Little Mermaid, Jr. (Bluefield University, 2015)

 What a challenge of a show! I made eight costumes in seven days. As designer my projects included most of the mersisters, King Triton, and the two eels. A big discussion was how we were going to make the mermaids' tails work with their choreography--stretchy skin-tight skirts? Rollerblades, like the Broadway musical? None of us liked that last option, including the director. I sat in on rehearsals to watch the choreographer work and decided on a mermaid-shaped skirt with wide gores on the sides in ocean-blue to mimic water, while still giving them freedom of movement. 

An additional concern was the modesty of the costumes given the age of our cast (all under 18). I was able to compromise with parents and create a wider seashell bra and higher waisted skirt all built on a power mesh base, so the only skin showing would be their arms. Each mermaid sister was assigned a different color. I had a great time shopping for fabrics with interesting textures, especially for the "ocean" gores on the skirts. I wanted each sister to have a sense of individuality and visual interest about their costume. Each of the mersisters that I made was draped on the actor. 

King Triton was also concerned about modesty and so we built his costume toga-like over a plain white t shirt. His ensemble was completed with a giant curly white wig & beard. 

Ariel's big moment was all about gaining her legs. I made her mermaid tail separate and it attached up one side with Velcro. During her transformation, all of the fish circle around her and one surreptitiously grabs her mermaid skirt as she twirls out of it to reveal a seaweed skirt and human legs. The seaweed skirt and seashell bra were all one piece, again built on power mesh. 

My final contributions were the eels. My actors wore all black and the stuffed eel wrapped around them, fastened easily to their clothing with invisible safety pins. The eel's head was attached to a black baseball cap and the face made with felt. I loved the eel fabric and thought it was just perfect!

The rest of my cast had parent-made costumes, again with help from a Pinterest board I created and sent them. They went all-out and really looked fantastic!