Barbara Young, Charleston Stage Resident Costume Designer
Often designers look for a “hook” for the design of a production . . . something we can “hang” the design on. When working on a show that’s had many classic looks from the Bob Fosse Film to the most recent Broadway revival with Natasha Richardson and Alan Cummings, it’s even more important to find the right “hook”. Director Marybeth Clark wanted us to find our own look and especially avoid the black and grunge look. But that black and grunge look was a great one because it captured the decadence of the period so well. We knew we wanted costumes for the Kit Kat Klub that were just as decadent and risqué but we wanted them to be colorful as well. Artistic Director Julian Wiles suggested we look at images from Baz Luhmann’s Moulin Rouge. Though set in Paris and a few decades before Cabaret, it did give us a more colorful palate to work with. It also suggested that in addition to the costumes themselves we could create great looks with dazzling eye makeup, racy stockings and fantastic footwear. And as Marybeth requested, we let our imaginations go wild creating some of the most dazzling costumes of the season, each and everyone designed and constructed in Charleston Stage’s costume shop giving this Cabaret a look like no other.
