Diamond in the rough

I just finished all six of the Kit Kat girl designs and still have to do the Kit Kat boys (after tomorrow night, when I finish my essay for Material Culture). So anyway, I was surfing youtube and found a wonderful gem - a recording of the original Cabaret opening with Joel Grey. It's very different from Alan Cumming's version, but still cool (it's also more proof that the girls had cats on their costumes)!

Exciting times!

I have garter belts!! Yes, Target is currently selling garter belts - I was there a couple weeks ago to get curtains for my room and found a display of shiny black lingerie that seemed perfect for Cabaret. So on my excursion with my mother, I purchased two sparkly sheer black garter belts (one medium - which surprisingly fits me, the queen of size zero! and an extra-large)! They are really pretty and I'm excited to see them used in the show. I think they'll help with the 1930's vibe a bit.

1930's inspiration

I'm up earlier than usual this morning because my mom is coming to visit, but it turns out she is coming in a short while. I could go back to sleep or I could write a blogpost with images of 1930's underwear to get more ideas for designs. I think I'll do the latter and sleep in the car :) Although I've finished my designs, I might tweak them once I've done some more research on the matter (aka. dig up the dozens of Sears Roebuck catalogs at the library).

But until then, enjoy this big post with lots of images for inspiration.

(more below the cut)

What do you know?!?

I was watching a segment from my all-time favorite PBS documentary Broadway: the American Musical about Cabaret and I discovered the original kit-kat girls had sparkly halter dresses bedazzled with a black cat on the front! It's actually a bit hysterical that the costume designer took their names so literally! Anyway, just a fun fact while I'm waiting for my laundry to finish.

I also found the prettiest sequin fabric which I am thinking of ordering (if we can't find something similar at the local JoAnn's) for skirts for the Kit-Kat girls to wear during "Money." It's so shiny!

Beedle dee deedle dee dee!

Ugh - that song is going to be stuck in my head for eternity. As much as I love the Emcee from Cabaret singing about sleeping with two women at once, I think I'll pass. For the past couple days, there was a little bit of uncertanity about my part in Cabaret. I was initially cast as a Kit Kat Boy (Herman), but yesterday I mentioned to the director I was really excited about being girl. So she talked to the choreographer who was the one who made decisions about the dancers and she wasn't so hot with me switching (she wanted to have balance with the guys in the dance numbers). But this afternoon she talked to me and basically told me to make up my mind and that I could choose. So now I am officially the sixth Kit-Kat girl (or 5th in the Emcee's introductions) Fritzie. It's going to be a bit of a push for me to act like a stripper, but it will be a good time for me to break my boundaries both mentally and physically.

Oh and yesterday I got all the cast's measurements! Yay! Now to figure out the costume list. I also got word that a girl from my costume class last semester wants to help, which would be cool (especially if I end up making a few things)

This is Belchertown where people can't see free!

I decided to avoid doing work this afternoon, so I joined a couple leading ladies on a trip to Theatrix to pick up some mics that were accidentally returned (they belong to the Campus Center). Somehow we decided that we had to write a new musical parody about the parody Urinetown. It is currently titled Belchertown, but the premise is that there is an evil corporation (Theatrix?) that controls energy usage by limiting light usage. It will feature new songs such as "It's a Privilege to See" and the opening number "Belchertown." Look for it soon ;-)

On another note, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is once again auctioning off teddy bears to raise money and awareness for AIDS. All of the bears are dressed like various characters from current Broadway musicals and signed by someone famous who was part of the show in some way. Here are some of my favorites (can you guess what shows they are?):

Meine Damen und Herren, Mesdames et Messieurs, Ladies and Gentlement!

I'm just having a lot of trouble focusing on my work, so it's probably a good idea to take a break and do this now while it's fresh on my mind - I got the cast list for Cabaret! I'm playing one of the Kit-Kat guys (Herman to b exact) which is a bit surprising. I've always seen myself as feminine and I was sure that I would be cast as a lady this time around, but I was wrong. I'm a bit disappointed because I won't be dancing quite as much now, but the Assistant Director came and talked to me tonight and mentioned I'd be dancing in one of the numbers in the beginning of the show (either Don't Tell Mama or Mein Herr - which are traditionally performed by Sally and the Kit-Kat Girls) because I'm one of the stronger "male" dancers. I also talked to the other costume head and she has some cool ideas for costumes and we'll have to go over those at some point (she was thinking Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer as an inspiration). I was also planning to stop by my costume design professor's office to see if I could borrow some fashion books from the late 20's/early 30's to get a better idea of the shapes (but only once I've gotten my work under control).

Ok. Now that that's out of my system, off to reading Material Culture and studying for my Stats test tomorrow morning.

Extra! Extra!

I've waited practically forever for this to happen and my dream is finally becoming a reality! Paper Mill Playhouse is putting on Newsies as their opening show this fall!!!! I'm practically hyperventilating!!! This wonderful soon-to-be show was a Disney movie musical made in the early 1990's about the newsboy strike of 1899. It is a wonderful movie with fantastic music (written by Alan Menken of The Little Mermaid and Little Shop fame) and incredible dancing - and the best part is that it is all done by boys!

I was first introduced to the music when I performed in a musical revue that used "Carrying the Banner" as the opening and in later renditions, "Seize the Day,""King of New York," and (a particularly off-key) "The World Will Know." The best part about Paper Mill presenting this is that Disney is prepping a stage version that amateur companies can perform!! In the past, it has always been illegal to present a show like that because it is not a legit show (and we could get in trouble). So hopefully the stage version will be ready to perform sometime before I graduate college!!!

Oh and here is the full article from the New York Times.

And one more thing - I'm auditioning tonight for the LL show. We still have not heard about rights from Tams-Witmark. Grr. EDIT: We literally just heard and we got the rights to Cabaret!! I'm going tonight and then callbacks are Sunday. I'm hoping for something small with dancing (a.k.a. Kit-Kat Girl [although I could end up as a boy too]). Plus I've already started a costume list for the dancers and Emcee (does that surprise you?). Yay!

Sneak peek

I can't really advertise the Leading Ladies' spring show, considering we have not been confirmed yet, but I can say that the revue fell through and we are in the process of finding another show. We have a director and assistant director (as well as 2 costume heads - myself and one of the seniors), we just need to hear back from Tams-Witmark about getting the rights. Hopefully we'll know by mid-week, but here's something to tide you over.

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will..."

I've known about this for a little while, but just started to look into it more today. Mia Wasikowska will be staring in a feature film of Jane Eyre. I'm interested to see how the story strays from the novel (I didn't see a character listing on IMDB a character listing for Grace Poole, but I may have missed it), but I can't wait to see the dresses. There is a teaser on IMDB of a gorgeous striped white and purply-grey silk that Blanche Ingram wears while visiting Mr. Rochester. I'd love to make it someday (and that may be feasible, considering I've learned more about fitting and pattern making). There are a number of beautiful 1840's dresses showcased throughout the internet, including the one of Mia below. The movie comes out on March 11th, so I'll have to see it over spring break at some point.

More progress...and hairy news!

I finally got around to posting photos of my corded petticoat. It currently has eleven rows, with half of them hand sewn (due to the fact that I have no sewing machine here at school and the machine I would have brought has no zipper foot which is what I would use to sew cords into the fabric). I'm starting to get burnt out with it and want to sew on the waistband, starch it and be done with it (even though I know that it would probably be better/more stable with more cords). Hopefully I will get the chance to head down to the costume shop soon and use a machine to attach the waistband.

It's a bit hard to see, but all eleven cords are there! 

My big highlight is that I finally got tickets to go see Hair! It is coming to Boston and I have tickets in row L of the orchestra! I'm so excited that I will finally get to see it live (even though there will be no Gavin Creel as Claude or Allison Case as Crissy [a dream role of mine. I will be auditioning with Frank Mills for the revue at the end of the month]). I'm so excited!!!