Author: Charleston Stage

by Barbara Young, Costume Designer

Designing costumes for Joseph lead to many different places, but it was important to always keep in mind that the ancient story be interwoven thru the entire show. Designing the historical costumes was less difficult than adding the hundreds of other pieces that make up the complete costume plot. The time between scenes was so short that everything needed to be easily changed, added, or removed. Each different location required its own specific design and color represented each location. Various locations included a ranch with cowboys and angels, black and white Go-Go dancers, beret wearing Frenchmen and a mime, and of course, Egypt with its turquoise and gold.

The way the costumes were used presented their own set of problems. Somersaulting, flipping, and toe kicking dancers required specific costumes that would stand up to rough usage. The color palette had to work with the various colors in the coat. So many different fabrics were used to create a picture of belonging. Even though traveling to so many places was required, the ancient theme is constantly seen in some way. The volunteer elves of the costume shop were up to the task and Joseph is truly a Technicolored Dream Show!

(Musical number “One More Angel In Heaven”, featuring cowboy costumes)

 

(Musical number “Go, Go, Go Joseph”, featuring Go-Go dancer costumes)

REVIEW:The Post and Courier, September 11, 2009

 ‘Dreamcoat’ a delightful opener

 BY CAROL FURTWANGLER 
Post and Courier Reviewer

Anytime you get to see a show where the joy of the performers comes rolling across the stage and into the audience as inexorably as the incoming tide, your time and money are well spent.

Charleston Stage left a lot of people happy as Lowcountry clams Thursday night, opening its 32nd season with a celebration of zaniness, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’.

Associate Artistic Director Marybeth Clark directed the liveliest production of this musical this reviewer has ever seen, using a huge cast, filling every inch of the big stage at Sottile with big colorful scenes that grab the attention of everyone in the family and hold it fast for a roller-coaster 90 minutes,

New Music Director Amanda Wansa kept the singers on cue and her band moving.  John Kennedy on bass and  John Durham on guitar and Brian Widlowski on percussion sounded like a full orchestra on the 26 musical numbers that run the gamut of musical styles.

The Professional Resident Acting Company’s members make appreciable differences, too.

James Lambardino is an affecting Joseph, adored by his father Jacob (local veteran Kyle W. Barnette, who also plays Pharoah—as a very convincing  Elvis), envied by 11 brothers, stand-outs all, especially our pros Justin Lewis and Christopher Diaz.

The Narrator, almost never off stage, is handled beautifully by Priya Paranthaman with a big, pleasing voice and personality. Lindsey Lamb knocks us over with her dance numbers.

Over 200 costumes by Barbara Young, eye-popping sets by Stefanie Christensen and Julian Wiles, and excellent sound add up to a thorough delight.

In addition to the over 200 dazzling original costumes in the upcoming Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Charleston Stage Resident Costumer Barbara Young and her costume crew created  not one but two coats of many colors.  The first Joseph receives from his father and wears in act one and the second is a gigantic 20 foot wide one that magically appears in act two.   Altogether more than 2000 yards of fabric (much of it generously donated thank goodness!) was used for the 200+  colorful coats, costumes and sets for this mega-musical spectacular which opens this week at the College of Charleston’s Sottile Theatre.

Here are some photos of the two coats of many colors from this past weekend’s dress rehearsal.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a show that allows the imaginations of our scenic and property artists to go wild.   Below are photos taken in our scene shop during the past week where our production staff, volunteers and TheatreWings High School Apprentices have obviously been having fun..

First up is a photo is the beginning (the head is still to come) of a remote controlled goat that appears in Act I.  If you remember the story, Joseph’s brothers kill a passing goat and use its blood to stain Joseph’s beautiful coat in order to convince their father that Joseph was eaten by a wild beast.

After the goat incident, Joseph’s brothers sell him to a caravan of passing Ishmaelites who put him in chains and take him off to Egypt. Below is a giant sphinx-like Pharoah’s head that will appear in the Egyptian scenes.

And finally in a sidewalk cafe back in Canaan, where a famine is underway, Joseph’s brothers sing the blues and, as they do, in flies the Tour de Canaan which looks oddly like another familiar tower!

Joseph is full of pure whimsy and off-the-wall humor and obviously our production staff, led by Set Designer Stefanie Christensen and Property Master Mike Christensen, have gotten into the spirit!

In June and August Charleston Stage offers a TheatreWings Apprentice summer camp where applicants receive training in preparation for the upcoming season.  This year we were surprised and very pleased to have a larger group of applicants participating in our summer camps.  Highlighted in the photos below, campers learned how to sew while making pants and coats for Joseph’s Brothers in Charleston Stage’s season opener, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, running September 9-20 at the College of Charleston’s Sottile Theatre. 

If you know a High School Student who would be interested in working behind the scenes with Charleston Stage and becoming a TheatreWings Apprentice, while learning and helping with costumes, props, and scenery, contact Stefanie Christensen at schristensen@charlestonstage.com for an application and more information.

(TheatreWings Apprentice Shelby Smith, a sophomore currently attending Academic Magnet)

 

(TheatreWings Apprentice Bailey Buckner, a senior currently attending Humanities and Sciences Academy)  

(by Priya Paranthaman, Charleston Stage’s Professional Resident Actor) Wow! I can’t believe SummerStage is over.  The past three weeks have been such an incredible and rewarding experience.  I was completely blown away by the talent and creativity of all the SummerStage participants.   When I arrived in Charleston, I had no idea what SummerStage was or what to expect.  I definitely was a little overwhelmed by the thought of having to help stage a full scale production with sixty-seven 2nd – 12th graders.  Even though I was a little timid, Marybeth knew exactly what to do.  She guided us, the resident actors, through the production process and transformed us into confident teachers and directors.The children sure made our job a lot easier.  They were so amazing to work with because everyone from the littlest chicken to the older leads, wanted to do their best.  Their enthusiasm and hard work sure paid off!  They were truly amazing on stage.I was so proud of each student and little sad when the show was over, but I do look forward to seeing some of them return for theatre school.  I’m so glad that I was able to be part of their magical experience.

 

 (Center:  Larnell White as Nathan Detroit and the Guys and Dolls Jr. cast)

 

 

(Guys and Dolls Jr. cast) 

 

 (by James Lombardino, Charleston Stage’s Professional Resident Actor)

 

  I first heard about Charleston Stage at a unified audition with about 1,000 other young and experienced actors.  I had no idea what would be in store for me for the upcoming year.  So when I got the call to come to play the title role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat I was more than thrilled.  I’ve never done the show before and it couldn’t be more fun.  Every song has a new style; pop, rock, country, musical theater ballads, even calypso.  

During our first rehearsal, we hit the ground running learning “Go, Go, Go Joseph”.  Before I knew it our scores were down, and we were on our feet learning choreography.  Our choreographer explained that just like the music, the dancing includes a multitude of styles.  Suddenly everyone around me is doing a disco/go-go/amazing dance.  I couldn’t believe the level of talent that the community has to offer here.

With the combination of great music, dance and a talented cast, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s rehearsals. “Go, Go, Go JOE!”

 

 

 

(Charleston Stage Professional Resident Actors Priya Paranthaman as the Narrator and James Lombardino as Joseph)

Charleston Stage’s 2009 SummerStage Musical Theatre Camp will be presenting Guys and Dolls Jr. opening tomorrow, Friday July 31st at 7pm.  There will also be a Saturday matinee on August 1st at 2pm.  67 rising stars have been working hard, acting, singing, and dancing in preparation for their opening night.  The young cast met today for the first time at the College of Charleston’s Sottile Theatre for their two technical rehearsals.  SummerStage is Charleston Stage’s youth theatre camp that provides young people with the opportunity to learn the magic and discipline of performing in a musical.  At the end of the camp, students present their own full-scale musical complete with sets, lights, and costumes.  Guys and Dolls Jr. is a theatrical experience not to be missed!  Fun for the whole family!  Bring your kids to see other kids perform on stage and support our youth.

 

(Featured center:  Bailey Buckner as Miss Adelaide along side the Hot Box Girls in the musical number “A Bushel and a Peck”) 

(by Mary Lee Carter, returning TheatreWings Apprentice, Year Three, Junior, Visual Arts Major at School of the Arts)  The TheatreWings Apprentice Program is a-maz-ing. We just finished up the week of June TheatreWings training, in which new apprentices learn everything from chop-saws to chain-stitching, and returning students learn new skills. This week has been so crazy- Stefanie and Mike Christensen, Charleston Stage’s Technical Director and Props Master, cram a year’s worth of theatre knowledge into one week. Not only do you learn through working on projects for the theatre, they allow you to apply your skills in “real life”. We made whiteboards, corkboards, shirts, arm warmers (sleevies!), and more.

A year in the TheatreWings Apprentice Program is an amazing experience. In the theatre, anything can happen, and you can have the craziest experiences! Like during Frankenstein, I got to set off a bunch of fog machines, CO2 fire extinguishers, a burning frog (!!!) and loads more. I’ve worked a giant follow spotlight; my buddy Morgan, who is sitting next to me, has thrown debris into an audience from a catwalk above and then ran onstage to meet “Elvis”.

TheatreWings is a great program to take part in for so many reasons.  The people you meet, the places you go, the things you make, the experiences you, well, experience make all the work worth it. 

(Far Right:  Mary Lee Carter building versatile scenic pieces that will be used throughout the season for KidStage and Theatrical Troupe classes)

Thank you for making Charleston Stage’s 31st season a success!  We value your support and look forward to another exciting season with all performances playing at the College of Charleston Sottile Theatre.  One more year until we’re back at Dock Street Theatre!  

 

(Charleston Stage Staff and Resident Actors)