Betsy's Blog on Children's Theater | BaileyKidsMusicals.com - BaileyKidsMusicals.com

Costumes and Dress-Ups

9/19/2022

Costumes and Dress-Ups are hot topics around this time each year. There are those children and adults who love planning what they will wear for Halloween. Some whole families like to dress up in coordinated costumes on a theme like characters from a movie or favorite television show. I know that one of my children's families are dressing up as characters from "Frozen" this year. They have been scouring various stores for costumes for several weeks now. It is quite the popular "thing" apparently.

Some families like to make their costumes from "found" items. In other words, they like to participate but don't like the hefty price tag of buying pre-made costumes. The bins in my shed have been raided many times for costume pieces. I have random parts and pieces that can be used in various ways to create different "looks." And, believe me, my kids and even some neighbors have come up with interesting characters from my random costume pieces.

Then, of course, I have gone to thrift stores when they put out the costumes in time for Halloween and have found wonderful complete costumes that I just couldn't resist. I found this darling bear costume that I just had to use for "Parizade's Quest." And one year I found an adorable yellow bird ballet costume. We put it on my young granddaughter during "Chicken Licken." last year. At age 4, she was really too young to be in the show, but she insisted on running onto the stage to dance. So we dressed her in that costume and called her our little canary.

I've found Pirate hats, Chinese kimonos, cowboy boots, wands, beards, wigs, tiaras and a lot of other good stuff while scouring the thrift shops at Halloween. I love looking for "found" objects I can turn into costumes for my shows during this season.

One year, my sister was looking to make a Harry Potter costume for her boy and needed a cape. She asked me for help making one. I said, "Capes are so easy. Just go to the thrift store and find a black woman's skirt. Take apart one seam, and add a black ribbon tie. Voila' - a cape." It was a revelation to her.

Yup. When you have to make a lot of costumes without a commensurate budget, you learn to be creative!

Happy hunting for costumes!

Enjoy this track from "Parizade's Quest" with a cameo performance from Bobak the Bear.

Reshaping and Resizing Costumes

3/17/2022

Lyla as Betsy Ross

Spent yesterday remodeling a Pioneer dress made for my tall thin daughter's Trek experience into a Colonial "Betsy Ross" costume for my 9 year-old granddaughter. One thing I learned from former experience is that your can usually take in a bigger costume, but you can never take out a smaller costume.

So, after a lot of thinking and engineering in my head, I managed to shorten the sleeves and raise the skirt without cutting any fabric. By adding lace to the sleeves and skirt, the folded extra fabric is totally disguised. I also added a lace "cape collar" to hide any pinning needed to take in the shoulders and bodice. I also made a Colonial side pouf apron to cover the distance between the costume's waist and the little girl's actual waistline. It actually looks pretty good. The mop cap ties the outfit together.

When you do costuming for the stage where anything worn is viewed from a distance, you can take many shortcuts. I don't really even finish the seams. (I take seams out and in so much, it's just not worth the time and effort.) But this time, I realized that I should take more care because this child's school activity will be viewed up close and personal.

The 3rd Grade classes are doing a Wax Museum. Each student made a poster about the historical figure they were assigned. At the event in the gym, each child will be dressed like their character. They will stand frozen in a pose while the parents walk through viewing the characters and read the posters.

P.S. I actually got to go to the Wax Museum. Lyla looked great as Betsy Ross. It was educational to see all of the students dress up as wax figures of famous people. The students stood frozen standing for a few minutes, then sat frozen for a few minutes. Pretty impressive for third graders to stay in character and quiet for so long!

Being a Team Player

2/10/2020

Night Patrol martial arts routine from "A Successor to the Throne"

Being an author, composer and director of a Children's Musical automatically sets you up for looking like a control freak. And it is easy to get into that mind-set of wanting to put your vision and JUST your vision into play. However, if you are wise, you will welcome other helpers and be open to their contributions. You need to be aware, though, that those helpers will come with their own ways of doing things that may be very different from what you envisioned.

Choreography for Dancers in "Never Cry Wolf"

While there is a recognized and respected hierarchy of jobs in the Theater, sometimes small community or school groups have to do their best with whatever they get. The Director oversees choosing the show, recruiting helpers, auditioning, casting, and overseeing all decisions related to what happens onstage and even backstage. The Producer sees that the needs of the Director are met -- finds the performance venue, rehearsal venues, oversees budgets, resources, and manages financial and personnel matters. Musical Director - teaches songs, may accompany the show or direct a group of musicians, or manage recorded tracks. The Choreographer plans The choreography and teaches dances, may oversee some Dance Captains. The Costumer oversees all aspects of costuming from designing to making, fitting and repairing costumes, also manages sewing committee. Stage Manager is responsible for planning movement of scenery, pulling drapes, lighting, stage crew, and entrances and exits of actors. Other helpers may include Scenic Designer, Lighting Designer, Sound Engineer, Hair and Make-Up Designers and crews of folks who work for these people. In Children's Theater, it is helpful to have Group Leaders assigned to 5-6 children to help them manage their costumes and changes, learn their lines and dances, and otherwise help them be where they are supposed to be, doing what they are supposed to do.

Most small Children's Theater shows are produced by a few people doing all of these jobs. The larger the cast, the more difficult the work loads of these few people. My advice is to either limit the size of the cast or recruit more helpers!,

Actors against cute set from "The Adventures of Dick Whittington"

Over the years, I have learned to be accommodating of other "ideas" as I have learned to work with the helpers who came and volunteered for combat duty. Sometimes, these helpers took my little ideas and developed them in beautiful and exciting ways. (I was humbled, astonished and overwhelmed by the amazing results!) Sometimes, our ideas were polar opposites, but we figured out compromises that ultimately worked. In any case, the focus should be on the kids and what they should get out of their experience in a Children's Theater show. All adult ego's should be checked at the door. We need to be TEAM PLAYERS!

Four Rehearsals to Launch Date

3/6/2016

In two weeks, we premier "The Adventures of Dick Whittington." Friday was our first trial run in costume. This was a real adventure. The two assistants did their best, but clearly we need more backstage help. Once the children understand how exactly to wear their costumes, things should go easier. My big idea for this show was to have the children wear one basic outfit and then don extra pieces to give them a different look in different scenes as needed. The problem was that the children did not remember very well the instructions I had given them as to what to wear and in which scenes. And the helpers really had no clue, either.

I don't know if this is because we live in the space age, but I have discovered that the majority of these children (ages 8-12) do not regularly tie or button. As I recall, in my youth, those were skills we had mastered before entering kindergarten. I guess everything now is velcro or stretch to fit. The big hold up for getting the costume pieces on and off is undoing buttons and tying scarf belts. If these kids don't master these skills quickly, I may need an army of volunteers backstage just to help get the kids in and out of costume parts and pieces. And I thought it was such a simple costume plan.....

We have yet to paint the scenery and work with the body mics. But once we have the set pieces in place and can hear the dialogue and singing better backstage, we should be in business. Now if my backstage recruits come to the next few rehearsals, maybe my anxieties will diminish.

Our stage is difficult to deal with. The way the curtains are hung so close to the walls leaves no room for getting set pieces and props, let alone actors, easily onto the stage. We have to be very creative.

The other day, I went to see a very good production of "Seussical the Musical" done at another elementary school in the area. I could not help feeling envious. The stage had curtains that actually worked to let actors onto and off of the stage. They had good lighting and speakers. They must have rented not only the sound system, but a sound engineer to run it. They had at least 20 kids wearing body mics! And I was most envious of the fact that they had a lot of good parental support and 12 main helpers for the directors. They had a core ensemble of about 30 students and included another 40 students in the big numbers -- only 5th and 6th graders. A lot of talent in that school.

I kept thinking how nice it would be to have helpers and good parental support. Sometimes I feel like I am a committee of 1.

Oh, well, the show must go on!

Over the Briny Sea

2/8/2016

While doing research to begin writing "The Adventures of Dick Whittington," I knew I needed to write an authentic sounding sea chanty for the sailors to sing. I came across the most charming description of what a sea chanty really was and knew in an instant that was what I wanted to recreate. The article stated that in the heyday of merchant sailing (1600-1800's), one of the most important skills a sailor had to posses was a ready singing ability. The sailors used songs to help them in their labors aboard ship. The tempo and rhythms of the songs kept the routine hoisting and pulling chores synchronized and safe. The caller would sing out the verses and the crew would answer with the refrains. The verses could literally go on endlessly.
Now the topics of the authentic sea chanties I researched were definitely not appropriate for use with Elementary School Children. So I endeavored to come up with a topic that was G-rated and understandable to my young actors. I also learned that the sea chanties could be either in triple meter or duple meter. I elected to have the boys sing about sailing over the briny sea in 6/8 time. In the story, the ship is setting sail from England about 1600 to go trading in Morocco. I even tried to use some authentic nautical terminology. (Not easy to enunciate quickly in rhythm.) It is fun to hear the boys continue singing the song going down the hallway after rehearsal. They must enjoy singing it. (They call it their Pirate song.)

The boys have been learning a little dance combination, too. All variations of walking, hopping, and changing directions. So far, so good. The movements seem simple enough that even the less coordinated look good doing it. Soon we will add the costumes and then we'll be in business.

Enjoy this Learning Tracks performance of the Sea Chanty "Over the Briny Sea" from the new Bailey Kids Musical "The Adventures of Dick Whittington."

Theater Skills Classes at Elementary School

10/12/2015

Have you ever had that realization that what you had planned for your students just wasn't enough? Well, I went into the project of teaching two After School Drama Club classes with lots of ideas about what to do for the different age groups. And then that went out the window when I met the children for the first time. I have two classes. The first is for 1st and 2nd graders. The second is for 3-6th graders. I did not choose the age ranges.

The older group are great. Turns out that I knew all of them and they are seasoned performers. We will do many things that will be fun and exciting.

The younger group, however, I did not know. There seven girls and one boy in that group. After working two times with them, it became clear that they needed a story to motivate them to learn acting skills. So, I bit the bullet and wrote them a little show. The script came along quickly. I decided to retell the Aesop Fable "The Ants and the Grasshopper." I needed the characters to have equal line loads and a few songs they all could sing together. It made sense to have our boy be the Grasshopper since he is twice the size of any of the little girls. Besides he has a good singing voice and loves to move.

So, after a couple of days of writing now, I am to the point of polishing up the three songs. "The Ants Working Song," "Summer Loafing'" (for the Grasshopper), and the Finale "Pay Now and Play Later."

I decided to use the John Maxwell quote as the MORAL of the tale: "You can pay now and play later OR you can play now and pay later. Either way you have to pay."

Since this is a Theater Skills class, I thought we could do an in-class Recital for the parents. Out in the hall of the school yesterday, I found a large flat card board box. I asked the custodian to snag it for me so that I can use it to create an Ant Hill set for this little show. The costumes will be very simple. I have some black T-shirts and knit pants for the girls to be "ants." I will make "feelers" with black pipe cleaners attached to little headbands. I have a green T-shirt for the Grasshopper and a green fedora hat to which I will attach green pipe-cleaner "feelers." He will also have a Ukulele. I will make a tiny golden crown for the Ant Queen and possibly let her have a cute royal cape.

Should be fun!

P.S. Been thinking about how the class can perform this show as a Workshop production but put it on a Main Stage. Went to a thrift store Saturday and found a foldable screen that I think will help me tell this tale without much scenery at all, with just suggestions of props, and hints of costumes. Hope it will work!

Parizade's Quest Costume Check

3/20/2015

Shazelle the Speaking Bird with Jamileh and Ghalandar

Here are a few photos of our preliminary costume check for "Parizade's Quest." Making the turbans necessary for all of the male characters has been a job. Making sure they fit the heads has been an added challenge! Now... if we can only get the other 30 characters costumed and ready in time for our show March 27th and 30th!

Jamileh beginning to tell her story to Master Storyteller Ghalandar

Gypies with Master Bahman

The beautiful Weeping Queen Kazhira with her scheming sister Beheshteh

Parizade with Old Torab and brother Bahman

Testing New Material

6/23/2014

The last two weeks were quite a whirlwind. Twenty one children ranging in age from 4 1/2 to 11 participated in my Neighborhood Summer Theater Camp held in my backyard. It was truly a summer INTENSIVE! We worked very hard to learn acting skills, songs and dances, and all of the lines and blocking to put on a production of my new Children's Musical "The Tale of Chicken Licken" all in just over 20 hours of teaching time. Whew! The children accomplished it and looked very cute in the process. I am proud of their hard work.

When I begin to write a new show, I generally use the formula that my cast will be made up of a few boys, but mostly girls. So I keep that in mind when creating songs and populating the landscape. But as the registrations came in for this camp, we had many more boys than originally expected. This posed a bit of a challenge since I had already started making the costumes. I thought that making little girls look like barnyard fowl would be a cinch -- just put them in a T-shirt and shorts with a tutu in whatever color most suited the bird.

Well, that idea had to be revamped with fully half of the cast being boys. So, with the help of one of my talented daughters, we came up with designs that would work better for the boys in the cast. Additionally, I quickly wrote a couple more songs that enhanced the storyline more because I was able to add lines and situations with these male characters in mind.

Testing out and proofing new material is a scary proposition. You never know exactly how a new show or song will be received. I am happy to report that what went well went very well and the few costume malfunctions and flubbed lines were forgiven. It would have been nice to have a little more time to work with the mics and costumes before the performance, though. But, when the kids remembered to speak and sing into the mics, they were heard very well.

In doing this camp, I learned just what appealed to the young cast, and what may have been a little too sophisticated for them. Perhaps there are a few places in the script that I may rewrite for a younger, more homogenized cast, say K-3rd graders, and make many parts flexible enough to be cast as either male or female. But all in all, I am pleased with this new creation and I think "The Tale of Chicken Licken" definitely has a future for other Children's Theater productions.

Up to My Elbows in Feathers

6/2/2014

Just how do you take an average 5 - 7 year old and transform her into a cute little barnyard fowl? Oh, yes, make that for under $10 per child please. I have been researching and culling ideas from many sources. The best ideas, of course, are very expensive. My budget for this play is very limited, but I still want to create a great product. So, this is what I have so far for the little chicks. I took a yellow Tee shirt, added a yellow tulle tutu, and few "feather" fluffs at the shoulders and a tuft at the neck, gave her some yellow shorts for modesty, made a little cap with a top not of "feathers" and will add a beak and eyes. The yellow glove feet are an idea I'd like to try. I wonder if the kids will be able to dance in those silly feet?

The Duck family will be exercise enthusiasts, well, the papa and boys will be at least. Their song is about training for the next big race. The mama duck will try her best, but she is clutzy and just wants to look fashionable. Her dearest wish is to be as glamourous as Mrs. Goose. Here she is in her 1980's Jazzersize outfit with headband, leg warmers and tutu. Obviously, the big ruffles will be tufted in the back to look like tail feathers. This was made from a thrift store white hoodie, recycled ruffles from another costume, blue jersey fabric, and the quickly crocheted leg-warmers made from donated yarn.

The other characters are coming along, as well. Making a boy version for every girl version has been interesting. I have not actually met the children of the cast yet, so, fitting these parts and pieces to real bodies will be the next challenge and will need to be flexible to fit a range of sizes. The girl costumes are easier than the ones for the boys. I have been able to suggest the idea of tail feathers by using lots of ruffles in the back of the tutus. I don't think the boys would like to wear tutus, so I have had to come up with alternate plans for their tail feathers. But making the enormous fluffy tail feathers for the rooster and the turkey I have just not figured out yet. Wish me luck!

Halloween Stock-Up Shopping

10/25/2013

When I was a Cub Scout leader, I was always delighted to find that BSA planned the most ambitious, theatrical Pack Meetings to coincide with the time of year when it was easier to find costumes and props readily available. We had all kinds of great themed Pack meetings in October such as the Cub Scout Circus, or Gold Mining in the Yukon, or Medieval Times Jousting Contests or Adventures in Outer Space. Convenience is not lost on the master planners of Cub Scouting. They've been around a long time and have learned a few things.

Yesterday I spent the day trying to sew costumes for my son and his wife to be Nacho Libre (as the Monk) and Sister Encarnacion. They brought me the fabric - the right colors and inexpensive, but also a pain to sew with. (I really hate cutting and sewing satin. It is so slick and it unravels so easily. What a mess!) The problem was that I was to create them just using a picture as my guide with no pattern to follow and no live bodies to fit them to. I resorted to using my other (taller and skinnier) son and a random football friend he had over for the models. As they were soon going off to play a Varsity Football game, they really did not appreciate modeling for me, especially for the nun costume. Anyway, the mission was accomplished, but I have yet to see the final results on the real models. Hope they fit!

The point is that the fabric and accessories were easy to come by and affordable. If I was wise, I would go out and scour the Halloween shops for my up-coming show that won't be mounted until March. So what if I do not know the exact sizes or shapes of the cast members? Or even how many? Now is the time to find those hard to find props and fabrics for cheap. What am I sitting around for? At least I could see if any of the props I will need are out there for cheap. I can always write in a new character if I find something I absolutely can't resist!