I spent Saturday, 24 July, with Laura Edwards Orcutt of ‘Baubles & Beads & Books..Oh My!’ and ‘Lady and the Librarian,’ picking out the vintage jewelry for our production of 12th Night. Laura’s husband Darby, a coworker of mine at the NCSU Libraries, is one of the Collection Managers. They have a booth at the Antiques Emporium in Cameron Village selling vintage and costume jewelry and books. When I was told that we would be setting the action for our production of 12th Night in December 1945, I immediately thought of Laura as a source for the period jewelry. The trick of course, was that I did not have the money to buy anything, or the space to store it once it was purchased. Neither did the Town of Cary. So I asked Laura and Darby if they would be willing to loan us the pieces we needed, using my all powerful bargaining tool—the free quarter page advertisement in the program! I had already made sure that I could offer ads in exchange for goods and services. Being able to barter is an important tool in my theater kit. I had already cleared the barter process with Laura and had traded an ad in the program for over $200.00 in undergarments from the Bra Patch on North Market Square, so I was pretty confident that I could trade an ad for the jewelry with Laura and Darby. Of course, before I could even think about borrowing a single item I had to make sure that there was proper security. “Oh, that stuff is just glass and paste,” I am sure you are thinking. The market for costume jewelry is a big one—even the late Princess of Wales had a favorite faux pearl necklace she liked to wear. So I talked to Becky with the Town of Cary and made sure that there was a safe where we could lock up our borrowed baubles every evening after dress rehearsals and performances.
I brought all of the costumes we had finished to Laura’s booth in the Antiques Emporium. I showed her each costume piece or outfit, explained the character and the action of the scene, and she went to work pulling items from her display cabinets and things she had brought from home. It was great to watch her work and she asked me additional questions about each character like what color there hair was and what kind of shoes they would be wearing. We put each costume on the counter and Laura opened bags with necklaces and cards of earrings and rings and bracelets. She put them against each item of clothing and talked me through the decision process. She asked questions like “Do you see her wearing a double strand of beads or single?”, “This is her mourning dress, but it is ‘sexy mourning’ so she should do a long strand and a short choker as well.” “Will these earrings read from a distance, or should they be larger?” In the end we had chosen necklaces and earrings for each outfit, and Laura took pictures of each ensemble so we would be able to remember what piece went with what outfit. For one outfit Olivia will be wearing a double strand of black glass beads, with earrings that match the black glass buttons of the blouse, and a matching bracelet. This black glass is called French jet—you learn something new every day! Maria gets subtle pearls for most of her scenes, and Laura looked at different strands of pearl before picking out just the right one for the outfit. I was like a kid in a candy store watching her work. Each piece is going to be in its own storage bag and there will be a tray in the storage box for each ensemble. I am going to have to stress to the dresser the importance of making sure that each item is accounted for at the start and finish of the rehearsal and during the run. Before each show I am going to have to go to the safe and get the case, and after we are done for the evening I will go back and lock the box safely away! Lots of responsibility! Work on the costumes is proceeding apace. There are lots of things left to do, but lots done. We are starting fittings at the second rehearsal on 3 August. Fittings are so much fun. I’ll write more about that process later.
Come and see the production! It will be a visual treat!
0 comments:
Post a Comment