Like a Careful Mother

My wife, Kim (left), and
daughter Margaret (Young Elizabeth);
Justin Snyder (Bishop of Ely) in background

During last night's performance I finally saw the images that have been stuck in my head for the last 20 years. The last fight/ghost scene was, for me at least, electric (and for my wife, too, I think—she was holding her breath). I'm so grateful for a cast and crew that persevered through this long process and delivered in a big way. Theatre artists have to work on their art and then hand it over to other artists to present it. I am thankful for the wonderful cast and crew that presented "our" art last night.

Every actor brought his A-game to the show. Ron Pyle (Richard III) was on fire. The other cast members rose to the occasion and turned in fine performances. The tech people were spot on, too. After the show, it felt like a celebration in the green room with the Wednesday monkey off our backs.

There's another show and a big webcast tonite at 8 PM. I'm looking forward to the feedback about that. (But if you live within driving distance do not miss the live performance. There is nothing like live.) The webcast will feature five HD cameras and lots of behind-the-scenes stuff including the documentary film made by cinema students about the production. And my lovely wife, Kim will be doing the live chat during the webcast! New territory. Can't wait. 

See you at the show!

Bold, Quick, Ingenious, Forward, Capable

King Edward IV (Philip Eoute)
& Queen Elizabeth (Anna Brown)

Just time for a quick post with a very blurry picture of King Edward IV (one of Richard's brothers) and his queen. Queen Elizabeth's dress is ruched silver metallic fabric with studded vertical strips and a flowing, gauzy skirt and sleeves. I wish you could see the back—there's a heavy-duty exposed silver zipper. Her hair is amazing, too, an intricate weave that Alicia Carr, our wigmaster dreamed up. Queen Elizabeth's look reminds me of some kind of Victorian steampunk Barbie. Anna pulls the whole thing off quite nicely. It's one of the most fashion fused pieces in the whole show. By "fashion fused," I mean the elements of 15th century, Victorian, and futuristic are each represented in this look.

I wanted to play up the contrasts between characters with this costume. One contrast is of this new queen (who had been a commoner) with the old queen, Mad Margaret, who is dressed very quaintly and a bit frayed around the edges (something that echos her character). Another obvious contrast is Elizabeth with her husband, who appears old-fashioned next to her. Her costume also gives her a sense of strength—again, as compared with those around her. She is edgy, a bit hard, and definitely fashion forward.