Costume Design and Production for The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes

THESIS

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Fine Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Samantha Anne Kuhn

Graduate Program in Theatre

The Ohio State University

2013

Committee:

Kristine Kearney, Advisor

Mary Tarantino

A. Scott Parry

Copyright by

Samantha Anne Kuhn

2013

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to document the costume design and production

process for Rupert Holmes’ musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, as produced by the

Department of Theatre and the School of Music at The Ohio State University and

directed by A. Scott Parry, the School of Music’s Director of Lyric Theatre. The musical was presented in the Thurber Theatre at Ohio State, November 7 through November 11,

2012.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a musical in which a Victorian Music Hall troupe in 1892 England performs a dramatization of Charles Dickens’ final, unfinished novel,

The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Told in the vaudevillian manner of English Music Hall

Theatre of the late nineteenth century, the piece utilizes song, dance, bawdy humor and audience participation to tell and ultimately discover an ending to Dickens’ story.

Research and designs for the production were derived from photographs, historical research and artwork of Music Hall performers and everyday English citizens from the late nineteenth century. The scenic design transformed the Thurber Theatre into a nineteenth century Music Hall, necessitating that the costume design also transform the actors into Victorian performers to support the historical demands of the script and to create an authentic experience for the audience. The lighting design aided the melodramatic nature of the piece and the sound was all produced live, as it would have been in the 1890’s. ii

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my advisor, Kristine Kearney, for mentoring and supporting me during my graduate career.

I would like to thank my former professors at Hamline University, William

Wallace and MaryBeth Gagner, for encouraging me to pursue a career in costume design.

I would like to thank costume studio manager, Rebecca Turk, for her work in completing this production.

I would like to thank fellow graduate student, Natalie Cagle, for her friendship, support and work on this production.

I would like to thank all the students in the costume studio and in the Intermediate

Costume Construction class for their hard work and willingness to learn.

I would like to thank my family for their love, support and encouragement, especially my fiancé, Anthony Staneart, whom is completing his own graduate program at Emerson College in Boston, MA.

I would like to thank my committee for their time and advice.

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Vita

May 2006 ...... Apollo Senior High School

2010...... B.A. Theatre Arts and Economics

Hamline University

2010 to present ...... Graduate Teaching Associate, Department

of Theatre, The Ohio State University

Production History

2008…………………………………………My Fair Lady Costume Designer- Andover High School

2008…………………………………………Until Someone Wakes Up Costume Designer- Hamline University

2008…………………………………………Romeo and Juliet Costume Designer- Hamline University

2008…………………………………………The Matchmaker Costume Designer- Andover High School

2009…………………………………………Thoroughly Modern Millie Costume Designer- Andover High School

2009…………………………………………The Taming of the Shrew Costume Designer- Chameleon Theatre Circle

2009…………………………………………Harvey Costume Designer- Andover High School

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2010…………………………………………The Ash Girl Costume Designer- Hamline University

2010…………………………………………Kiss Me Kate Costume Designer- Andover High School

2010…………………………………………Toothsome Alley Costume Designer- People’s Center Theatre

2011…………………………………………Spring Awakening Costume Designer- OSU

2011…………………………………………Cinderella 4 Costume Designer- Gooseberry Park Players

2011…………………………………………Living Out Costume Designer- OSU

2012…………………………………………Marat/Sade Costume Designer- OSU

2012…………………………………………The Merchant of Venice Costume Designer- Actors’ Theatre of Columbus

2012…………………………………………The Mystery of Edwin Drood Costume Designer- OSU

2013…………………………………………Twelfth Night Costume Designer- OSU

2013…………………………………………Carmen Costume Designer- OSU

2013…………………………………………The Comedy of Errors Costume Designer- Actors’ Theatre of Columbus

Fields of Study

Major Field: Theatre, Design

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Table of Contents

Abstract ...... ii

Acknowledgments...... iii

Vita ...... iv

List of Tables ...... xi

List of Figures ...... ix

List of Plates ...... xi

Chapter 1: The Producing Situation ...... 1

Chapter 2: Production Concept and Design Scheme ...... 4

Chapter 3: Character Analysis ...... 10

Chapter 4: The Process ...... 25

Chapter 5: Conclusion...... 43

References ...... 49

Selected Bibliography ...... 50

Appendix A: Director’s Concept ...... 52

Appendix B: Columbus Dispatch Review ...... 61

Appendix C: Tables ...... 64

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Appendix D: Figures ...... 80

Appendix E: Plates ...... 105

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List of Tables

Table 1. Costume Plot ...... 65

Table 2. Action Plot ...... 69

Table 3. Initial Costume Budget ...... 72

Table 4. Build List ...... 78

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List of Figures

Figure 1. Reasearch For Music Hall Performers ...... 81

Figure 2. Research For Music Hall Performers ...... 82

Figure 3. Research For Music Hall Performers ...... 83

Figure 4. Research For Early 1890’s Clothing ...... 84

Figure 5. Research For Early 1890’s Clothing ...... 85

Figure 6. Research For Early 1890’s Clothing ...... 86

Figure 7. Research For Early 1890’s Outerwear ...... 87

Figure 8. Research For London Opium Dens ...... 88

Figure 9. Research For Color ...... 89

Figure 10. Research For Chairman William Cartwright ...... 90

Figure 11. Research For Clive Paget/John Jasper ...... 91

Figure 12. Research For Cassock For John Jasper ...... 92

Figure 13. Research For Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood ...... 93

Figure 14. Research For Deirdre Peregrine/Rosa Bud...... 94

Figure 15. Research For Angela Prysock/Princess Puffer ...... 95

Figure 16. Research For Janet Conover/Helena Landless ...... 96

Figure 17. Research For The Maestro and Waiter ...... 97

Figure 18. Research For Constable ...... 98

Figure 19. Preliminary Sketch For Chairman William Cartwright...... 99 ix

Figure 20. Preliminary Sketch For Clive Paget/John Jasper...... 100

Figure 21. Preliminary Sketch For Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood ...... 101

Figure 22. Preliminary Sketch For Deirdre Peregrine/Rosa Bud ...... 102

Figure 23. Preliminary Sketch For Janet Conover/Helena Landless ...... 103

Figure 24. Preliminary Sketch For Angela Prysock/Princess Puffer ...... 104

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List of Plates

Plate 1. Rendering For Chairman William Cartwright ...... 106

Plate 2. Rendering For Stage Manager James Throttle...... 107

Plate 3. Rendering For Maestro Thomas Purcell ...... 108

Plate 4. Rendering For Alice Nutting As Herself ...... 109

Plate 5. Rendering For Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood, Act I...... 110

Plate 6. Rendering For Alice Nutting/Dick Datchery, Act II ...... 111

Plate 7. Rendering For Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood, Finale ...... 112

Plate 8. Rendering For Clive Paget/John Jasper, Act I ...... 113

Plate 9. Rendering For Clive Paget/John Jasper, Act I, Scene 2 ...... 114

Plate 10. Rendering For Clive Paget/John Jasper, Act II ...... 115

Plate 11. Rendering For Deirdre Peregrine/Rosa Bud ...... 116

Plate 12. Rendering For Deirdre Peregrine/Rosa Bud, Outerwear Act I ...... 117

Plate 13. Rendering For Janet Conover/Helena Landless ...... 118

Plate 14. Rendering For Janet Conover/Helena Landless, Outerwear Act I ...... 119

Plate 15. Rendering For Victor Grinsted/Neville Landless ...... 120

Plate 16. Rendering For Cedric Moncrieffe/Rev. Crisparkle ...... 121

Plate 17. Rendering For Angela Prysock/Princess Puffer ...... 122

Plate 18. Rendering For Angela Prysock/Princess Puffer, Opium Den ...... 123

Plate 19. Rendering For Nick Cricker/Durdles ...... 124 xi

Plate 20. Rendering For Nick Cricker, Jr./Deputy ...... 125

Plate 21. Rendering For Phillip Bax/Bazzard ...... 126

Plate 22. Rendering For Phillip Bax/Waiter ...... 127

Plate 23. Rendering For Nicholas Michael/Constable Horace ...... 128

Plate 24. Rendering For Opium Den Denizens, Act I, Scene 3 ...... 129

Plate 25. Rendering For Opium Den Succubae, Act I, Scene 3 ...... 130

Plate 26. Rendering For Opium Den Shades of Drood and Jasper, Act I, Scene 3 ...... 131

Plate 27. Rendering For Chorus Members in Outerwear, Act I ...... 132

Plate 28. Rendering For Chorus Members, Act II ...... 133

Plate 29. Production Photo, “There You Are” ...... 134

Plate 30. Production Photo, Chairman William Cartwright ...... 135

Plate 31. Production Photo, Rosa Bud and Helena Landless ...... 136

Plate 32. Production Photo, Princess Puffer ...... 137

Plate 33. Production Photo, Deputy, Durdles and Chairman William Cartwright ...... 138

Plate 34. Production Photo, “No Good Can Come From Bad” ...... 139

Plate 35. Production Photo, “Writing On The Wall” ...... 140

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Chapter 1: The Producing Situation

Rupert Homes’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood was produced by The Ohio State

University’s Department of Theatre and the School of Music in the fall semester of 2012.

Performances ran from November 7 through 11 at the Thurber Theatre, located in the

Drake Performance and Event Center at OSU. The setting of this musical comedy,

featuring a cast of 26 actors and 10 musicians, is set in an 1892 Victorian Music Hall,

requiring 35 costumes which were provided with a costume materials budget of $4,000.

The Ohio State School of Music’s director of Lyric Theatre, A. Scott Parry,

directed and conducted the music for the production. Marni Balint, a second year scenic

design graduate student designed the scenery, and Brian Elston, a third year lighting

design graduate student designed the lighting as his thesis project. The sound was

designed by Ruth Luketic. This was my first opportunity collaborating with Balint and

Luketic and my second with Elston.

The costumes for The Mystery of Edwin Drood, as envisioned by Parry and

myself, were designed as historically accurate (early 1890’s London) while maintaining

costume-like qualities to remind the audience that the characters are producing their own

play within this light-hearted musical. Parry had decided that the Music Hall Royale

(producing venue of the play-within-the-play) should be a middle-class establishment and that the costumes should reflect a low-budget Victorian production sensibility. This was 1

achieved by using mismatched and worn garments with silhouettes that in some instances

referenced late 1880’s styles.

The production situation for The Mystery of Edwin Drood was influenced by the

academic nature of the producing organization. The facilities and staff of The Ohio State

University Department of Theatre, the labor and skill available to produce the costumes,

the schedule demanded by the academic calendar, as well as the budget, affected the

quality of the realized costume design.

The Thurber Theatre is a proscenium performance space which normally seats six hundred and nine patrons at full occupancy. However, due to the nature of the scenic

design, sixty-four seats were removed to create front and center aisles for in-audience

performance by the actors, leaving the occupancy for each production at five hundred and

forty-five, with space for ten wheelchairs. The Thurber stage is the larger of two stages in

the Drake Performance and Event Center, a facility on The Ohio State University’s main

campus, which also houses classrooms, offices and production studios for the Department

of Theatre.

The costume studio at OSU is a large workspace, featuring eight sewing

machines, three sergers (overcast machines that finish raw seam allowances), four cutting

tables, numerous dress forms, and an abundant supply of sewing tools and notions. The

studio also owns a large collection of modern, vintage and historical patterns, a wide

selection of fabrics, as well as a costume stock of men’s and women’s clothing and

accessories which spans most time periods.

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The costume studio at OSU is a very active workspace. Construction and

alteration of costumes are done by the studio manager, the resident designer, two costume

design graduate teaching associates (including myself), two work-study stitchers and

numerous undergraduate students who work in the studio three hours a week for course

credit. The Mystery of Edwin Drood was the second of two shows to open in the fall term

of 2012, with one undergraduate student and one graduate student (myself) designing

simultaneously. Fortunately, the first production of the season, Arabian Nights, opened one month prior to the opening of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, allowing plenty of work hours to be focused on Drood alone. Despite the ample time allowed, the available skilled labor was insufficient for the number of costumes required. To compensate for this, two over-hire stitchers were employed for five weeks. This additional labor budget was controlled by the costume studio manager and separate from the allotted materials budget.

Production work for The Mystery of Edwin Drood began in August of 2012 at the beginning of the fall semester. The bulk of the construction did not begin until late

September, although many fittings occurred earlier for existing pulled and rented garments, undergarments and mock-ups. With first dress rehearsal taking place on

October 31, that left the studio about six weeks to build, fit and alter the costumes. Three days during the technical rehearsal period were also used for notes and detail revision.

After the final performance on November 11, the costumes were struck from the dressing rooms, laundered and returned to either our stock or to where they had been rented from.

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Chapter 2: Production Concept and Design Scheme

The Mystery of Edwin Drood began life as the last novel by the celebrated English author

Charles Dickens. In the novel, Dickens develops a detailed and intricate plot of

disappearance and deception. However, the novel is not dark and sinister; rather, the

characters are melodramatic and quite comic. Before finishing the novel, Dickens died in

June of 1870. Readers are left to decide for themselves the identity of a mystery character

who might have murdered Edwin Drood, if Drood is even dead at all. Because the novel

is unfinished, there have been countless conjectures by Dickensian scholars as to the

author’s intent for the novel’s ending. Dickens himself left no clues as to how he planned

to end the story. There have been many authors, including Dickens’ son, who have

provided their own endings. In addition, there have been multiple adaptations of the story

for the stage and three different film versions.

In 1985, author and composer Rupert Holmes, perhaps best known for the

1979/1980 hit “Escape (The Pina Colada Song),” took it upon himself to write the book,

music and lyrics for a musical version of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It was Holmes’

understanding that no one person had done this before. However, many composers had

written the books to their own musicals, but most do not also write their own

orchestrations, as Holmes had done. In the Holmes musical, a Victorian music hall company is producing a choose-your-own-ending musical pantomime/melodrama of the 4

unfinished Dickens novel. After the characters and plot of the novel are played out, the

cast of Victorian actors enter the audience to collect votes and decide the murderer of the

evening. The musical is light-hearted and bawdy and all of the Dickens characters are

played with a heightened melodramatic style.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood premiered at the New York Shakespeare Festival in

Central Park on August 21st, 1985. Holmes was assured by the festival’s creator, Joseph

Papp, that if the musical did well at the festival it would immediately be transferred to

Broadway. The Mystery of Edwin Drood had its Broadway premiere, with the original cast, about four months later on December 2nd. The title was shorted to Drood about

halfway through its run on Broadway. Holmes received two Tony (Antoinette Perry)

Awards for Best Book and Best Original Score and the production received three

additional Tony Awards including Best Musical in 1986. Drood also received nine

Drama Desk Awards the same year. The musical has recently returned to Broadway in

October of 2012, under its original title, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

A. Scott Parry’s director’s concept was to approach our production first and

foremost as entertainment. Parry described The Mystery of Edwin Drood as “a frothy

Victorian romp” (Parry, 6) and should be treated as such. The most important element to

the production, for Parry, was to provide a period Victorian music hall for believable

Victorian “actors” to stage their production so that our modern audience would feel

transported back in time. The show that these actors from 1892 are performing, The

Mystery of Edwin Drood, should be played so highly melodramatic that the actors

themselves have a hard time remaining serious. As Parry explained, “As an audience, we

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must invest completely in the reality of [the actor’s] time and place … while recognizing

their performance (the Dickens’s play within the play) as being a raucous sham” (Parry,

2). To add another layer, the production team decided that in this production, the Music

Hall Royale would be a lower class establishment with a tight budget.

It was vitally important for Marni Balint, the scenic designer and myself, the

costume designer, to create an authentic Victorian environment for the cast members to

play within and in which the audience could immerse themselves. As for the lighting

design, Parry requested a period gaslight look with theatrical footlights for the scenes that

took place in the Music Hall Royale. Additionally, Parry suggested the possibility of heightened, dramatic moments that utilized modern technology when the actors were performing The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Balint’s scenic design was influenced directly by her research of London

Victorian music halls. Specific elements included were: an ornate proscenium arch with

Venetian curtains, stacked arches at either side of the proscenium, a large chandelier over the audience and a central platform framed by another arch to provide an additional level on an otherwise flat stage. Balint removed seats from the house to create a central aisle to provide performance spaces amongst the audience. Her color palette for the music hall was strictly red and gold.

For the Music Hall Royale’s production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Balint designed wagons and flown scenery to provide multiple locations for the action. The wagons that represented Jasper’s House, the Nun’s House and Cloisterham Station were operated by automation, as was the large central platform that could be moved upstage

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and downstage. Cloisterham High Street consisted of flown flats painted with houses and

shops. The Opium Den was made up of a black scrim and a variety of draped red curtains

set at different heights. Other scenic pieces included: a tomb door, a bench, an opium cot

and a Victorian Foley cart. It was evident in each scenic piece that the Music Hall Royale

had been reusing this scenery for quite some time because the paint was faded and

chipping.

My costume design followed suit with the shabbiness of the Music Hall Royale as

well as being late Victorian. Parry and I decided early in the process that the costumes

should reflect the styles of 1892, the year that the Music Hall Royale is producing The

Mystery of Edwin Drood. Many productions, including the original Broadway staging,

choose to costume the Music Hall Royale’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood with styles

from 1870’s and 1880’s, which is closer to the period that Dickens wrote and set his

book. Because the Music Hall Royale in the Ohio State production had a small budget, I

suggested the idea that most of the “actors” would have provided parts of their costumes

from their own personal wardrobes, which would be from the early 1890’s. There would

not be enough money to provide the actors with period costumes from twenty years

earlier. In addition, because of the low-brow style of entertainment that music halls in

London would provide, there often were not costumes from different periods; the audience would just accept the idea that the show they were watching was taking place in a different time. I also decided to avoid items that were too on trend for 1892 and looked for costume pieces that looked slightly older. I chose to use a jewel-tone color palette to play up the richness of the period, in a variety of patterns, textures and degree of wear. I

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costumed the chorus members in mismatched pieces to reflect the Music Hall Royale’s

tight finances.

Only the “stars” and major characters of the production were costumed

specifically for their roles. In keeping with the melodrama of the Music Hall Royale’s

production, I emphasized the stereotypes of “the villain,” “the ingénue,” “the hero,” etc. with their costumes. For example, John Jasper is the villain of the play; I costumed him in a slick, tailored outfit of black and red. In contrast, Rosa Bud is the innocent love interest therefore I designed her dress to be pale colored and frilly in tints of cream, blue and pink. For the chairman, who runs the entire production, I designed a bright yellow frock coat with a bright pink and blue vest so that he would stand out and draw the audience’s attention when necessary. I also chose yellow to help him “pop” against the bold, red proscenium arch.

For the lighting design, Elston chose different overall looks to highlight the action taking place in the Music Hall Royale and to distinguish the actors performing The

Mystery of Edwin Drood. The Music Hall Royale was lit with warm colors reminiscent of gaslight and flame. There were also footlights positioned along the downstage edge of the stage. Elston and Balint collaborated on the design of the footlights as well as the variety of practical instruments used throughout the production including: sconces on the proscenium, the chandelier over the audience, lamp posts, lanterns and live, handheld torches.

For the different scenes in the “play within the play,” Elston experimented with cooler colors to imitate daylight and moonlight and utilized different angles to create an

8

eerie quality when necessary. To support the heightened melodrama, he provided flashes

of lightning on the cyc for the Christmas Eve storm, red light and shadow play behind the

scrim in the Opium Den and follow spots on the singers for each musical number. In

addition, Elston provided haze and fog for the Opium Den and the Tomb.

The sound was designed by Ruth Luketik. The sound design for The Mystery of

Edwin Drood was minimal because Parry did not want to use microphones, only live

sound from the orchestra and actors. However, after rehearsing in the Thurber Theatre, it was decided that area microphones would be used to help the actors be heard over the music. Additionally, a Foley cart was designed, in collaboration with Balint, for actors to create live sound effects for Act I, scene 5 when John Jasper is trying to sneak around in the Cloisterham Cathedral catacombs.

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Chapter 3: Character Analysis

My character analysis and ultimately my costume design for The Mystery of

Edwin Drood was informed primarily by the script but also by Parry’s director’s concept

(see Appendix A), and Dickens’ own text. In his director’s concept Parry included his

own comprehensive character analysis. In addition to the information found in the script about characters that the Music Hall Royale’s actors are playing, Parry created back stories and personalities for each of the Royale’s primary actors. I found this exceedingly helpful when developing my own analysis, because very little about each Music Hall

Royale actor is actually provided in the script. Parry’s back stories gave each Music Hall actor a life beyond the character that they are playing.

Although expressly advised against by Rupert Holmes in the Author’s Production

Notes of The Mystery of Edwin Drood script, I read the unfinished Dickens’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood novel while designing the costumes for the show. Holmes requests that directors keep actors from “Mr. Dickens’ somber and poetic novel at all costs … for neither the Music Hall Royale nor the characters they portray are to be found there”

(Holmes, 143). After reading the Dickens novel, I would have to disagree. I thought the novel was written ironically and the characters were developed quite melodramatically

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and comical. I do not believe Dickens meant The Mystery of Edwin Drood to be received as a dark, serious murder mystery as Holmes suggests.

There were many parallels between the characters in the novel and those being portrayed by the Music Hall Royale’s actors. Holmes’ Jasper, Drood, Rosa Bud, Landless

Twins and Princess Puffer are all taken from the Dickens novel. Reverend Crisparkle, in the musical, is in fact a hybrid of Dickens’ Reverend Crisparkle and a character in the novel named Mr. Grewgious, who is Rosa’s legal guardian. Bazzard is Mr. Grewgious’ assistant in the novel, not the Reverend’s. Also, in the novel, Edwin Drood refers to Rosa

Bud as “Pussy,” which Holmes, understandably, left out of his musical because of the word’s salacious modern connotation. The chairman and all of the Music Hall Royale actors, however, were all created by Holmes.

While it is true that the Music Hall Royale and its actors do not exist in the novel and that the actors add their own layers to The Mystery of Edwin Drood characters, this does not discount the character work done by Dickens. In fact, there are lines in the script that are taken directly from Dickens’ text. For example, in Chapter II of The Mystery of

Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens, Edwin Drood and John Jasper have the following exchange:

“That’s what I complain of. My dead and gone father and Pussy’s dead and gone father must needs marry us together by anticipation. Why the --- Devil, I was going to say, if it had been respectful to their memory---couldn’t they leave us alone?” “Tut, tut, dear boy,” Mr. Jasper remonstrates, in a tone of gentle deprecation. “Tut, tut? Yes, Jack, it’s all very well for you. You can take it easily. Your life is not laid down to scale (…) You can choose for yourself (…)” “Don’t stop, dear fellow. Go on.” “Can I anyhow have hurt your feelings, Jack?” (Dickens, 9-10).

Holmes presents a similar dialogue in Act I, scene 1 of his musical:

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DROOD (Moodily) Oh, I’m sure we’ll be quite happy…though our courtship suffers from an unavoidable flatness, owing to the fact that my dead and gone father and her dead and gone father had as good as married us at birth. Why the devil couldn’t they have left us alone?

JASPER Tut, tut, dear boy –

DROOD Tut, tut? Yes, it’s all very well for you, Jack. You have the freedom to love whomsoever you choose. (DROOD stops himself, alarmed by something HE sees in JASPER’s face)

JASPER Don’t stop, dear fellow, do go on.

DROOD Have I hurt your feelings, John? (Holmes, 15).

This is just one example of how Holmes stayed true to Dickens’ original dialogue. Much of the narration that the Holmes’ chairman has is directly from the Dickens’ prose.

Although the following character analysis, by necessity, needed to first and foremost adhere to the script and Parry’s director’s concept, I kept the Dickens’ novel in the back of my mind as I proceeded with the analysis and costume design.

The chairman of the Music Hall Royale, William Cartwright, is the master of ceremonies. The chairman is in charge of the entire production which was an important role in the music hall tradition. A master of ceremonies of sorts would warm up the audience with jokes and then guide them through the production as a combined narrator and Greek chorus. He narrates his company’s production of The Mystery of Edwin

Drood, provides entertaining interludes and introduces the Music Hall Royale actors to the audience. Consequently, he leaves stage very little and needs to capture the audiences’ attention to distract from scene changes and to impart important information

12 about the characters. To give the chairman visual focus, I costumed him in a rich yellow frock coat. I also created interest and contrast with a fuchsia and navy plaid vest and black pants. The yellow coat also helped to separate the chairman from the red proscenium and draping that he stood in front of for a majority of the show. Although I am not certain any Victorian male ever wore such a combination of colors, bright, saturated colors were in style and each of the Chairman’s garments could have conceivably existed. Pairing these garments together helped to support the comedic nature of the play.

In Act I, scene 4, the chairman must stand in for the Music Hall Royale actor who was intended to play Mayor Thomas Sapsea. The chairman has little time to change his appearance and often shifted between the two characters multiple times per scene. I separated the chairman from the mayor by adding a top hat and scarf. This simple accessory addition, along with the actor’s adoption of a different vocal quality, helped the audience delineate between the chairman and the mayor and also added to the humor.

The Music Hall Royale also has a stage manager, James Throttle. Mr. Throttle's major function is to keep the show moving smoothly and to solve problems as they arise.

He also functions as the theater’s barkeep and, jokingly, the arranger of trysts between the actresses and members of the audience. James Throttle takes his stage management job seriously and is constantly annoyed by technical difficulties, missing actors and impromptu songs. He also has a sweet spot for Alice Nutting and arranges his own surprise for the company when he brings Alice/Drood back at the end of the show.

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James Throttle does not play a character in the Music Hall Royale’s production of

The Mystery of Edwin Drood, therefore he is wearing clothing that a stage manager of the

time period would wear. I costumed him in a casual vest and rolled up shirt sleeves, wool

trousers and bow tie. An important addition to Mr. Throttle’s costume was a pocket

watch that he could consult frequently to show his worry about keeping the production on

schedule.

Another non-actor member of the Music Hall Royale is the orchestra conductor,

Maestro Thomas Purcell. Despite his presence throughout the entire production in the

orchestra pit, Purcell has no lines and is only acknowledged on a few occasions. The

audience is not told anything about his personality. His sole function is to conduct the

orchestra. Therefore I designed for Maestro Thomas Purcell a traditional Victorian

maestro ensemble. His costume consisted of a black tail coat, a white formal vest, shirt,

gloves and bow tie, with black trousers and shoes.

The character of Edwin Drood in the Music Hall Royale’s production is played by

Alice Nutting, a famous male impersonator in the world of the play. Ms. Nutting is hired

by the Music Hall Royale as a guest artist to draw in more patrons. She is a true diva and

scene-stealer. The character she plays has similar qualities. Edwin Drood is a self-

centered, pompous dandy. He inherited his father’s engineering firm and will soon be

managing the construction of a highway through Egypt made from the blocks of the

Great Pyramid. Edwin Drood is engaged to be married to Rosa Bud, by the arrangement of their fathers. When Drood mysteriously disappears at the end of Act I, Alice takes on the role of sleuth and gum-shoe Dick Datchery, but only to introduce the audience to the

14 character. The company at the Music Hall Royale does not like Alice Nutting and votes

Drood dead during the voting in Act II so Drood cannot be the mysterious Dick Datchery.

In true Prima Donna form, Alice storms off stage and re-emerges in street clothing and leaves the theatre, lap dog in tow. She does come back to sing the final number at the end of Act II.

Because both the actress and the character have parallel characteristics, I chose to connect the two by using vertical stripes in both Alice Nutting’s dress and Drood’s two piece, well-tailored suit. I used turquoise and fuchsia in Drood’s vests not only to support his bold personality, but also to give a nod to the femininity of the actress playing him.

For Alice’s dress, I decided on a more masculine cut bodice but still colored in a shade of fuchsia with a navy blue stripe. I costumed the character Dick Datchery in a brown plaid inverness caped coat, deerstalker cap and obvious beard disguise. The idea was for

Datchery to evoke the iconic Sherlock Holmes image.

Edwin Drood’s uncle, John Jasper, is played by the Music Hall Royale’s leading male actor, Clive Paget. Mr. Paget is the ultimate hammy actor and ladies’ man. His character, John Jasper, is the villain of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. John Jasper is the pious choirmaster at Cloisterham Cathedral and Rosa Bud’s music instructor. Although he is Drood’s uncle, Mr. Jasper is in love with Rosa Bud and so tormented by his passion that he seeks solace in laudanum wine. While under the influence of opium, Mr. Jasper is an evil, jealous man who is willing to kill his nephew in order to win Rosa for himself.

He is an obvious candidate for the murderer of Edwin Drood.

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To play up the stereotypical villain persona, I costumed John Jasper in a black

frock coat, black and gray striped trousers and a red vest with a green velvet collar. The use of red and black helps to suggest that Jasper is a villain. Pairing a green collar with

the red vest is a nod to the Christmas holiday that the characters are celebrating. Because

Clive Paget is a suave, stylish man, I made sure John Jasper’s clothing was sleek, well

styled and in fashion. This helped give a swarthiness to John Jasper as well. John Jasper’s

winter coat, which figures into the plot, was designed as a heavy, black cape coat that

looked ominous and dramatic. In Act II, Mr. Jasper is in mourning because of Drood’s

death and is dressed entirely in black, with the exception of a red pocket square.

The Music Hall Royale’s pretty ingénue, Deirdre Peregrine, plays the role of

Drood’s young fiancée, Rosa Bud. Miss Peregrine is a budding star and quite the tease.

Despite her proper and chaste manners, the audience is led to believe that she is not

always so. Rosa Bud, on the other hand, is just that. She is an orphan who lives at the

Nun’s House, a seminary school for young women, in Cloisterham. Since birth she has

been engaged to marry Edwin Drood. Rosa is quite wary of John Jasper, her music

master, and fears his intentions for her. Rosa Bud is a smart, willful girl who is not afraid

to break off her engagement with Drood when she realizes that she does not love him as a

husband. The Music Hall Royale offers Rosa as a possible murderer of Drood and

candidate for Dick Datchery.

Keeping with her obvious name, I costumed Rosa Bud in an ivory and pink

bodice and skirt with a large floral pattern. I wanted to stay away from pink frills because

Rosa, unlike the actress playing her, is not mindless. To offset the pink, I gave Rosa blue

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trims and a light blue drape and bow on her skirt. The light blue helped to show her as a

young and thoughtful character because of light blue’s youthful connotations. I chose to

style her dress with short sleeves and white lace trim to show her young age. During

outdoor scenes in Act I, I dressed Rosa in a dusty rose colored velvet coat with brown

fur, and a muff and hat.

Early in Act I, Cloisterham gains two new citizens from Ceylon, twin brother and

sister Neville and Helena Landless. Neville is played by the Music Hall Royale’s newest

actor, Victor Grinsted. Victor is a level-headed, well-mannered young man. His character

Neville is exactly the opposite. Neville and his sister have been put under the care of the

Reverend Crisparkle because both of their parents have died. Neville is quick-tempered,

jealous and revengeful. He is trying to turn over a new leaf in England and is trying to

adapt to European fashion and customs. He immediately falls in love with Rosa Bud and

instantly hates Edwin Drood. Drood and Neville butt heads at each encounter until both

lose their tempers at Christmas Eve dinner. Both go out into the storm together and

Drood is never seen again. Neville Landless is the prime suspect, but he could also be the mysterious Dick Datchery.

The fact that Neville is from Ceylon, influenced my costume design tremendously. Neville now lives in England, so it was my task as the designer to express a mix of both Eastern and Western into the same costume. I chose to dress Neville

Landless in green, gold and burgundy colors to show not only his hot-tempered and envious nature, but also his Eastern heritage. Neville wore a green jacket, a paisley print brocade vest and black textured pants. By not dressing Neville in a two or three piece

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suit, I was able to show that he was of a lower class than Drood, which is a contention

point between the two men. Neville’s winter coat was designed as an Eastern inspired,

loose fitting coat constructed of an ivory and burgundy Indian print paired with a burnt orange scarf. At the end of Act I when Neville is accused of killing Drood, he is dragged on to the stage by a mob and has blood all over his shirt. He also carries a walking stick with a heavy gold handle, which the townspeople believe he used to kill Drood.

Helena Landless, Neville’s twin sister, is played by Janet Conover, the Music Hall

Royale’s mature and sensual supporting actress. Ms. Conover and Helena have many of the same characteristics. They both exude a great deal of sexual energy and are strong, passionate female forces. Unlike her brother, Helena holds on more tightly to her Eastern heritage and is less willing to change who she is to fit in better in England. Helena comes to live at the Nun’s House with Rosa Bud and they become close friends. Helena balances her brother’s hot-headedness by being the voice of reason. She stands up for her brother when he is accused of Drood’s murder and understands Rosa’s apprehension toward John Jasper. Helena could possibly be Dick Datchery or the murderer of Edwin

Drood.

In keeping with a more Eastern feel for Helena, I costumed her in a grape colored,

A-line dress with cap sleeves and gold trim. I then added a fuchsia and gold sari-like drape, trimmed with coins, over one shoulder and belted at the waist. I wanted the bold colors to suggest Eastern fashion as well as Helena’s passionate and sensual nature.

When Helena is outside in Act I, I designed for her an Eastern, kimono-style coat of ivory

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brocade, wide gold banding and ornate buttons along with a pashmina scarf for her head

and bright pink gloves.

The kind Reverend Crisparkle, guardian of the Landless twins, is played by the

character actor, Cedric Moncrieff. A long time performer for the Music Hall Royale, Mr.

Moncrieff has played the good-natured, father figure on numerous occasions. In addition

to what the script provides about Cedric Moncrieff, the director chose to portray him as

effeminate and jolly. These traits are ever present in the Reverend as well. The Reverend

Crisparkle has taken on the task of reforming Neville Landless in temper and religion.

The Reverend advocates for Neville wholeheartedly before and after he is accused of

Drood’s death. Reverend Crisparkle, however, does not come without a past. He was

once engaged to marry Rosa Bud’s mother. The Reverend never recovered from his loss

and often sees his lost love in Rosa’s face. Because he wants to protect Neville, he is a

candidate for both Dick Datchery and Drood’s murderer.

The Reverend Crisparkle’s costume was primarily dictated by his profession.

Because we never see the Reverend performing any sort of religious ceremony, I chose to costume him in a black frock coat, black shirt with minister’s collar, grey striped pants and a blue vest. I included blue in his color palette to show his honest and good-hearted nature, because blue is often connected with honesty and calmness. I also felt that grey pants would help break up the large amount of black in his costume. John Jasper is the villain and I wanted him to be wearing the largest proportion of black.

Bit part player, Phillip Bax, takes on the roles of John Jasper’s waiter and the

Reverend Crisparkle’s assistant, Bazzard. Mr. Bax specializes in the small roles at the

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Music Hall Royale and often has very little stage time, much to his chagrin. He loves

performing so he takes what he can get and makes each character memorable and,

unwittingly, funny. Mr. Bax also writes his own songs and this evening at the Music Hall

Royale, the Chairman allows him to perform one. His character of Bazzard, similarly,

wrote a play but would prefer it never be performed. He is currently the assistant to the

Reverend. Bazzard’s only function in the production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood is to provide Reverend Crisparkle with news of the whereabouts of Edwin. Mr. Bax’s role as

John Jasper’s waiter is just that, and he is only present during Christmas Eve dinner.

Because of Phillip Bax’s charming and pity-inspiring nature, he is kept around to be one of the candidates for murderer and Dick Datchery during the voting in Act II.

Phillip Bax requires two very different costumes throughout the action of the play. He begins in his Bazzard costume although he functions as part of the chorus until the end of Act I. I designed for Bazzard a casual, burnt orange overcoat, brown plaid pants and a soft cap. I wanted to show his comic, lower class nature. His costume also should look as though Phillip Bax himself might actually wear it in his real life. Phillip

Bax’s waiter costume was a straightforward black tail coat and trousers with a white shirt, formal vest, bow tie and gloves.

Angela Prysock, the Royale’s most beloved character actress, plays the opium- slinging Princess Puffer. Prysock is notorious for playing to the audience, sharing her sexual exploits, and is described by the chairman as “that good woman of ill-repute”

(Holmes, 26). Her character, Princess Puffer, in the Music Hall Royale’s The Mystery of

Edwin Drood, shares many of Prysock’s qualities. Princess Puffer runs the Opium Den in

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London, which John Jasper frequents. She is tough and well versed in her trade but she

takes care of her customers and has a good heart. During one of John Jasper’s drug-

induced hallucinations, he calls out Rosa Bud’s name. This sparks Princess Puffer’s

curiosity. In Act II she makes her way to Cloisterham to investigate what John Jasper is

up to. It is revealed later that Princess Puffer was Rosa Bud’s nanny and helped raise her

after her mother died, but fell into prostitution and drug dealing after being tricked by a

man she loved. Princess Puffer is presented as a possibility for the murderer of Edwin

Drood.

For Princess Puffer, I designed a costume that was constructed to transform from

a traditional dress, to a sexy, opium den look. When Angela Prysock is playing herself on

stage, and when Princess Puffer is outside of her place of employment, she wears an off- the-shoulder bodice and full skirt, both teal in color, with a black waist sash tied in a bow at the back. Her bodice is trimmed with tapered strips of gold brocade fabric that appear to radiate from her waist to her bosom. I also aged the hem of the skirt so that it looked dirty. Angela Prysock has been with the Music Hall Royale for a long time, playing essentially the same low-class, scandalous character. Her costume has seen many performances and I wanted it to show wear without it being completely in disrepair.

When Princess Puffer is in the opium den, the skirt is removed to reveal teal colored high-cut briefs, fishnet stockings, mid-calf boots and a red satin garter. Her briefs have the same trim treatment as the bodice, with the gold trim radiating from the waist to the legs. A dramatic, sheer, Eastern inspired dressing gown is added over her bodice and briefs. I wanted it to be ombré dyed red, orange and yellow with red satin trim at the

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center front and sleeve hems. I chose fiery colors for Princess Puffer’s robe to further

emphasize her career as an opium purveyor.

Also found in the opium den are male denizens, strewn about the floor on pillows,

along with projected shadows of John Jasper and Edwin Drood. The male denizens are played by male chorus members who have removed their jackets and vests and have undone shirts and ties. The shadows or Shades, as they are described in the script, of

Jasper and Drood were created, in our production, by silhouettes behind a scrim. The

Shade of Drood was played by the actress playing Drood and the Shade of Jasper was

played by a male chorus member of similar height to Jasper, wearing a frock coat and top

hat. Jasper himself could not play his own shadow because he is on stage, in front of the

scrim, deliriously conjuring these shadows.

Also found in the opium den are Succubae. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a succubus is “a demon assuming female form to have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). In The

Mystery of Edwin Drood, the succubae are sexualized versions of Rosa in Jasper’s drug- induced hallucination. In our production, the succubae were played by four chorus women of similar build to Rosa Bud. Jasper and the Succubae interact in a sensual dream ballet, culminating in Jasper calling out “Rosa Bud” which catches Princess Puffer’s attention and she awakens Jasper from his dream. For the Succubae costumes, I chose a silhouette similar to Rosa Bud’s costume: short, puff sleeves, full skirt, waist sash with a bow in the back and a stand collar. Because they are sexy Rosas, I designed pink leotards with a low neck line trimmed in white lace, and pink, sequined sheer sleeves. The

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Succubae skirts worn over the leotard were made of the same pink sheer fabric as the sleeves and were attached to a blue satin waistband terminating in a large bow at the back. The collar of Rosa’s bodice was represented by a blue satin choker.

Comic relief is found in the “clown” characters of Durdles and Deputy, played by

Nick Cricker and son. At the Music Hall Royale, Nick Cricker only plays the comic roles and his son, Nick Cricker, Jr., is learning Mr. Cricker’s craft. Their characters, Durdles and Deputy, are stone masons for the Cloisterham Cathedral tombs. Durdles is in charge of building Mayor Sapsea’s wife’s crypt. In keeping with many comic characters,

Durdles is a bumbling lush. John Jasper uses Durdles’ position and drunkenness to gain access to the tombs in Act I and to steal the key to the Sapsea tomb. Durdles is offered as a candidate for the murderer, but is seen talking to the sleuth Dick Datchery, so he could not be considered for the role of Datchery. Deputy is Durdles’ protégé and is attacked when he surprises John Jasper in the tombs. This is the first time we see John Jasper’s violent nature exposed. Deputy is a scrappy preteen who wants in on all the action, but could not have been Dick Datchery and is not a possibility for Drood’s murderer.

Durdles and Deputy are characters of meager means in The Mystery of Edwin

Drood. They work as stone masons, an occupation that affects the cleanliness of their clothing. I costumed Durdles in a distressed, blue overcoat, a shirt with no collar or tie, bright plaid trousers and a jaunty, taupe bowler hat. I wanted to play up his occupation as well as his continual state of inebriation that is quite endearing. Deputy’s costume needed a similar rough and worn appearance, but in a much younger silhouette. I chose for

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Deputy a linen coat, knickers, suspenders, argyle knee socks, and a newsboy cap in warm, neutral colors.

As explained in Chapter 2, the chorus members were costumed in clothing that could have come from their own personal wardrobes. The Music Hall Royale operates on a tight budget, so the chorus members are left to their own devices as far as costumes are concerned. I chose mismatched but coordinated suits and dresses for the chorus that cohered to a jewel-tone and brown color palette. I used a variety of textures and fabrics and clothing with different degrees of wear to illustrate that the actors each arrived at the theatre that evening with their own clothing.

After rendering a design for each character in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, I was able to move forward with producing the costumes.

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Chapter 4: The Process

I presented the final costume designs in late August of 2012. Shortly after, our production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” was cast. There were no major surprises that would affect the costume design, with the exception that the role of Rosa Bud was double cast, meaning that two actresses would share the role. Additionally, the Succubae needed for the dream ballet had not been assigned nor was there a decision as to how many of the chorus women would be cast as Succubae. Another surprise was the male role of the preteen Deputy was to be played by a woman. The actress cast in this role was short and thin and had the potential to look like a young boy. It had also been previously decided that Director Parry himself would conduct the orchestra, meaning that he would be playing the role of Maestro Thomas Purcell.

Armed with this information, I met with the Costume Studio Manager, Rebecca

Turk, to work out which costumes would be built, pulled, rented or purchased. We also discussed roughly how much of the budget would be spent on builds, rentals, etc. During this process, we agreed that the studio would build two bodices and one skirt for the double-cast Rosa Bud, the Chairman’s yellow frock coat, Princess Puffer’s bodice, skirt, briefs and robe, Helena Landless’ dress and coat, Neville Landless’ coat and the skirts for the Succubae. In addition to the studio builds, it was decided by Turk and resident

25

costume designer Kristine Kearney, that the Intermediate Costume Construction class would build six period men’s vests for the production. In total, seventeen items were to

be built. All other costumes would need to be acquired by alternative means.

Within the first month of rehearsals, two male and two female chorus members

decided to no longer be a part of the production. This resulted in the cutting of the

Moonfall Quartet in Act I, scene 4. Despite this change, the only impact on the costumes

was that I had four fewer actors to dress. I was also informed about one month after the

casting, that four of the chorus women would be playing the Succubae in the dream ballet

in Act I, scene 3. This was the maximum number that I was told to expect.

Most of the dresses for the female chorus members as well as many other items

were rented from Otterbein University and the Contemporary American Theatre

Company (CATCO), local theatres with whom Ohio State Theatre Department has a no-

fee rental agreement with. I pulled any item that would fit into the design for the chorus

as well as specific items for principal characters. It was necessary to rent a few remaining

items from the Cleveland Play House, where we did pay for the rental. I was very

fortunate that I did not need to use the majority of my budget on the rentals of chorus

costumes. This allowed me to allocate more funds to the purchased items including:

fabric, trims, shoes, shirts, a suit, blazer and removable collars and collar studs.

The first challenge I encountered was finding costumes that looked like period

Victorian clothing. It is unwise to use actual period clothing on stage because it often

cannot stand up to the wear. Additionally, it is difficult to find actual pieces that are in

good enough condition or that are available for use on stage. Also appropriate sizes are

26 often unavailable. Instead, I rented and pulled items that were either made to look like period clothing (women’s dresses and capes) or manufactured items that had a similar cut and silhouette (men’s suits and winter coats). In the case of menswear, I sought out flat- front trousers with a straight leg and suit coats with small lapels. Some suits from the

1960’s closely fit the criteria that I was looking for. I also found a few Victorian style frock coats from the Ohio State and Otterbein costume stocks for John Jasper and Edwin

Drood. I originally designed a black frock coat for the Reverend Crisparkle as well, but was unable to find one in his size. I instead compromised on a gray cutaway coat from the OSU costume stock. Ultimately, I believe this decision supported the soft and feminine portrayal of the Reverend Crisparkle that Parry directed during rehearsals better than a black frock coat would have.

Acquiring period style shoes was another hurdle. The Ohio State costume stock had most of the women’s boots and shoes I needed. I did purchase two pair of laced boots from merchants on EBay for one of the actresses playing Rosa Bud and for Princess

Puffer. I also purchased a pair of gold ballet flats for Helena Landless. Men’s shoes were a bit more difficult. One of the only modern designers who manufacture period-like shoes is Stacy Adams. Ohio State owned several pair, but only enough for the chorus members.

Stacy Adams’ shoes are not inexpensive. I purchased three pair of Stacy Adams shoes that look like Victorian buttoned boots from Historical Emporium.com at $110 per pair, and a standard pair of Stacy Adams dress shoes on EBay for about $70. The woman playing Edwin Drood wore women’s size six shoes and I could not find men’s shoes for her. Also, Parry wanted to give her some height because she was shorter than the

27 actresses playing Rosa Bud. Luckily, I found a pair of women’s laced boots in the OSU costume stock with a one and a half inch heel that had a masculine look.

I was able to use what I rented in conjunction with what I pulled from the Ohio

State stock to create possible outfits for the multiple men and women of the chorus. The challenge I faced was making sure that the individual chorus member’s costumes would cohere with each other. To fit the design concept, I wanted each costume to not look perfectly matched. I wanted to see mismatched, but coordinated pieces. This could easily turn into costumes that do not look like they belonged in the same production. I was also concerned that the costumes we were building for the principal characters would look too new and perfect against the pulled chorus costumes.

The best way I could conceive to solve this issue was to try to adhere to a basic color scheme for the chorus. I worked mostly with costume pieces in shades of brown, green, blue and purple. Before I started chorus fittings, I roughly assigned costume pieces to each actor and looked at them all together on a rack. By doing this, I was able to initially rule out pieces that stood out too much within the group. I did want each chorus member to look like individuals, so small variants from the color palette helped make the group look less contrived.

As for the principal’s costumes, I pulled as many pieces as I could, especially for the men, so that there would be a mixture of existing and built pieces. For Rosa Bud’s built bodice and skirt, I chose a linen print that had an aged quality to the color and texture. Because Princess Puffer is older and a purveyor of drugs, I decided on a silk dupioni and aged the hem of the skirt so that it looked dirty. Silk dupioni has a natural,

28 rough texture which reduces the sheen under the stage lights and helps, in this case, to make the garment look some-what worn.

As for the Landless twins, I was less concerned about their costumes blending in with the rest of the characters. The twins are from Ceylon and are supposed to look exotic and out of place. For Helena, I decided to have the majority of her dress constructed of medium weight linen with the drape being made of sari fabric. For her overcoat, I chose a lustrous brocade and an upholstery trim for the banding. Neville’s vest I also had constructed of brocade, trimmed with metallic gold and plum trim. I did not want

Neville’s overcoat to be too close in appearance to his sister’s, although they needed to be similar colors. To achieve this, I chose a matte finished drapery fabric with a paisley print and added brocade banding to the cuffs and hem.

The costume for Chairman William Cartwright in particular needed to stand out from the rest of the group, both principals and chorus. As discussed in Chapter 3, the

chairman is the master of ceremonies and

essentially directs all of the traffic on the

stage. Because of his importance and need

to draw attention to himself, he was the

only character I chose to dress in bright

yellow. Yellow is one of the most visible

Plate 1 Plate 30 colors (imagine taxi cabs) and a majority of the scenery that the chairman stands against is red. I purchased yellow, light-weight wool online from Fashion Fabrics Club. On the same website, I found fuchsia and royal blue

29 plaid silk shantung for his vest. Silk shantung is a thin fabric with a smooth texture. I also purchased a tone-on-tone fuchsia patterned cotton for the binding of his frock coat and a bowtie.

After pulling and renting, I was still missing three key costume pieces: Edwin

Drood’s grey and white striped suit, Neville Landless’ green velvet coat and trousers for

Reverend Crisparkle. I decided to search online for these items. Historical

Emporium.com, where I purchased men’s shoes, collar studs, pocket watches, and walking sticks, had a grey and white chalk-striped, three piece suit and pair of black and grey striped period trousers in stock. When these items arrived, the trousers were perfect but the three piece suit was not what I wanted. The grey was too light and the white stripes were overpowering. I chose not to return the suit, because I thought I may want it to replace the ivory frock and trousers that I had pulled for Drood’s finale look. Needless to say, I did not use the suit.

I went back to the internet to find a new suit for Drood and a green velvet coat for

Neville. Men’s USA.com is a suit wholesaler that I had used in the

past and I was able to find both of the items I needed, along with two

taupe bowler hats. Shortly after placing the order, a representative

from the sales department of Men’s USA left a message for me

stating that the green velvet coat was not available in the size I

ordered. I tried to call and e-mail back stating that I would like a

Plate 15 different size. A week later, I had not heard back but I had received a shipment from Men’s USA. The package included two hats but no suit or coat. I called

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and was able to talk to a representative. Apparently, the company had sent several e-mails

to me that I had not received, saying that I was not able to purchase the green velvet coat

in any size. As for the suit, it had not left the warehouse but had been assigned a UPS

tracking number, so both the company and I thought that it had been

shipped. I did finally receive the suit one week before the first dress

rehearsal. Because of the delay, I had fit the actress playing Drood in

an alternative suit in case the one I purchased did not arrive in time.

I ultimately pulled a green 1960’s wool blazer from the Ohio State

costume stock to replace the green velvet coat that I was unable to

purchase for Neville. Plate 34

When Studio Manager Turk and I budgeted the show and decided on how each

costume was to be acquired or built, it was decided that we would rent a tail coat and

trousers from a local formal wear store for Parry to wear as Maestro Thomas Purcell.

Turk suggested that we use the business O.P. Gallo that she had worked with in the past.

When Turk called to get a quote on renting the items we needed, she was informed that

O.P. Gallo was going out of business. The employee told her that she could come to the

store and take whatever items they had left in stock that the theatre could use, free of

charge. Despite this serendipitous opportunity, the O.P. Gallo stock did not have a tail coat that would fit Parry. They did, however, have trousers and a formal vest that would work for him.

I decided to take a look at the formal wear that OSU had in stock. Again, there

were no tail coats that would fit Parry, but I was able to find a shirt for him to wear. By

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this point, most of the budget had been spent and there was only a week left before first

dress rehearsal. We could not afford to buy a high quality tail coat, but Turk did find one

within our budget from an online seller. The coat arrived only a few days before it was

needed. It fit Parry better than all of the tail coats we had previously tried, but I believe it

still was not the best fit. Luckily, the audience could really only see the back of Parry’s

head when he was in the pit conducting the orchestra. As long as the fit was not going to

hinder Parry’s movements, and it did not, the tail coat we purchased would have to work.

I made a large design compromise regarding the dress Alice Nutting, the Music

Hall Royale actress playing Edwin Drood, wears at the opening of the show and again when she leaves the theatre during the voting in Act II. I originally designed a bodice with a masculine collar and lapel, to be worn with a matching skirt and white blouse. I

chose a pinstripe pattern for the dress to continue

the striped theme seen in her Edwin Drood Act I suit

and Act II finale vest. The dress was to be plum and

blue colored, again coordinating with the costumes

that Edwin Drood wears. I knew that the OSU

costume stock did not have a dress similar to what I

Figure 13 Plate 4 designed. Studio manager Turk decided that there

would not be enough labor hours to build the dress I designed if I still desired to build all

of the other garments we had discussed. I would have to compromise on what I designed

and locate an existing garment for Alice Nutting to wear.

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Resident costume designer Kristine Kearney suggested a dress that she had rented in the past from the Cleveland Playhouse. The dress was hunter green in color with a blue and gray plaid drape on the skirt and trim on the bodice of the same plaid fabric. I requested the garment be sent from the Cleveland Playhouse along with the other costume pieces I wanted to rent from them. Unfortunately, the bodice was much too small for the actress and altering it to fit would be out of the question. Shop Manager

Turk returned the dress to the Cleveland Playhouse with the other garments we decided against using.

During one of the actress’ fittings, I decided to have her try on a brown and black wool bodice that matched a brown wool skirt that I had assigned to one of the female chorus members. The bodice actually fit quite well and required minor alterations. I considered reuniting the bodice with its matching skirt, which would require locating a new skirt for the chorus member that the brown wool skirt had previously been assigned.

However, the brown wool skirt was exceptionally long and was the perfect length for the tall chorus member I had given it to. It would have to be significantly shortened for the actress playing Alice Nutting. I instead returned to the

OSU costume stock and found a skirt made of fabric with a woven black-on-black stripe. The skirt need to be made a bit larger in the waist and hemmed shorter, but it coordinated Plate 29 with the brown and black bodice beautifully. The black skirt helped make the brown and black bodice look more formal, which is what I wanted. Additionally, I had white lace

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added to the collar and cuffs of the bodice, changed the black buttons to gold ones and

added metallic gold trim. I wish that I could have realized the dress I designed. However,

the dress I found instead looked good on stage and still fit the design concept.

Another challenge that I had foreseen from the beginning was acquiring

outerwear. All of the scenes in the Music Hall Royale’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood in

which the chorus is present take place outdoors. Additionally, Act I is set at Christmas

time and Act II is six months later, summertime. This made it necessary to provide

everyone, whether a principle character or chorus member, with an overcoat and hat,

including a second hat for each of the women to wear in Act II. I also wanted scarves on some of the characters and gloves for all of the women. As previously mentioned, I was able to pull and rent all of the required overcoats either from the OSU costume stock or from Otterbein University and CATCO. The two Eastern-inspired overcoats for Helena

and Neville Landless were the only two that we decided to build because of their

uniqueness in cut and fabric desired. I also was able to use the OSU costume stock to

provide most of the scarves and all of the gloves. I did purchase four pashmina scarves

including two with Indian patterns for the Landless twins from Marshalls discount store.

Finding hats for the men was relatively simple because the OSU costume stock has a

wide variety of styles and sizes. I did purchase a black top hat for John Jasper and a black

coachman’s hat for Edwin Drood online from Historical Emporium and, as previously

discussed, I ordered taupe bowler hats from Mens USA for two members of the chorus.

The women’s hats were much more of a challenge.

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Although I was able to find all of the hats I needed for the women in the OSU costume stock, only the summer hat I found for Rosa was already styled to be a Victorian bonnet. The additional fourteen chorus hats (seven winter and seven summer), as well as the winter bonnet for Rosa Bud and the summer hats for Princess Puffer and Helena

Landless were actually hats from the 1940’s through the 1960’s that could be styled and trimmed to look like Victorian hats. I had not rendered each individual hat, aside from those for the principle women. Instead, I referred to my research of Victorian hats and started to replicate the designs I liked with flowers, feathers, berries, brooches and birds.

Most of the supplies I found in the costume studio’s millinery cabinet. I did buy additional poinsettia flowers, white marabou feathers and Christmas garlands for the winter hats from JoAnn Fabrics. It was important that the Act I outerwear, especially on the chorus, not only read as “winter” to the audience but more specifically “Christmas.”

Using the hats to serve this purpose was easier and more cost effective than trying to find overcoats that were, for example, red and green trimmed in white fur. I then decorated the summer hats with bright colored flowers and ribbons to show the change of season from

Act I to Act II. I found that in performance the hats really solidified the period and season and gave a sense of completeness to everyone’s costumes.

In this production, I used four wigs and one hair piece. The actress playing Edwin

Drood needed a male wig for when she was portraying Edwin Drood and a female one for when she was Alice Nutting, the Music Hall Royale actress playing Edwin Drood.

Having two wigs, instead of trying to use the actress’ own hair and the male wig, actually helped her multiple quick changes between her male and female characters run smoothly.

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Changing a wig is essentially similar to changing a hat. The actress playing Princess

Puffer also wore a wig. I chose to wig Princess Puffer because I wanted her to have red

hair (which the actress did not) and the large, Victorian hairstyle I desired for her would

have been too difficult to style on the actress for each performance. Helena Landless was

another character who wore a wig. This wig, unlike the others, was supposed to look like a wig. Janet Conover, the Music Hall Royale actress playing Helena is obviously not of

Indian descent and is clearly wearing a black wig to hide her own hair. If the actress playing Ms. Conover/Helena Landless had actually had black or dark brown hair, I may have opted to use her own hair. The actress, however, had bright red-orange hair. The wig I chose and styled was absolutely necessary. We also used a braided hair piece, coiled into a bun on one of the chorus women who had chin-length hair.

I initially thought that wigs would be needed for the Rosa Bud actresses because they both were brunettes and Parry and I wanted a Rosa Bud with blonde hair. However, the wigs I chose had what are called hard fronts. A hard front wig is “a type of wig where the front edge is finished with rows of hair…resulting in a heavy, blunt edge” (Ruskai and Lowery, 4). When styled the way I had chosen for Rosa Bud, it was difficult to disguise the fact that the actresses were wearing wigs. Parry expressed his dislike for hard front wigs when he saw how the wigs looked on the two actresses. There was some

concern that the actresses were not only performing on the Thurber stage, but also in the

house amongst the audience. When standing close to the actresses, the wigs were quite

obvious. We decided instead to have the actresses style their own hair each night, despite

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the color. The actress with the darkest hair did offer to lighten her hair to the color of the

other actress’ at her own expense.

The make-up design for The Mystery of Edwin Drood was straight forward for

most of the characters. I had the actors apply basic stage make-up: foundation, subtle

highlights and shadows, rogue, with the addition of eye shadow, eyeliner and lipstick for

the women. I chose to have Rosa Bud use pink for her cheeks and gold and brown for her

eyes so that she stood out from the rest of the chorus women. The make-up I designed for

Helena Landless was very Eastern inspired with heavy eyeliner, purple eye shadow, dark lipstick and a foundation that was darker than her natural skin tone to match the skin tone of the actor playing Neville. I also asked the actor playing Neville to use some eyeliner to give him a more exotic look.

The most detailed make-up I designed was for Princess Puffer. The Music Hall

Royale actress, Angela Prysock, who is playing Princess Puffer is older than many of the company’s other actor and is quite flamboyant.

Also, Princess Puffer’s occupation as an opium dealer has hardened and aged her quite a bit. I started the Plate 18 Plate 32 make-up design for Princess Puffer with a standard old age make-up chart. Old age make-up typically consists of lining the natural creases of the face with a dark color, adding highlight and shadow to these lines to make them look like wrinkles and

37 emphasizing the parts of the face that have either sunken in or puffed out. Because of

Puffer’s occupation, I had the actress darken under her eyes to make her look worn. In addition to the old age make-up, I chose for Princess Puffer to have over done, teal colored eye shadow, heavy black eyeliner, excessive rogue and red lipstick.

Throughout the process of designing and production the costumes, I continued to collaborate with scenic designer Marni Balint. Early in production, Balint provided me with a props list, per my request. We were able to review the list together and discuss which props were actually costume props. This was exceedingly helpful for both of us. I was able to add the costume props requested by the director to my list early in the production and Balint was able to focus more on the scenic props and not have to come to the costume studio looking for handkerchiefs and walking sticks, for example. Balint also solicited my opinion regarding which stencils to use for the wallpaper in the home of

John Jasper and the Nun’s House. This allowed us to coordinate the types of line that were being used on the set with the actors’ costumes. For example, the stencil I responded to most favorably for Jasper’s house had a similar organic pattern to the fabric

I chose for Jasper’s vest.

In addition to collaborating with Balint on the scenery, I also worked with

Technical Director Chad Mahan on the placement, size and layout of the backstage quick change booths. The change booths played a large role in when and where the actors could change into their next costumes. Both Edwin Drood and John Jasper had multiple costume changes that needed to happen backstage, on specific sides of the stage.

Additionally, many chorus members had quick costume changes. It was important that

38

the placement of the quick change booths be convenient for the actors and wardrobe crew

but that the booths did not block the moving scenery or the backstage walking paths.

My collaboration with lighting designer Brian Elston also continued throughout

the process of production. As I acquired and purchased fabrics, I provided Elston with

swatches to aid him when choosing colors for the lights. Elston also visited the costume studio on a few occasions to look at the costumes that I had pulled and purchased.

Nearing the end of the production process, Elston asked if I could provide a few of the major costumes on dress forms for cue write session. Although a fantastic idea, I did not

feel comfortable allowing the costumes to be out of the costume studio without me being

present at the call. I did, however, provide Elston with an alternative. With the help of

Mahan, I borrowed several lightweight dress forms from the prop department and draped

them with large pieces of excess fabric from the costumes the costume studio built. I even

labeled each fabric with the character’s name that would be wearing it and when in the

show it would be on stage. This helped Elston immensely and I was very happy that we

found a solution that worked for both of us. In my personal experience as a costume

designer, I have not been asked by the lighting designer to have costumes available for

cue writing. I believe that providing the large pieces of fabric helped Elston make

adjustments to the light colors and intensities before the first dress rehearsal and saved

him time later on. In the future, I plan to offer fabric or costumes to the lighting designer

if I am not asked.

When we finally reached the first dress rehearsal, I felt confident that I had all of

the costumes that were needed and that I knew exactly when and where each costume

39 change should take place. Director Parry informed me at our last production meeting before the first dress rehearsal that I could use the rehearsal how I felt would be the most helpful. It was my desire that we try to run the show at full speed and stop to fix problems as they arose, especially with quick costume changes. Although a noble pursuit, the rehearsal did not go as planned.

The typical technical rehearsal schedule that OSU uses has four days of technical rehearsal for scenery and lights before costumes are added. This particular production only had two. This was because the production was a collaboration between the OSU

Department of Theatre and the School of Music. The School of Music students had a separately scheduled performance of a different piece on the Thursday of our technical rehearsal week, meaning that there would be no rehearsal that day. In addition, it was decided that first dress rehearsal would be on that Wednesday, instead of Friday, unlike the OSU production schedule usually dictates. This meant that by the time the costumes arrived on stage on Wednesday, the lighting and scenic cues which were quite complicated, had only rehearsed Monday and Tuesday and had not made it through the entire show.

At the first dress rehearsal, Director Parry, the stage manager Angela Cutrell and

Elston stopped the action on stage frequently to fix technical problems. They often stopped during transitions between scenes. These transitions were where all of the quick costume changes occurred. Therefore, I was unable to accurately time how long each change took, because the show would stop, but the actors backstage would continue with their costume change. Needless to say, we did not run the show in its entirety at that

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rehearsal. Despite not knowing how long each costume change would take, I was able to

see each costume on stage and had made decisions on what trims and accessories to add.

I was able to execute most of my costume notes by the second dress rehearsal.

The following dress rehearsals (there were four in total) ran smoothly, although technical problems still persisted until the production opened. At the second dress rehearsal, I was able to have the actors and wardrobe crew work all of the quick costume

changes. John Jasper had a particularly fast costume change that required him to exit on

one side of the stage and enter on another wearing a cassock over the rest of his costume.

After it was clear that this change was not moving smoothly, I decided to move forward

with the rehearsal and add more Velcro closures to the cassock for the next rehearsal. It

was also decided to have John Jasper execute the entirety of his quick change backstage

right near his next entrance, instead of him starting the change on backstage left before

his cross to backstage right.

It was also decided during the second dress rehearsal that each actor should

remove their winter coats before the Act I Finale musical number. Parry amended the staging to allow the actors to remove their coats on stage. This then required the

wardrobe crew to retrieve the coats from stage during the intermission. This was fully

executed at the third dress rehearsal and worked wonderfully.

During the third dress rehearsal, I did concede to cut Rosa Bud and Princess

Puffer’s Act II hats. I believed that because the scenes in Act II were all outdoors,

everyone on stage should be wearing a hat. However, Parry thought that the hats on Rosa

Bud and Princess Puffer were hindering the actresses’ movements. Also, the wardrobe

41 crew members were having problems securing the hats properly to the actresses’ heads. I had switched Rosa Bud’s original hat for a smaller one for this rehearsal, but it was still not working for Parry. I was disappointed to see the hats go, but I understood Parry’s concerns and agreed that they were distracting when not properly secured.

John Jasper’s quick change into his cassock went more smoothly because of the added Velcro closures at the third dress rehearsal, but the actor still did not make his entrance on time. The change had been rehearsed with the actor and the wardrobe crew before rehearsal and I was assured it was going to work. I was informed after rehearsal by the wardrobe crew head that the actor playing John Jasper was quite nervous backstage and that chorus members standing off stage were blocking his path. I was able to relay the information about the backstage traffic problems to the stage manager. She told the cast to be conscious of where they stand when off stage. The wardrobe crew members were also reminded to remain calm during quick changes to help the actors stay calm.

Parry also offered for John Jasper to exit stage a few seconds early to buy the quick change more time.

By the fourth and final dress rehearsal, John Jasper’s quick change worked beautifully along with all of the other costume changes. I was happy with how each of the costumes looked and decided not to make any more changes. The other technical elements had also made exceptional progress from the first dress rehearsal. It was really rewarding to see and hear all of the technical components working smoothly together, along with the actors and the orchestra.

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Chapter 5: Evaluation of the Design

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was one of the largest productions that I have

designed in terms of number of costumes. I personally enjoy the challenge of designing

for productions with large casts and therefore many costumes. These shows appeal to my

desire to organize and plan. What made The Mystery of Edwin Drood a particular

challenge was that the style of the late 19th Century consisted of multiple articles of clothing for each individual costume. This made The Mystery of Edwin Drood the show with the largest number of individual costume pieces that I have designed to date.

As a designer, working on The Mystery of Edwin Drood has made me more confident in my ability to coordinate costumes for a large chorus of actors using only pulled and rented items. I had to work only with clothing I could find that already existed.

I was unable to design costumes for each chorus member and then have those costumes made. This is most often the case no matter what theatre you are working for. The

Mystery of Edwin Drood provided me with an invaluable opportunity and I will be able to apply what I learned to future productions.

This was my first show that relied on rentals from more than two theatres. In the past I was able to primarily use the costume stock of my university and rent a few extra pieces from elsewhere. As discussed in Chapter 4, I found what I could from the OSU

43 stock and then rented many items from Otterbein University and CATCO, filling a few gaps with items from The Cleveland Playhouse. It was very important that when I visited the other theatre’s costume stocks that I pulled enough so that I did not have to go back but not so much that I could not keep track of all the pieces that I had acquired. Renting costumes for The Mystery of Edwin Drood certainly helped me to prepare for my next design projects.

Designing the costumes for Director A. Scott Parry provided me with an experience working with a director who specializes in opera and musical theatre. Parry approached the entire production as a collaboration between him, the designers and the performers. During my graduate career, I have worked with several directors who did not stress the aspect of collaboration during the design process. Parry wanted to know the design team’s personal opinions about every aspect of the production. He was very receptive to my design ideas and never dismissed an idea without first asking what my motivation for the idea was. As a professional director currently working nationally and based in New York City, Parry is a valuable connection for a young designer to have. I hope to maintain my connection with Parry after I graduate. It is a personal goal of mine to someday design in New York City.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was my first time collaborating with scenic designer

Marni Balint. Balint has had much less experience as a scenic designer than Elston and I in our respective fields. Because of this, it took Balint much longer to reach a design for the scenery than it did for me with the costumes. I was ready to render my designs before she had chosen a definite color palette for the scenery. It came to the point where Balint’s

44 advisor, Department of Theatre Chair Dan Gray, directed me to make my decisions about the colors and textures of the costumes and that Balint could work around my palette.

Luckily, I had a general idea of what Balint wanted as far as color was concerned.

However, I never felt that Balint really took the colors of my costumes into consideration when she did her final paint elevations and colored renderings. For example, she chose wallpaper for the Nun’s House, where Rosa Bud lives, that was almost exactly the same colors as Rosa Bud’s dress. I felt that Rosa Bud blended in with the walls. I had already purchased the Rosa Bud’s dress fabric before Balint had completed her paint elevations.

Her paint elevations were also darker in value than the final product. During dress rehearsal, Balint did try to tone the brightness of the walls. Additionally, Elston added texture to the walls with light to add dimension. This solution, in the end, did help Rosa

Bud’s costume stand out more from the scenery. Working on this production has certainly reminded me what it is like to work with designers with varying levels of experience.

I had worked with lighting designer Brian Elston on a previous show at OSU,

Lisa Loomer’s Living Out. I believe that we had each grown as designers and collaborators since and worked together well on this production. There were times in the production, the dream ballet especially, where I thought that the levels of the lights were too low to really see the detail in the costumes. I believe that Parry and Elston agreed that this was the desired lighting effect and the lights did evoke a particular mood. I just wish that I could have seen more of the Succubae’s ballet costumes and how they paralleled the costume of Rosa Bud. In retrospect, I could have used fabric that would have caught

45 more light or was less transparent making the costumes more visible in the low light levels.

I was pleased with my costume designs for the Ohio State Theatre Department and School of Music’s production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. I felt that the silhouettes and colors that I designed supported the personalities and functions of the characters. I also believe that I reinforced the time and place of the Music Hall Royale with the costumes that I designed. I do think that I could have added more Victorian design details, however. The overall look of the costumes could have been heightened with the addition of more trimmings and jewelry. I believe that my hesitation to use too much Victorian extravagance was because the Music Hall Royale in our production had a small budget and could not afford fancy costumes. While that fact is important to the design of the costumes, I believe that I may have gone too simple with the designs and lost some of the Victorian flavor that audiences would have connected with.

Looking back at production, I am pleased with all of the major aspects of the production of the costume design. I am also satisfied with how smoothly the design and production processes unwound. There are a few things I would like to have changed during production if I could go back. First of all, there was a bodice on one of the chorus women that was a deep yellow and sometimes stole focus when the chorus was positioned in a group. It fit the color palette, but besides the chairman’s frock coat, there were no other clothing pieces with such a large percentage of yellow. We tried to break up the yellow by adding blue trim between dress rehearsals, which helped to a degree. I

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do not believe there were any other costume pieces amongst the chorus that stood out quite as much as that yellow bodice.

Secondly, I believe that if I knew Rosa Bud’s Act II hat was going to cause issues

during dress rehearsals, I would have chosen a smaller hat. The problem was that the hat I

chose covered the sides of the actress’ face too much and it hindered the blocking

between Rosa Bud and John Jasper. Also, the wardrobe crew was unable to properly

secure the hat to the actress’ head. Perhaps a smaller hat would have been less

conspicuous and easier to work with and, therefore, would not have been cut. Rosa

looked unfinished to me without a hat, as did Princess Puffer in Act II when she arrives in

Cloisterham. Her hat was also cut during the week of dress rehearsals, again because of

size and problems securing it to the actress’ head. In the future, I feel it would be helpful

to provide hats for actors during rehearsal. Today’s actors rarely wear hats on a daily

basis and are unfamiliar with how they are worn and how they feel. In addition, as I

discovered with Rosa Bud’s winter hat, attaching a headband to the inside of a hat is a

fantastic solution because it makes the hat feel more secure on the actresses head and

makes it easier to change from one hat to another.

Lastly, I think if I were to produce my designs again, I would distress the newer

costume items more so that they better matched the pulled and rented costumes. Not all

of the pieces needed to be rougher. The costumes on Drood and the Music Hall Royale

actress portraying Drood, Alice Nutting, needed to look nicer because Alice Nutting is a

guest artist who is quite famous. The costumes of Princess Puffer, Reverend Crisparkle,

Chairman William Cartwright, for example, should have looked older because their

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actors had been with the Music Hall Royale for a long time. It has been my experience

that I always wish I had done more distressing to the costumes.

In the future, if I am to design The Mystery of Edwin Drood again, I would like to

move the year that the Music Hall Royale exists slightly. I believe that pushing the show

back a few years into the 1880’s or even moving it forward slightly to 1895 would

provide more interesting and extravagant costume options than those in 1892. Dresses of

the 1880’s had hard bustles at the back and were dripping with luxurious fabrics and

trims. Although there were no bustles in 1895, the sleeves on women’s bodice became

large and bulbous at the shoulders and function well as costumes for comedies. The early

1890’s silhouettes were in transition between the bustles of the 1880’s and the large

sleeves the mid-1890’s and can often look less interesting. For our production, keeping

the costumes in the early 1890’s silhouettes helped illustrate the low-budget nature of the

Music Hall Royale. However, moving the time period slightly would provide different

design options if I were to design the show again.

The Arts reporter from The Columbus Dispatch, Margaret Quamme, wrote a

review for The Mystery of Edwin Drood following opening night. Quamme had many positive things to say about our production. She specifically mentions the script and music, the chairman and the other actors, and the scenery and costumes. As it often goes with newspaper reviews, Quamme mentions nothing about the lights. Her only critique was that it was often hard to hear the actors speak, especially over the orchestra. Our production team heard this same comment from many patrons and the problem seemed to lessen as the cast became more comfortable in the space. About the costumes, Quamme

48 says “Samantha Kuhn’s sumptuous but playful costumes add to the air of sometimes- tacky Victorian excess” (Quamme). I was very pleased with this review because that was exactly what I was hoping to accomplish with the costume design.

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References

Dickens, Charles. The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.,

2005. 9-10.

Homes, Rupert. The Mystery of Edwin Drood. New York: The Holmes Line of Records,

Inc., 1987.

Parry, A. Scott. “The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes, Director’s Concept.”

29 April 2012.

Quamme, Margaret. “Theatre Review; The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Musical Give

Audience a Role.” The Columbus Dispatch. 9 November 2012.

Ruskai, Martha and Lowery, Allison. Wig Making and Styling. Burlington, MA: Focal

Press, 2010. 4.

“Succubus.” Def. 1. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2013.

Web. 2 March 2013.

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Selected Bibliography

Blum, Daniel. Great Stars of the American Stage. New York: Greenberg, 1952.

---. A Pictorial History of the American Theatre: 1860-1970. New York: Crown

Publishers Inc., 1969.

Blum, Stella, Ed. Victorian Fashions and Costumes From Harper’s Bazar: 1867-1898.

Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1974.

Fukai, Akiko, Ed. The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute; Fashion: A History

from the 18th to the 20th Century. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 2006.

Henderson, Mary C. Theatre in America: 200 Years of Plays, Players, and Productions.

New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1986.

Miller, Judith. The Style Sourcebook: The Definitive Illustrated Directory of Fabrics,

Wallpapers, Paints, Flooring and Tiles. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books Inc., 2008.

Setnik, Linda. Victorian Costumes for Ladies: 1860-1900. Atglen, PA: Schiffer

Publishing Ltd., 2000.

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 1985-1987.” Internet Broadway Database. The

Broadway League, 2001-2012. Web. February 2013.

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” Playbill Vault. Playbill, Inc., 2013. Web. February 2013.

Wilcox, R. Turner. The Mode in Costume: A Historical Survey with 202 Plates. Mineola,

NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 2008.

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Wilcox, R. Turner. The Mode in Hats and Headresses: A Historical Survey with 198

Plates. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 2008.

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APPENDIX A DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT

53

The Ohio State University Department of Theatre 29APR12asp and

The Ohio State University School of Music

Collaborative Project

Fall 2012

The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes

DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT

Background

Sweeping the Tony Awards in 1986 by winning statuettes for Best Musical, Book, Score, Leading Actor and Director, Drood is sui generis in the history of the Broadway musical by being the first show to offer multiple endings determined by audience vote. It ran for 608 performances at the Imperial Theatre, had two national tours, a West End production, and went on to be produced multiple times across the United States in the intervening years.

The show takes its inspiration from the English Pantomime and Music Hall traditions. “Panto” was an outgrowth of popular folk parades in the English speaking world (such as Mummers and the like) wherein, usually around the holiday season, the public dressed in make-shift costume and performed songs and dances which were improvised around familiar subjects and story lines, the performing troupes moving house to house throughout the town. The results were usually of a warmly comic and bawdy nature. These improvisatory and itinerant performances gained a solid footing in the public houses and taverns during the start of the 18th century, beginning to be further codified in style and structure. Specific architecture began to be built to house such entertainment, called now Music Hall (referring both to the place and the genre of the entertainment presented there). These structures were built intentionally to allow for eating, drinking and smoking throughout the performances as these shows purposely invited audience interaction throughout. Very similar in style to the American vaudeville or burlesque, Music Hall presented a variety of popular dramatic and most especially musical items (pop songs, think tin pan alley) around a fairly well-known plot, as well as including

APPENDIX A: DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT 54 specialty acts sprinkled throughout. Troupes began to include “celebrity” personas to create a buzz for their particular entertainment. Music Hall competition ran rampant between many rival companies as its popularity grew. Their heyday ranged from the mid- 19th century to the start of the 20th, its esteem growing in tandem with the English Ballad Opera or Comic Operetta, a form that found its zenith in the works of Gilbert and Sullivan at the Savoy Theatre with the D’Oyly Cart Opera Company. The style of performance between these genres was in fact quite similar and often cross-referenced each other. The Music Hall began its fairly steep decline at the start of the First World War and never fully regained its once ubiquitous popularity, although reviving old Panto pieces in a traditional Victorian style remains a perennial staple of community players in Britain during the holiday season.

Structure and Style

Drood itself is a meta-theatrical piece requiring performers to play actors playing roles. Given that, I think the main function of our production is to provide a theatrical environment in which these performers can produce their show. The Time is 1892. The place is The Music Hall Royale, both its stalls and its stage. Our performers then play actors who inhabit this theatre space as their own. These period actors then are the performers and producers of the play “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”. The performance itself is a fluffy frolic, all laughter and libation and amateurish playacting. Even in the moments that have a semblance of depth, the songs of sentimental emotion or intense conflict (Rosa’s “Moonfall”, her and Jasper’s “The Name of Love”, etc) there remains an obvious sense of a play being performed to a public. The performances by these Victorian actors are not at all real, nor are they intended to be perceived as such. They are obviously mannered in acting style, occasionally overblown to almost melodramatic proportions. However, our modern cast should be utterly believable as their Victorian actor selves. As an audience, we must invest completely in the reality of theirtime and place (1892 at the Royale) while recognizing their performance (the Dickens play within the play) as being a raucous sham. The reality we as producers are seeking to create is that of the Chairman’s, not the Mayor’s so to speak. And this reality begins directly at the doors to Thurber Theatre.

Production Elements

My intention is that we do not perceive ourselves as being in a modern theatre once inside Thurber proper. I intend the playbill to be one that seems created for an 1892 production by The Music Hall Royale, as if on an industrial printing press rather than a Xerox, listing its players and numbers in such a way as to bring the audience into the world from moment one: Edwin Drood is portrayed by Alice Nutting. And who plays Alice Nutting? No one plays her. She is who she is. It’s 1892. She’s that famous male impersonator you’ve heard so much about. “And look darling, here’s an advert in the

APPENDIX A: DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT (CONTINUED) 55

programme for ladies’ stockings on sale at Selfridge’s for 5p!” The modern playgoers will be given said playbills by the members of the cast upon their entrance and the cast will interact with them improvisationally in character while functioning as ushers, escorting them to their seats. Here, half hour is not half hour in the traditional sense. Half hour is now the most important part of the cast’s performance. It sets the tone for the whole show.

SET – the “set” is actually the theatre itself. Use every modern technique available to create a seeming 1892 Music Hall with easy interactivity between stage and stalls. The entire auditorium is in your purview. Then, once Thurber Theatre itself is transformed into the Royale, design a production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood as if you yourself are a set designer living in 1892. That then is what appears on the stage proper for the “show”. It is perforce simple, most likely with a heavy use of painted drops. I mean, this Victorian troupe at the Royale doesn’t have a fortune to spend on its productions ever since last season’s Puss in Boots Panto put them in the red, and they have to do everything in rep, so you know, it’s got to pack and shift and store with speed. Company work calls are pricy!

COSTUMES – yes, I believe we should costume everyone in the hall. Conductor, orchestra (probably tuxes of some sort), stage hands (if they’re seen at all) as if everyone in the space exists in 1892. Just ask, “What was the fashion of the day?” and then take a trip down market from that (these are the sun and food deprived denizens of the theatre for heaven’s sake). Then your next challenge is to costume these period thespians into their “stage” outfits, which can be simply the addition of some heightened elements onto their already period ensembles. Or they can be different fully-fledged looks altogether. It’s your budget and your crew and your time… Sigh. Shall I keep the ensemble casting small, yes?

LIGHTING – we can’t return to truly old-school, pre-‘turn of the century’ technology, nor would we want to for God’s sake! But we should try our best to convince the audience that they are experiencing a production that is much more limited in its resulting effects than our current technology can achieve. The Savoy Theatre ‘just down the street’ from the Royale was the first fully electrified theatre in 1881. So, we’re a decade further on from that. Footlights? A must. The limelight? We’re beyond it now, but yearn for it still: we’ve tried those new-fangled carbon arcs, but they sort of suck…

Musical Numbers

Productions of Drood are offered different optional musical inserts. What follows here is a list of musical numbers I intend to use and their order in the show:

APPENDIX A: DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT (CONTINUED) 56

ACT I - There You Are – Chairman & Company A Man Could Go Quite Mad (inserted) – Jasper Two Kinsman – Drood and Jasper Moonfall – Rosa Moonfall Quartet (inserted) – Rosa, Helena, Alice [Ensemble] and Beatrice [Ensemble] The Wages of Sin – Puffer Jasper’s Vision (dream ballet) A British Subject – Neville, Helena, Drood, Rosa, Crisparkle & Ensemble Both Sides of the Coin – Jasper and Sapsea Perfect Strangers – Rosa and Drood No Good Can Come From Bad –Nevllie, Rosa, Helena, Crisparkle, Jasper, Drood and Bazzard Never the Luck – Bazzard Off to the Races – Chairman, Durdles, Deputy & Company

ACT II - Entr’acte (orchestra) (N.B. “England Reigns” and “A Private Investigation” are currently planned as cut) The Name of Love / Moonfall Reprise – Rosa, Jasper & Ensemble Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead – Company The Garden Path to Hell – Puffer Puffer’s Revelation – Puffer Out on a Limerick – Datchery [whoever that may be] Jasper’s Confession – Jasper Murderer’s Confession –Bazzard, Crisparkle, Durdles, Helena, Neville, Puffer or Rosa Perfect Strangers – any number of possible combinations… The Writing on the Wall – Drood& Company Bows / Exit

Character Dramaturgy

What follows here is an initial description of the major characters that do not participate as members of the Ensemble:

• Chairman William Cartwright/Mayor Thomas Sapsea

A most affable fellow of good family stock, solid and clear, witty yet concise, dependable while still easily improvisational; an all around stand-up gentleman (as well as a some time stand-up comedian). He is the General Manager of the Music Hall Royale and is highly respected by all members of the Company. Although he veers a bit toward the salty side, it’s merely his theatrical instinct that understands and connects with the more

APPENDIX A: DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT (CONTINUED) 57

bawdy elements of base human nature. His is a reassuring and steady presence, for in his hands each night, the audience is well guided through their evening at the Royale. He plays the role of Mayor Sapsea ad hoc, easily and functionally, simply as an extension of himself.

• Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood

The ‘principal boy’ of the day, Alice is most certainly the guest diva, the main box office draw for this production, and she makes quite sure we all know it. She plays Edwin as an upstart of a go-getter, a bit of an obnoxious Cambridge know-it-all bloke. He will set out to conquer the world, educate the savages, and remake the entirety of human history, all for the betterment of mankind, thank you very much. An upscale and properly mannered gent who makes certain his standing is widely noticed and propitiously reported on in the trades. Basically, an annoying little snit. And we can’t say it’s not exactly type-casting…

• Clive Paget/John Jasper

A ladies man and also a dandy, Clive easily ‘swings’ his affections in whichever direction a pretty young face presents itself. An oily peacock who enjoys the fawning of his public, Clive preens his way through every leading male role he takes on, though not without an obvious impressive skill. As John, he is very slick and quick on his draw. Almost maniacal, obsessive to a fault with a Jekyll and Hyde duality: his intent often begins as good, but his methods go well beyond the bad. Musically shaken and emotively stirred and always with a trump card up his sleeve, ready at a moment’s notice to be played. And play it he does.

• Deirdre Peregrine/Rosa Budd

Ms. Peregrine is the standard ingénue of the group with very few thoughts in her head to cause her much trouble beyond the notion that her current boyfriend’s buttonhole may not be in the up-to-the-minute fashion. As Rosa, she shows a surprising depth of emotion and unnerving strength of will, attributes that quickly dissipate once an onstage scene comes to a close. Rosa commands her scenes and indeed emanates a magnetic power that drives most men in the play to at least consider committing vital crime on her behalf. Truly the most enticingly beautiful bloom on the Royale stage. And the most vapidly trivial off it.

• Angela Prysock/Princess Puffer

Angela is the unassailable character actor of the assemblage. Without airs or dramas, she is a bedrock performer who was raised in the wings by her stage manager father (deceased due to an unfortunate cueing incident) and is a perennial favorite of the

APPENDIX A: DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT (CONTINUED) 58

Royale’s audience, to whom she shamelessly plays. She can throw back a pint with the best of them and drinks many a man under the table. Her Princess Puffer is of the classic Thénardier stock, a Madame of the Ill-Reputed. But Puffer’s maternal good nature can’t help but shine through. Worldly aware with a continual word to the wiser, she truly seems to extend heartfelt care to the clients she daily debauches. In her opium den writhing with psychedelic prostitutes, one finds in her a pseudo-philosopher amidst all of the rouge-tinted grime.

• Victor Grinstead/Neville Landless

Neville defines dashingly handsome and purveys a prideful passion. A matinee idol of the first rank, yet also chock-a-block full of intensely exotic vigor and vim, all swagger and cocksure. He is set apart from proper society and bitterly resents the wider public, feeling a sense of continual judgment and misunderstanding. It is a marvelous second skin shockingly inhabited by the sweetly good-natured Mr. Grinstead who is nothing if not an unassuming everyman. His is a truly kind and gentle soul with a penchant for reading self-improvement manuals and listening to solo sonatas played by his amateur flautist mother with whom he lives and lovingly dotes on. A wistful man, it is a wonder to watch his instant and complete transformation between these two diametrically opposed egos.

• Janet Conover/Helena Landless

Helena is the devoted sister of Neville and the ever-watchful protector of her tempestuous twin. Hers is a nature of mysticism and magic, her every move made as though through a meta-physical plane, her every gesture steeped in incense. She is the most exotic of the characters in Cloisterham and exudes a specific sensuality known only to the orient. Helena is stunningly portrayed by the insistent and compelling Ms. Conover who retains a chip on her shoulder from a previously jilted love. Due to her trauma, Janet has sworn off men and vows never to marry, but retains a highly sensual flame that finds quenching only in the imagined arms of Ms. Peregrine. A fire she imagines quenching often.

• Cedric Moncrieffe/Reverend Crisparkle

Mr. Moncrieffe would forget his own head if it wasn’t attached. A doddering yet harmless older man who has nothing but the best of intentions, though lacking in any results. He often stops to wonder if it is near to teatime or to muse on what finger sandwiches might be on offer at the canteen that afternoon. This greatly informs his portrayal of the Reverend Septimus Crisparkle, who, although originally intended as a clerical authority on the greater ideological themes and meanings of life, is now often distracted by the tiniest of details. The Reverend therefore has very little to offer by way of control over the orphaned newcomer twins in his charge, and so is often relegated to the role of observer. Which is fine by him. More time to be able to contemplate the shape

APPENDIX A: DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT (CONTINUED) 59

of that chair finial over there…

• Philip Bax/Bazzard

Trying his damnedest to be the consummate man of the theatre, Mr. Bax is continually at the ready should Mr. Paget be indisposed to play his leading role. Bax himself performs each of his narrowly defined stage assignments with the gusto of a true amateur, and it’s this, his abundance of enthusiasm (as well as an embarrassment of pity) that keeps the Royale offering him any position at all in the troupe. But it does on occasion pay-off: in last season’s production of A Boy and His Cat, Philip quite literally stole the show with his disturbingly uncanny portrayal of the non-speaking role of Sandie the dog when he snatched the orchestral score between his teeth from the conductor’s stand and dashed out into the lobby on all fours. He overacts to try and show that he can, oversings, which only proves that he can’t, and overturns the apple cart with his each and every attempt. Mind not to stand too near him on the stage… The man’s luck is never of the “good”variety.

• Nick Cricker/Durdles and Nick Cricker, Jr./Deputy

Mr. Cricker is a well-known bit-player clown from as far back as anyone can remember. He often swings the hammer in the scene shop while essaying the errant knight in the Shakespeare: “What is honour?” –whack, whack. “A mere scutcheon!” – whack, whack. His jokes are as old as the hills and much more dusty than the doilies on the sofa at Gramama’s. But somehow he has endured. His personality is sunnily warm and instantly lovable. Every show gladly pulls on the brakes to allow for his particular brand of banter. That he brings his son along to play the dual assignment of Durdles the Undertaker and Deputy the Watchman just goes to show his endearingly humane, although fairly tipsy nature.

• James Throttle

The Stage Manager. Put upon, threadbare and worn, he is the most highly trained and educated man of the bunch with a steal trap of a mind and an immense musical facility. Unfortunately, he is a severe narcoleptic. He has committed the entire oeuvre of Molière to memory and often stages readings of Shaw’s new works in his parlor whilst also playing rehearsal piano for the local G&S trope every other Sunday evening. Unfortunately, dozing off at the keys during“Modern Major General” does not bode well for a pianist position anywhere but the local unpaid G&S troupe, and auditioning with “To be or not to… zzz… zzz” does little to convince theatre managers to offer him roles. However, he must make a living somehow. The school loans have piled high and are well past their due dates. And so he is here at the Royale where his uncle serves on the community outreach committee and so has pulled some strings for him. He tries his best, but herding cats would certainly be easier and perhaps more fulfilling for this highly

APPENDIX A: DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT (CONTINUED) 60

talented yet fatally flawed young man.

Final Thought

Drood is for all intents and purposes merely a frothy Victorian romp. There is little of real substance to be gained by an audience experiencing it in the theatre. It will tug and tear no hearts, teach no grand morale, inspire no profound thoughts. It will however, if done well, perhaps engender a communal cathartic and comedic joy that can go far in subtly stitching together the souls of our combined musical and dramatic communities. It may provide a snigger and a smile that can warm a heart, which might even last a lifetime. Who knows? We have but six months before we find out. So for now… off to the race we go.

APPENDIX A: DIRECTOR’S CONCEPT (CONTINUED)

61

APPENDIX B THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH REVIEW

62

Theater Review | The Mystery of Edwin Drood Musical gives audience a role Friday, November 9, 2012 By Margaret Quamme FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The sparkling Ohio State University production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood plays off the British music-hall tradition with wit and style.

The premise of the two-act Rupert Holmes musical is that a Victorian company, under the uneven direction of music-hall master of ceremonies William Cartwright (John Connor), is giving its interpretation of Charles Dickens’ last work.

The twist is that Dickens didn’t finish the novel, so the company asks the audience of each performance to vote on who among the characters did away with Edwin Drood and who solved the mystery of his disappearance. This means that each performance, in theory, might have a different ending.

The convoluted plot has young Edwin Drood, played at the music hall by arrogant male impersonator Miss Alice Nutting (Logan Rathmann), competing with dastardly uncle John Jasper (Sifiso Mazibuko) for the affections of innocent Rosa Bud (played at the Wednesday opening-night performance by Kristen Kuivial, who alternates in the part with Cristina Maria Castro).

Their lives are complicated by two mysterious strangers from the East (Johnathan Mendes and Jessica Hirsh), the owner of an opium den (Melonie Mazibuko) and a shady clergyman (Danny DiMarino), among others.

Under the direction of A. Scott Parry, the musical is light on its feet, with parody switching to ravishing musical numbers or emotionally powerful dance and back.

Connor nicely juggles his attention between the antics onstage and the demands he makes of the audience, keeping the action moving along. Rathmann is amusingly assured as the unintentionally androgynous Drood, and Mazibuko makes a fine hammy villain. Drew Doherty is a crowd pleaser as Philip Bax, the actor who shows up eager for his bit part at the end of the first act.

Marni Balint’s set transforms gracefully when it needs to, and awkwardly when it’s supposed to, and evokes its era without slavishly imitating it. Samantha Kuhn’s sumptuous but playful costumes add to the air of sometimes-tacky Victorian excess.

A 10-piece orchestra, under Parry’s direction, ably backs up the songs and provides

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH REVIEW 63

musical commentary on the dramatic goings-on.

The major problem of the production is that, at least at the opening-night performance, it was sometimes difficult to make out the words that a good percentage of the characters were saying and even harder to understand the lyrics, many of which demanded quick articulation. Such a stumble presented a particular dilemma in the final section of the musical, when the plot was supposed to be unwound.

Even without full illumination, however, the musical is entertaining, offering enough twists and turns to keep it engaging to the end. The cast members do their best to keep the audience involved, and their good humor and evident enjoyment of the process are infectious.

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH REVIEW (CONTINUED) 64

APPENDIX C TABLES

65

TABLE 1: COSTUME PLOT

66

The Mystery of Edwin Drood OSU Theatre, Fall 2012 by Rupert Holmes Directed by A. Scott Parry 1892 – London Costume Designer: Samantha A. Kuhn

1. Maestro Thomas Purcell: Tails Shirt, Cummerbund, Pants, Socks, Shoes, Bowtie, Gloves [Orchestra Members: tux/black concert dress]

I. Principal Men

2a. Chairman William Cartwright: Coat, Vest, Shirt, Pants, Suspenders, Socks, Shoes, Bowtie

2b. Chairman William Cartwright/Mayor Thomas Sapsea: + Hat, Scarf, Walking Stick

3. Mr. Clive Paget/John Jasper: Overcoat, Frock, Vest, Shirt, Suspenders, Pants, Socks, Shoes, Hat, Tie, Gloves House/Street/Tomb

4. Mr. Clive Paget/John Jasper: Cassock and Collar over #3 Nun’s House

5. Mr. Clive Paget/John Jasper: Frock, Black Vest, Shirt, Suspenders, Black Pants, Socks, Shoes, Black Hat, Black Tie Act II

6a. Mr. Victor Grinstead/Neville Landless: Overcoat, Suit Coat, Vest, Shirt, Suspenders, Pants, Socks, Shoes, Tie, Hat, Walking Stick

6b. Mr. Victor Grinstead/Neville Landless: + Bloody Shirt, Tie and Walking Stick

7. Mr. Cedric Moncrieffe/Rev. Crisparkle: Overcoat, Frock, Shirt, Vest, Priest Collar, Suspenders, Pants, Socks, Shoes, Hat, Bible

8. Mr. James Throttle, Stage Manager: Vest, Shirt, Suspenders, Pants, Socks, Shoes, Tie, Glasses

9. Mr. Nick Cricker/Durdles: Overcoat, Jacket, Vest, Shirt, Suspenders, Pants, Socks, Shoes, Hat

10. Nick Cricker Jr./Deputy: Short Jacket, Shirt, Suspenders, Knickers, Socks, Shoes, Newsboy Cap

TABLE 1: COSTUME PLOT 67

11. Mr. Phillip Bax/Waiter: Black Coat, Black Vest, Shirt, Suspenders, Black Pants, Socks, Shoes, Bowtie, Gloves

12. Mr. Phillip Bax/Bazzard: Overcoat, Jacket, Shirt, Vest, Suspenders, Pants, Socks, Shoes, Tie, Hat

II. Principal Women

13. Miss Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood: Overcoat, Suit Coat, Shirt, Vest, Pants, Suspenders, Socks, Shoes, Tie, Hat, Buttonhole, Pocketsquare, Gloves, Umbrella House/Street/Tomb

14. Miss Alice Nutting/ Dick Datchery: Duster, Hat, Magnifying Glass, False Beard, Stockings, Bloomers, Corset, Chemise, Boots Act II, 1-Voting

15. Miss Alice Nutting/Herself: Jacket, Blouse, Skirt, Petticoat, Corset, Hose, Boots, Hat, Handbag, Gloves, Buttonhole Prologue/Voting

16. Miss Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood: Cream Suit, Shirt, Tie, Suspenders, Socks, Shoes, Hat, Buttonhole, Pocketsquare Act II-Solution

17a. Miss Deirdre Peregrine/Rosa Bud: Cape, Bodice, Skirt, Petticoat, Hose, Shoes, Gloves, Muff, Fan, Brooch, Jewelry, Hair Ribbon, Christmas Hat Act I

17b. Miss Deirdre Peregrine/Rosa Bud: + Summer Hat, Gloves, Fan Act II

18. Miss Janet Conover/Helena Landless: Wrap, Bodice, Drape, Skirt, Petticoat, Hose, Boots, Jewlery, Hat, Gloves

19. Miss Angela Prysock/Princess Puffer: Bodice, Full Skirt, Hose, Shoes, Jewelry, Fan, Hat, Gloves Opening/Act II

20. Miss Angela Prysock/Princess Puffer: Bodice, Robe, Hose, Shoes, Jewelry, Fan, Hair Sticks Opium Den

TABLE 1: COSTUME PLOT (CONTINUED)

68

III. Ensemble Men (between 6 and 8 total)

22. Mr. Nicholas Michael/Constable Horace: Constable Uniform, Shirt, Hat, Socks, Boots

23. ?/Cloisterham Citizen/Dream Drood

24. ?/Cloisterham Citizen/Dream Jasper

25. ?/Cloisterham Citizen/Puffer Denizen (dancer)

26. ?/Cloisterham Citizen/Puffer Denizen (dancer)

27. ?/Cloisterham Citizen

28. ?/Cloisterham Citizen

29. ?/Cloisterham Citizen

IV. Ensemble Women (between 6 and 8 total)

30. Miss Florence (Flo) Gill/Beatrice: Bodice, Skirt, Petticoat, Hose, Shoes, Gloves, Fan

31. ?/Cloisterham Citizen/Dream Succubae (dancer)

32. ?/Cloisterham Citizen/Dream Succubae (dancer)

33. ?/Cloisterham Citizen/Dream Succubae (dancer)

34. ?/Cloisterham Citizen/Dream Succubae (dancer)

35. ?/Cloisterham Citizen

36. ?/Cloisterham Citizen

37. ?/Cloisterham Citizen

TABLE 1: COSTUME PLOT (CONTINUED) 69

TABLE 2: ACTION PLOT

70

71

72

TABLE 3: INITIAL COSTUME BUDGET

73

TABLE 3: INITIAL COSTUME BUDGET

74

TABLE 3: INITIAL COSTUME BUDGET (CONTINUED)

75

TABLE 3: INITIAL COSTUME BUDGET (CONTINUED)

76

TABLE 3: INITIAL COSTUME BUDGET (CONTINUED)

77

TABLE 3: INITIAL COSTUME BUDGET (CONTINUED)

78

TABLE 4: BUILD LIST

79

TABLE 4: BUILD LIST

80

APPENDIX D: FIGURES

81

www.en.wikipedia.com

www.authorama.com

FIGURE 1: RESEARCH FOR MUSIC HALL PERFORMERS 82

www.picsweb.net

www.tumblr.com

FIGURE 2: RESEARCH FOR MUSIC HALL PERFORMERS

83

www.4chandats.org

www.vam.ac.uk

FIGURE 3: RESEARCH FOR MUSIC HALL PERFORMERS 84

www.flickr.com URL Unknown

FIGURE 4: RESEARCH FOR EARLY 1890’S CLOTHING 85

www.fashion-era.com

FIGURE 5: RESEARCH FOR EARLY 1890’S CLOTHING 86

URL Unknown www.flickr.com

FIGURE 6: RESEARCH FOR EARLY 1890’S CLOTHING 87

PLATE 7: RESEARCH FOR EARLY 1890’S OUTERWEAR

88

www.flickr.com

www.printsoldandrare.com

FIGURE 8: RESEARCH FOR LONDON OPIUM DENS 89

SIGNAC, PAUL. PORTRAIT OF FELIX FENELON. 1890

MATISSE, HENRI. HARMONY IN RED. 1908

FIGURE 9: RESEARCH FOR COLOR 90

] www.vam.ac.uk

URL Unknown

FIGURE 10: RESEARCH FOR CHAIRMAN WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT 91

www.gotsc.org

URL Unknown

FIGURE 11: RESEARCH FOR CLIVE PAGET/JOHN JASPER 92

www.texashistory.unt.edu

www.frontporchrepublic.com

FIGURE 12: RESEARCH FOR CASSOCKS FOR JOHN JASPER

93

www.en.wikipedia.com www.vam.ac.uk

FIGURE 13: RESEARCH FOR ALICE NUTTING/EDWIN DROOD 94

www.tumblr.com www.newbrunswickwomenfashion.wordpress.com

FIGURE 14: RESEARCH FOR DEIRDRE PEREGRINE/ROSA BUD

95

www.mymuseumoflondon.org.uk

FIGURE 15: RESEARCH FOR ANGELA PRYSOCK/PRINCESS PUFFER 96

www.lankapura.com

www.en.wikipedia.com

FIGURE 16: RESEARCH FOR JANET CONOVER/HELENA LANDLESS 97

www.freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com

www.flickr.com

FIGURE 17: RESEARCH FOR THE MAESTRO AND WAITER 98

www.anatolisgameroom.blogspot.com

FIGURE 18: RESEARCH FOR CONSTABLE

99

FIGURE 19: PRELIMINARY SKETCH FOR CHAIRMAN WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT 100

FIGURE 20: PRELIMINARY SKETCH FOR CLIVE PAGET/JOHN JASPER

101

FIGURE 21: PRELIMINARY SKETCH FOR ALICE NUTTING/EDWIN DROOD

102

FIGURE 22: PRELIMINARY SKETCH FOR DEIRDRE PEREGRINE/ROSA BUD

103

FIGURE 23: PRELIMINARY SKETCH FOR JANET CONOVER/HELENA LANDLESS

104

FIGURE 24: PRELIMINARY SKETCH FOR ANGELA PRYSOCK/PRINCESS PUFFER

105

APPENDIX E: PLATES

106

PLATE 1: RENDERING OF CHAIRMAN WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT 107

PLATE 2: RENDERING OF STAGE MANAGER JAMES THROTTLE

108

PLATE 3: RENDERING OF MAESTRO THOMAS PURCELL

109

PLATE 4: RENDERING OF ALICE NUTTING AS HERSELF

110

PLATE 5: RENDERING OF ALICE NUTTING/EDWIN DROOD, ACT I

111

PLATE 6: RENDERING OF ALICE NUTTING/DICK DATCHERY, ACT II

112

PLATE 7: RENDERING OF ALICE NUTTING/EDWIN DROOD, FINALE 113

PLATE 8: RENDERING OF CLIVE PAGET/JOHN JASPER, ACT I 114

PLATE 9: RENDERING OF CLIVE PAGET/JOHN JASPER, ACT I, SCENE 2

115

PLATE 10: RENDERING OF CLIVE PAGET/JOHN JASPER, ACT II 116

PLATE 11: RENDERING OF DEIRDRE PEREGRINE/ROSA BUD 117

PLATE 12: RENDERING OF DEIRDRE PEREGRINE/ROSA BUD, OUTERWEAR ACT I 118

PLATE 13: RENDERING OF JANET CONOVER/HELENA LANDLESS 119

PLATE 14: RENDERING OF JANET CONOVER/HELENA LANDLESS, OUTERWEAR ACT 1

120

PLATE 15: REBDERING OF VICTOR GRINSTED/NEVILLE LANDLESS

121

PLATE 16: RENDERING OF CEDRIC MONCRIFFE/REV. CRISPARKLE

122

PLATE 17: RENDERING OF ANGELA PRYSOCK/PRINCESS PUFFER 123

PLATE 18: RENDERING OF ANGELA PRYSOCK/PRINCESS PUFFER, OPIUM DEN, ACT I, SCENE 3 124

PLATE 19: RENDERING OF MR. NICK CRICKER/DURDLES 125

PLATE 20: RENDERING OF NICK CRICKER, JR/DEPUTY 126

PLATE 21: RENDERING OF PHILLIP BAX/BAZZARD 127

PLATE 22: RENDERING OF PHILLIP BAX/WAITER 128

PLATE 23: RENDERING OF NICHOLAS MICHAEL/CONSTABLE HORACE 129

PLATE 24: RENDERING OF OPIUM DEN DENIZENS, ACT I, SCENE 3

130

PLATE 25: RENDERING OF OPIUM DEN SUCCUBAE, ACT I, SCENE 3

131

PLATE 26: RENEDERING OF OPIUM DEN SHADES OF DROOD AND JASPER, ACT I, SCENE 3

132

PLATE 27: RENDERING OF CHORUS MEMBERS IN OUTERWEAR, ACT I

133

PLATE 28: RENDERING OF CHORUS MEMBERS, ACT II

134

PLATE 29: PRODUCTION PHOTO, “THERE YOU ARE” 135

PLATE 30: PRODUCTION PHOTO, CHAIRMAN WILLIAM CARTRIGHT

136

PLATE 31: PRODUCTION PHOTO, ROSA BUD AND HELENA LANDLESS

137

PLATE 32: PRODUCTION PHOTO, PRINCESS PUFFER

138

PLATE 33: PRODUCTION PHOTO, DEPUTY, DURDLES AND CHAIRMAN WILLIAM CARTRIGHT

139

PLATE 34: PRODUCTION PHOTO, “NO GOOD CAN COME FROM BAD”

140

PLATE 35: PRODUCTION PHOTO, “WRITING ON THE WALL”

141