Drama Costumes II: The Results

Finally!

Back in February I posted an entry on the process of making costumes for the St. Pat's high school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. That entry showed the creative chaos that precedes the production of  - well, art of a sort, I guess - but not the resulting costumes. While I did have a few photos of the costumes draped on my dressmaker's form, they looked so lifeless compared to the pieces in action that I wanted to wait until I had pictures of the show. I'll attach a picture of "the Joseph coat" as well as some Egyptian accoutrements here, to show what I mean:

It's probably the most important thing I learned in this process: that costumes may be beautiful in themselves, but it is only on stage, moving, juxtaposed to one another, imaginatively lit, that they come to life. I feel privileged to have been allowed to be part of this process.

Without further ado and very little commentary, then, the costumes in approximate order of their role in the musical. These pictures were taken during the Wednesday matinee the students put on for the grade schools - particularly Joseph had to figure out how to put his coat back on over his Egyptian costume, as you'll see! which he certainly mastered in subsequent performances.

Jacob (bearded guy - actually a woman) and some of his twelve sons. That's Benjamin in the blue hat (some of the headgear: tea towels sewn together). The sons' tunics: old drapes someone had donated to the school, dyed different colours by Donna and me.

 The brothers' wives:

Joseph showing off his coat, the envious brothers whirling him about (I admit to a bit of cringing when I saw what they were doing/had to do to "my" coat, but it stood up to the abuse miraculously well):

 

Reuben (green caftan with vest) announces Joseph's "death" to Jacob in a country-and-western number, hence the hats. You see the coat all crumpled up... eventually held by a devastated Jacob.

 In reality, the brothers and their wives rejoice at Joseph's demise:

The Egyptian scenes required a whole different set of costumes, among them several dozen of the bronze or gold collars (most of them sewed by others, thank you thank you!), and in some cases armbands:

All-purpose white caftans (I cut them all out but thank goodness for Hazel agreeing to sew 7 of the 8 together!) were used to good effect in various scenes by the women:

 

In the musical Pharaoh is traditionally an Elvis figure, and student Nick did a masterful job (I had great fun with all the blue and gold shiny stuff!):

Joseph makes it to Pharaoh's second in command, of course, so he had to be fitted with gold stuff as well. His headgear is a baseball cap painted gold, to which I had to affix flap-like affairs. Painted fabric doesn't sew easily!

Some final scenes with Joseph and the narrators:

 

And, finally - curtain call!

At the end of the closing performance I was honored to be called to the stage and given a bunch of flowers as well as a big thank you from the students - I was touched. It was a wonderful experience!

Longjohn Jamboree

The second annual Longjohn Jamboree (replacing the Caribou Carnival) was held March 14-17, on Yellowknife Bay next to the Snow Castle. Longjohns - particularly in their old-fashioned "boiler suit" form - are still a staple of life for some in Yellowknife, at least if you're outdoors a lot. I've also seen them as stage costumes - bright red, say, or pink with flowers - so artistic statements in their own right. So it is with The Longjohn Jamboree - function and art in harmony.

There's a wonderful account of it by Kyle on Kyle With's YK Online article - his pictures are a lot better, and his account more comprehensive, than mine!

The event takes place outdoors, for one advantage of winter is that the ice exponentially and almost infinitely increases Yellowknife's otherwise fairly scarce "flat play space." That means eating outdoors, for example, in significantly sub-zero temperatures (Pilots Mound and Old Town in the background):

It means playing outdoors, as in the Snow Beach Volleyball Tournament:

When I walked by everyone was obviously having great fun, as the team names bear out: competition championship honours were taken by "Ht Happens," who beat out "O'Hash's Irish Car Bombs" in the finals and "Where's Waldo" earlier in the process.

Then there was the winner of the hotly contested "Ugly Truck and Dog" award - this picture courtesy of the Jamboree Home Page Longjohn Jamboree 2012:

The second most amazing feature was probably the "Fire and Ice Burning Man" art event, patterned on the big Arizona Burning Man. A spot was chosen close enough to the main venue to be accessible, but far enough from the houseboats to pose no fire hazard. The ubiquitous wood pallets were put to excellent use, creating a sort of tall wall (think: a 15 meter folding screen) to which anyone could affix art they wanted burned. Then, when darkness fell on Saturday night, the entire structure was set ablaze - you'll have to look at Kyle's YK Online photo (see link in second paragraph).

But most amazing, to me, were the ice sculptures. Professional carvers from all over (Wisconsin, Washington, Alberta, Ontario, Indiana, Tuktoyaktuk, Yellowknife) created stunning pieces out of blocks of ice, using a variety of tools from chainsaws to chisels to blowtorches (see some of the process at De Beers Inspired Ice's Photos - for example, blocks of ice cut from the bay and lifted out by heavy equipment). A few of my shots to tempt you to have a look at the link:

Winter play!