The Orchestra

Live musicians accompanied by masterful music add an irreplaceable energy to Trueheart Productions’ Rejected No More.

Ms. Barclay has masterfully created a number of truly memorable songs, filled with dramatic tension and artfully-crafted emotional pacing that is well matched to the lyrics. The applause she is receiving after each major song is well-deserved, and is one of the real treasures of witnessing new music at a live premiere. The orchestra consists of some of Portland’s finest young musical talent, and I am fortunate to be working with an unusually enthusiastic ensemble. We are all looking forward to another successful weekend of performances.

-John Carter, conductor

Costumes: Fabric Shopping & Sewing

(Part 2 of 2)

Once all the designs are finished a very large task stands dauntingly in the doorway… FABRIC SHOPPING! Do you know how many yards of fabric it takes to clothe a 40 person cast? Well over 400 yards of fabric! That’s a lot of fabric to buy! The costume designer and assistant director are far too familiar with our local Jo Ann Fabric store. Shopping trips can take easily over 6 hours on multiple days!

Community theatre costumes come together quite differently than if we were a professional company. The 100’s of costume pieces aren’t sewn by “The costume Shop” or even a handful of people, but rather a couple dozen volunteer and parent seamstresses.

In the end, the audience probably doesn’t think twice about the authenticity of costumes, the cultural distinctions, or the dozens of articles of clothing and accessories that each actor wears during a 2+ hour show, but without them the audience wouldn’t be transported into a foreign land in 1300BC. I would encourage you, during the next performance you watch take note to the many costumes being worn and recall the time that has gone to depict each character accurately and well.

Sets

The sets for Rejected No More are under construction. But we can’t spill the beans just yet. Can you guess what these might become?

Costumes: Research & Design

Part 1 of 2

The very first step in costume design begins with a lot of questions in research… What styles of clothing did Jewish and Moabite people wear in 1500-1100 BC? Were there religious reasons for their dress? The list goes on. Due to the fact that the Jewish people did not make images of themselves, 100% authenticity is nearly impossible to achieve.

The little information we do have is based on Biblical descriptions, groups of people (Egyptians, Persians…) which included Jews in murals, a handful of artifacts, or how artists over the years have depicted them.

If you come to see the Premiere of Rejected No More, look for a few key authentic clothing facts….

• Jewish men wore tassels on the corners of their clothing
• Jewish women wore head-coverings of some kind (not sure at what age they began)
• (Moabite) wealth is shown with excess fabric (e.g. drapes, baggy sleeves, extra fabric wrapped around, multiple layers)


The next step in the process of costume making is designing. The costume designer uses information from the research and designs them into costumes for each character that reflect culture, time-period, and unique qualities of that character. They also have to take note if the actor will be dancing or needing to change costumes quickly. And finally, in our latest upcoming production of Rejected No More, it is necessary to distinguish the difference in heritage (Moabite vs. Jewish).

For example the differences between Moabites and Jews (from Bethlehem)…

Color
Moab: bright colorful clothing
Bethlehem: more dull (because they just had gone through a famine, thus poor)

Style
Moab: wrapped draped fabric + loose hanging sleeves
Bethlehem: (men) tassels on the four corners of clothing

Head-coverings (women)
Moab: no head-coverings, beaded head tie across forehead
Bethlehem: fabric coverings on all or part of head

Here’s a sneak peak of the costumes designed for the character of Ruth in our upcoming production of Rejected No More.



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