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Beauty and the Beast

 

I was hired to replace the original Costume Designer for this Heart to Heart Production.  My original agreement with the Director/Producer was for me to design and build the costumes for Belle, to design and build dancing Napkin costumes for a Can-Can number around leotards that were already in stock at the theatre,  and to supervise the unpacking and repacking of costumes that had already been ordered from a costume house in up-state New York.

All of the Fabrics for this Costume were purchased by the previous Costume Designer.  I did not have a copy of her design to work from, but I was pleased with the fabrics she chose.  This dirndl and peasant blouse seemed the natural choice.  The skirt was made as a circle skirt, instead of a traditional dirndl shape to accommodate the ballet-style dancing our Belle performed.  With such an iconic character from a well-known movie, it is difficult to design something with one's own personal style.

Belle - Christine Nolan

This ball gown was designed and built around some fabrics, trims, and notions that had been previously acquired by the original costume designer, including the hoop skirt underneath.  I was presented with a copy of her design for this dress, but I was able to create my own version of the gown.

The sleeves are not attached to the bodice to allow the actress free motion for dancing

 

Belle Sketches

The blue leotard was one of 6 that existed in the company's costume stock.  The skirts were based on it at the request of the Director/Producer.

The underside of the skirts were built up with layers of pink, purple and blue netting to resemble a can-can style, while staying within the budget.

Napkin - Kathryn Lamontagne

 

Napkin Sketches

 

Unbeknownst to me when I began, at least half of the cast had also been replaced (without anyone notifying the costume house, as yet), along with the original Music Director, and the Director/Producer continued to replace and even add new cast members right through Tech Week, despite my objections.  I became responsible for sorting out the cast changes with the costume house and finding and building last-minute costumes for cast changes and additions and for those performers the costume house could not accommodate because of their unusual size requirements.

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