  Most of day to day life was just dusty, mundane and difficult.  It's only from a distant viewpoint that her experiences seem interesting.  I have been enjoying doing some research about her life, the areas where she lived, the fashion and architecture styles of the times, and learning more about her family situation.

She especially liked to sing.  She sang so much and had such a beautiful voice, she was nicknamed "The Carbon County Nightingale."  I have this idea for a picture book project telling the story of how she earned money by singing to send to her father on his mission.  He kept track of the money she sent him.  It was a total of $98.50.  Pretty good earnings for a six year old in 1898!  That's the story I want to tell.

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    Author

    My name is Betsy Bailey.  I have sung, written and taught music all of my life.  I enjoy writing and directing Children's Theater shows.  This blog will be directed to topics on creating the magic of Children's Theater.  I would love to hear your comments!

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