Tech week after tech week after tech week.....

I always say I'm not going to do this to myself. And then I do.  I say yes, and schedule things close together and I work like a maniac - and this month is EXTRA nutty.  But it's been good!  We successfully got Into the Woods up at Desert Stages Theatre, My Favorite Year opens tomorrow night at MCC and Pajama Game opens next week at Desert Foothills Theatre.  Then, right on it's heels is Guys and Dolls for Mesa Encore Theatre.  In short, it's craziville here at the Wardrobe!  But I thought you'd like some pictures!  Because pictures are SO fun!  Here's a little peek:

Into the Woods opened last weekend to a sold out audience!  It's not the traditional play, it's got some different things going on and it's done in Steam Punk style.  It was VERY fun to make and I am happy with the finished product.  (though really, there's never enough time to get everything totally perfect - I'd need a year per show!)

Here's the Baker and his Wife.

The Ugly Witch

The Transformed Witch

Cinderella's Prince

Rapunzel's Prince

Agony! 

Here's the little boy telling the story, with the group behind him. 

Cinderella's Prince 

Cinderella, before she gets her pretty over vest.

The Mysterious Man and the Baker.

What is that Wolf doing to Little Red?!?!?  Scandalous!

On the far left is Grandmother, on the far right is the Steward, who is actually a dominatrix. 

Here's Kiko and Katelynn working on the step sisters costumes.  Sadly we don't have a picture of them, but they are super cute!  We quilted crazy fabrics and made coats out of them.  They really are amazing! 

Here are the step sisters hats.  Hee he. 

And here's Rachel, who made her own little dress while we were crazy making costumes.  She's so cute!  (and behind her you can see the step sisters coats hanging up!) 

NEXT:  My Favorite Year opens tomorrow - tonight for a preview audience!  Here's some pictures from Dress Rehearsal:

These Hobo Clowns took FOREVER to add the patches too.  Seriously.  But they're cute, huh?!

And we made Maxford House Coffee Cups... 

And I used a pool noodle to make the handles... and I don't have any pictures of them finished, but they're pretty crazy. 

And stay tuned, because Pajama Game and Guys and Dolls are up next! 

This is SO Overdue! Sorry... been super busy...

Holy smokes!  It's been far too long since I've blogged.  I'm going to have to play a little bit of catch up.

There has been so much going on at the shop - and in real life!  We've been spending lots of time building cats for the Aristocats, that just opened last night.  It was pretty horrible to work with the fur.  We tried to knock out all the fur cutting/sewing but it just lasted for a few days.  And it's still all over the place.  It's so gross....

Yah, it was super gross.  It was up our noses, in our eyelashes, stuck to us everywhere.  All over the floor, just everywhere.  And I know Kiko didn't like working with the fur because she called in sick on the days we worked with the fur... coincidence?  Um, I'm thinking not!  :)

Despite all the nasty fur, the show turned out super cute.  They were even on TV!  Here are some pictures from their promo shots:

          And then, some shots from dress rehearsal.  Not everyone had makeup on that night, and there were some missing odds and ends, but you get the gist. 

 

The geese weren't wearing the bonnets, but oh my goodness their little country geese dresses came out so cute!  All kinds of ruffles everywhere.  Robin would hate it.  She hates ruffles.  

Meanwhile, while building Aristocats I was doing paperwork at home and cut my finger... really, really badly... 

 Nasty, I know.  But it's actually almost 100% healed already!  I was able to keep it clean and it healed quickly.

And we had Robin over to stand on the street corner and drum up drive by business.  Um yah, I'm the parent that tells her daughters to stand on the street and drum up business...  Don't judge.  (and, even though she HATES ruffles, she chose to wear them! HA!)

And then ARIZONI time.  That magical time of year where we dress up and pretend we're famous.  Yah, that's the one.  :)  Well, my friend Aliana wanted to go steampunk, and she brought me some pictures, some gears and a really amazing white corset.  And I made her a skirt, embellished the corset, and she was, by far, the best dressed at the ball!  In fact, just today I had a customer tell me this was her favorite outfit she saw at the zonis.  And she didn't even know I made it!  HA!  :)

After putting this together, I made my dress and a tie for Austin.  So we matched.  We didnt' take pictures the night of the zoni's, but we took some the following week when we wore our fancies to church.  It's not the same, but you'll get the point.  

Just so you don't think we're taking bad pictures on purpose, we had a 6 year old to take our pictures.  Yah, he was a little short, but it's a picture none the less! 

Since then we've been hard at work making just about everything you can imagine.  Seriously.  The girls spent the week making Hobo Clowns for "My Favorite Year" along with some fantastic show girl headpieces.  

"Making" the hobo clowns is a little loose... because we pulled black coats and pants and added some patches.  Cute, huh?  

And this picture doesn't do this headdress justice. It's hugely feathery and fun! 

AND... I made this dress (which, by the way, looks SO much better in person!) for a cute gal who is going to the Jane Austen ball!  Exciting!!  

Aside from all of this excitement, we're building Into the Woods - STEAM PUNK style!  And wow, is that ever super fun!  Pictures next time, you'll have to wait.  :) 

Back to the sewing machine... 

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS!

Yes, it's true.  It is tech week for Little Shop.  They open on Friday August 31.  The littles and I sat through dress rehearsal last night, and I have some photos and video (if it loads correctly) to share with you!  You're welcome!

But first, let me just say that hands down, this was the easiest tech week ever for me.  I contribute that fact to having space to work and pull and plan.  The awesome production crew and cast had a lot to do with it as well!  :)  And next, true to form, I will tell you a cute little story about my kids.  (awe, I know you love the cute little kid stories!!)

We were sitting in the theatre last night waiting for the show to start.  Daniel Davisson is doing the lighting, and he always does a fantastic job.  In this show, there's a projection on a scrim that says "Little Shop Of Horrors".   So, I'm sitting next to Benjamin, who is sitting next to Rachel, who is sitting next to Aaron.  Benjamin asked what it said.  So Rachel says, "Little Shop of Horrors".  Benjamin then looks at me and says, "why do they call it little shop of hoarders?"  So I giggle and say, "it's HORRORS - not hoarders.  A hoarder is someone who keeps lots of stuff, a horror is something scary."  Ben replies, "OH!  We're hoarders, we have lots of toys. So why do they call it Little Shop of Whores?" .,, Me (laughing out loud) "It's HORRORS, not whores or hoarders."  Benjamin, "Oh, hhoooaaaarrrdddeeerrrsss".   By this point I figured it wasn't going to stick and I was just glad he was calling it little shop of hoarders instead of little shop of whores.  And I was doubly glad he didn't ask what a whore was... because THAT is a conversation for another day. End of Story.  I know, it's cute.  And funny.


First of all, this week was full of building this and that.  The challenge was to take this orb and turn it into a gas mask of sorts for the dentist...

Here's my sketch of what I wanted to make... 

I took vinyl, foam board, battery operated christmas lights and lots of duck tape and put it all together.  Jennifer, the awesome props gal found some empty canisters to use as gas packs.  I attached them to the back of this later.  (you'll see it in the pictures later). 

And this is me, trying to sew a vinyl shoulder piece to the orb.  Just so you know, despite my best efforts to sew it on the machine it didn't work, and I got to sew it on by hand.  :)  

 Here are some pictures from the dress rehearsal, and mic check.  Please remember that these are taken ONLY in rehearsal, and they are taken with my phone.  Picture and sound quality is lacking, but I thought you'd like to see it any way.  And, if it's THIS good in bad pictures think of how amazing it will be through the run!  Seriously, buy tickets NOW!!  Theatre Works in Peoria.

 

Feed Me Seymour!  Feed me all night long!

And, sadly, the last video isn't loading... I'll try again tomorrow.  For your viewing pleasure.  :)