Busy, Busy, Busy!

It's been a very very long week as my supervisor and I have slogged through the immense process of organizing (but first washing, drying, dry cleaning, ironing and steaming everything to perfection) the costumes for shipment in the 28 cardboard wardrobe boxes we received them in. Gladly, all of the boxes were packed and sealed at 2 pm on Saturday and loaded into a giant truck yesterday morning at 8:00 along with the party lights and the surrey. Thank goodness - I am so glad they are gone.

I'm really ready to move on from Oklahoma! purely because of the massive cast and amount of costumes, even though I know that Sound of Music will probably not be any better (read: all the children and Maria have about 9 costumes EACH). This means lots and lots of costume changes, which will be both stressful and fun.

It's also very hard to believe that my summer is about 2/3rds over. I received an email a couple days ago that key pick-up is on Sept. 6th and 7th, with us starting on the 8th. Holy cow! I'll be glad to go back to school where I won't have to deal with massive rental orders and can make my own designs. Don't get me wrong, this has been a wonderful experience and it affirms that I love what I do, but I tend to like independence - a lot. 

Broadway Antics

A couple weeks ago, the Tony Award nominees were announced, but I didn't recognize most of contenders for best play and musical. I haven't really kept up with the last couple potential Tony Awards nominees, which probably explains why I only recognize the revivals of Anything Goes (starring Sutton Foster - which I would love to see. She is an amazing actress.), How to Succeed…Trying (starring Dan Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame and with costumes I saw in my trip to New York in April), and The Importance of Being Earnest (starring Brian Bedford). Every year when I watch the Tonys, I revel in watching all the clips and performances put on by all the nominees, partly because they are more interesting than the suspense of waiting for the winners to be announced, but mostly because I love the spectacle of the elaborate sets and costumes.

Monday was the Drama Desk Awards Ceremony, with a number of important awards handed out to very deserving awardees. I didn't get the chance to watch it (I'm not even sure if it was televised), but I did look over the winners and nominees and they were quite satisfactory. Sutton Foster won the award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for Anything Goes (not surprising and definitely deserved) and the designer for Priscilla: Queen of the Desert won best costumes (SOOO glad - I've seen photos and they are amazing and swathed with detail. I used the movie as inspiration for my Midsummer Night's Dream/Costume Design 1 Final first semester)

Some of the nutty Priscilla costumes

Outstanding Music in a Play went to Peter and the Starcatcher, the play I was supposed to see when I was in NYC for my costuming trip (but didn't because an actor was sick); Sleep No More, an award winning theatrical experience, also won an award. I never had the opportunity to see the show, but it had a very cool premise. It was Macbeth, only set in an old high school and you walked through and watched the story unfold before your eyes. A complete list of winners can be found here.

A plus is that the Tony Awards are on June 12th! I can't wait to see what happens. In the meantime, I'll start doing some research about the nominated shows. Also Neil Patrick Harris is hosting. I love him (especially in Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog).

I also have task for you readers - if you are in the area, get tickets to come see Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music at Reagle Music Theater! I can assure you that both will be fantastic shows and won't disappoint!