A history of the theatre costume business : creators of character / Triffin and Gregory Morris ; with Rachel E. Pollock.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morris, Triffin (Triffin I.), author.

Morris, Gregory (Gregory DL), author.

Contributor:

Pollock, Rachel E., contributor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Costume--History.

Costume.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (223 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Routledge, [2022]

Summary:

A History of the Theatre Costume Business is the first-ever comprehensive book on the subject, as related by award-winning actors and designers, and first hand by the drapers, tailors, and craftspeople who make the clothes that dazzle on stage. Readers will learn why stage clothes are made today, by whom, and how. They will also learn how today's shops and ateliers arose from the shops and makers who founded the business. This never-before-told story shows that there is as much drama behind the scenes as there is in the performance: famous actors relate their intimate experiences in the fitting room, the glories of gorgeous costumes, and the mortification when things go wrong, while the costume makers explain how famous shows were created with toil, tears, and sweat, and sometimes even a little blood. This is history told by the people who were present at the creation - some of whom are no longer around to tell their own story. Based on original research and first-hand reporting, A History of the Theatre Costume Business is written for theatre professionals: actors, directors, producers, costume makers, and designers. It is also an excellent resource for all theatregoers who have marveled at the gorgeous dresses and fanciful costumes that create the magic on stage, as well as for the next generation of drapers and designers.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

An Invitation

Notes on Terminology

Introduction: How Costumes Have Saved Choreography and Created Characters

"I Would Hear the Audience Gasp"

"Something Red and Gold and Glittery"

"Skill and Sensibility"

"Blown Away By What She Took From the Sketch"

"Shared Experiences, Capabilities, and Ability to Deliver on Time"

"The Happiest Place"

"I've Never Been Let Down By a Costume"

"The Stage Was Like a Bowling Alley"

Keeping Secrets, Distributing Rhinestones

A Beader From Heaven

"There Is Research, and a Back Story"

An Inspired Improvisation

Never More in the Character

A Fitting Fitting

Chapter 1 Orientation: How Costumes Became a Business, and How It Works

From Antiquity to Equity

The Costume Just Clicked

True Colors

The Dancing Jefferson

Each Costume Built Confidence

Spending Green for Witches and Ogres

From Memphis to Newfoundland

The Place Was Full of Beads and Feathers

Costumes From Concept to Clothes

Not Much Like a Pattern From the Fabric Store

Fit and Finish

Chapter 2 A Stitch in Time: The Early Designer-Drapers

Designer, Draper, Painter, Teacher, Mother, Lover

"You Must Be an Astute Businesswoman"

An Early Atelier

First to Dress Showgirls in Sports Attire

Co-branding With Bergdorf-Goodman

The First Big Integrated Shop

Casting Changes, Costume Crises

"Be Back By 4:30!"

Chapter 3 Thread and Circuses: The Rise and Fall of the Big Rental Shops

"With the Rubbing of a Lamp"

Three Generations of Geolys

Designers, Stars, and a Tattoo

And Then There Were None

Send in the Gowns

Fade to Black

The Goodman Matzo Noodle Building.

Riding on a Tiger

Michael-Jon's

From Divine to Pavarotti.

Chapter 4 The Coming of the Continentals: Lighter Hands for Ballet and Opera

A Vast Bodice of Work

Balanchine Invokes the Bard

"Any Idiot Can Thread a Needle"

With Style and Grace

Curating the Fitting

Chapter 5 Broadway as a Business: The Syndicate, the Shuberts, and the Unions

The Boys From Syracuse

Costumes as a Cause Célébre

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

Make Money, Not War

Only a Fool Fights in a Burning House

From Tenderloin to Times Square

A Better Business Model

Common Ground in Vaudeville

A Chorus Line and Cats

A Brief History of Vaudeville

Chapter 6 The British Invasion: The Legacy of Ray Diffen

An Introduction By Katharine Hepburn

Painting With Willa

The Rise of the Designers

A Break With Sharaff, Over Hats

Salvaging the Situation With Streisand

Drama at the Met

Founding a Dynasty

Chapter 7 A Leading Lady Herself: Barbara Matera

Passing the Crown

"Half Stanley, Half Barbara"

Rebuilds and Rebilling

Learning How to Deal With Impossible People

A Backstage Legend

"At Matera's I Could Just Be Still and Be Professional"

Lee Roy Reams Redux

A New Dress for Tracy Turnblad

A Cavalcade of Designers

Chapter 8 Nights (And Weekends) on Broadway: The Current Commercial Shops

An Unscripted Quick Change in Rehearsal

Caterpillar to Butterfly

The Shop That Cats Built

The Second Generation

"The Best of Barbara in Her Bones"

All He Ever Wanted to Do

Dodging Fireballs in a Tux

Matching Matters

Rebuffed But Resilient

From Freelance to Matera's

"Show Him the 17th Floor"

Opening Out of Town

Chapter 9 Thoroughly Modern Milliners and Makers: The Modern Atelier System

Finding Joy

Negotiating With the IRS

"I Was the Costume Department".

"I Needed to Be in New York"

Not a Good Match

Heads Will Roll

"Out of My Own Savings"

Clicking With Designers

From the Old Globe to the Long Wharf

Flowers From Werner

"We Have a Great Shorthand in Fittings"

Chapter 10 Angel Wings and Dancing Candlesticks: Craft and Specialty Shops

"I Do Weird Stuff"

On Wings of Angels

Susan's Blue in the Refrigerator

"First of All Darling, Congratulations"

"Worse Than Gambling"

Seeking Braid, Finding a Career

Where the Streets Have Great Names

From 300 Down to Three

Whether It Is MoliÈre Or Chekhov

Chapter 11 Tinkers and Tailors: Old Machines Soldier on and Can Be Spied in New Shops

"Finally He Got the Thing Somehow"

An Adventurous Spirit

If She Can Make It There...

Family Tradition

"So Much of What We Do Is About Clarity"

"You Are Not Wearing Khakis to the Tony Lunch!"

A Buddy's Bus for Buttons in Baku

Earning His Chaps

"I Just Showed Up With Scissors"

The Money Jackets

Chapter 12 West of 12th Avenue: Commercial Shops Across North America

Kudos From the Kiddos

"The Largest Research Library in the World"

The Barn Where It Happened

Yes, Those Slippers

Crystal Cowboy Boots

"Your Body Is Your Tool, Your Instrument"

"Sewing Is Part of the Competition"

Dressing the Pope, on Stage

Wrapped in Christmas Lights

Fifty Years Treading the Boards

London Calling

Appendix A Timeline of Broadway Shops With Landmark Shows

Appendix B Award-Winning Broadway Shows and Shops

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-351-05234-9

1-351-05233-0

9781351052344

OCLC:

1249713082