Life is to short to live it without a smile...or a mustache

Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Patterns We Draft.

First off, I was so excited to come up with a clever title on my last post I decided to leave it for last so it would be really good.  Then without noticing, I forgot to title the post at all...FAIL!  I did it first thing this time haha.

I have been busy since my last post.  I have also taken a couple big steps at work and I am really seeing progress and achievement everyday.  The first main stage show (musical) Next to Normal will open November 2nd and there is lots to get done still.  I am already prepping for when I start going to rehearsal and working as a dresser.  I had a my second PPM (Personal Progress Meeting)...were interns usually complain about what they don’t like and the supervisor tells you what to improve on....with Susan my supervisor and she told me that she didn’t know what to talk to me about because I was doing everything she could want me to be doing and then more.  We talked about more of my wants and goals and I am really excited to learn some really cool new stuff.  She is going to teach me a body blocking system that was invented by one of her mentors/teachers in the 70s when she was going to a dressing making school.  She says it is more true to the theatre and its needs for patterning a dress and calls for less alterations once the garment is crafted.  She also told me that she was going to release me for the next couple of weeks and have me answer to Sara, the costume designer for Next to Normal, and have me work as the assistant designer.  This means I have been driving a company car all over Florida, mall shopping with a company credit card, and carrying a lot of bags from really ritzy stores.  In fact yesterday, when we shopped Macy's for shoes, I was left with the card and tax exempt forms to check out and while Sara went over and started to shop another store.  $573 and a couple signatures later I had bought 6 pairs of shoes!  Talk about dropping some cash on one person in the show.

Also because of Next to Normal, I have recently been introduced to the art of making a "Rub Off".  No, that isn't something dirty for all of you reading this and immediately thought it was!  Family Friendly here!  Sara bought a dress from Mod Cloth that she loved but when it came it was cheap fabric, made poorly, and would be a nightmare to keep pressed each night for shows.  This means the intern makes the same dress in the same color, but in a different fabric.  I first drafted the dress on muslin, then transferred it to paper, added some inches here and there, add seam allowance and cut it all out. The dress is now in pattern form and I will start to cut and sew next week....this also means we will return the piece of crap dress and they will never know what happened.  In total I will have a week and two days until it needs to be put on the actress for dress parade. Pictures soon.

Speaking of pictures, I told you I would post my last project and it’s finally time. The Cabaret show, That's Life Again, just finished its 2nd week of 12 and is going great.  I saw the show again tonight and it was just as good  if not better.

Before...

 

















After…


















Another thing that I learned on this show was, if you can’t find the green vest that you like under stage lights (6 ordered vests later) you take a gold one and color it.  Amazingly, it worked and it looks stunning on stage.  Who would have thought!?




















I also can now add to my resume that I can strip leather shoes and re-dye them to get a black Cuban heal if needed and all you have are brown ones....
  

And no, I didn't use my favorite color dye that we own in the shop. My favorite is a pretty awesome color thought if you ask me...


Life in the sun lately has been great!  Temperatures have dropped and we are sitting mid to high 70s during the days.  I can walk to work the three blocks and not be hot and sweaty on my arrival.  The nights on the beach have also changed a bit. Early this week a group of us put some pants and jackets on and took a blanket and a couple bottles of wine to Lido Beach and sat and watched the tide crash in and looked at stars talking.  While the trip was breath taking and fun it also got a little serious at times when learning more about the friends I have made.  All our stories are so different yet we all have things in common.  Listening to some of the things people have been through and dealt with breaks my heart.  It also made me think about my life and what hard things I have had to go through.  I sat there sipping on my wine feeling guilty because I had nothing to add to the personal stories.  I have always felt a little poor compared to some but I know that I have always had what I ever wanted thanks to my mom.  I have never been in trouble or had to deal with civil authority controlling my life.  I have always been the nice teacher’s kid and able to do all the things I wanted and then some.  Mom would give up her own life for my brother and me at a drop of a hat if needed and see that we were happy.  Happy I am, and look where it has put me.  The patterns that construct our lives give us a beautiful one of a kind garment in the end that we all wear every day on stage.  I wouldn’t want anything different either!

Today is my last day off until November 7th so I am taking it easy.  I slept in, got up and cooked a real breakfast of eggs, sausage, and toast, I’m writing this post while doing laundry and watching Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, and went to see some amazing actors in That’s Life Again in the Cabaret.  I missed college and home a lot more this week because the Fall Production Hay Fever was going on and I wasn’t there to see peoples work and passion.  I miss the days of creating my own thoughts in the classroom but am learning lots following the designer around and doing what I am told. 

This post I also wanted to share a couple signs that I found in Sarasota.  One is a Taco Bell sign promoting a new drink and the other is in the Toy Section at Wal-Mart…and yes those were right under the sign.
















The next couple of weeks are going to be crazy but I am excited to work on my first equity show!  Stay warm where ever you are...because I sure am here in the sand!

P.S. Here are some shots from when I went to Universal Studios!

 

2 comments:

  1. Wow, Court, so much new stuff you're doing! Can't wait to see you make it big :)

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  2. ok.... this post didn't make me cry... and you got a couple of good giggles out of me too! <3

    ReplyDelete