Saturday, December 6, 2014

The Little Mermaid's Over and Poor Old Princess is Sunk....

Hello Dhaaarlings...

Princess can finally come up for air...

The Little Mermaid made a great splash and went off swimmingly...
People were Absolutely blown away by the costumes and sets for this production...
You know that I'm not one to boast darlings.... as it is so unbecoming for a Princess...  but I will on this occasion...
I had some astoundingly marvellous feedback from several people who had seen the Broadway production and they thought that our costumes and sets out shone that production by miles.
For a small school production in a regional City I think that is very big praise don't you?  
The team are all very chuffed and proud of our achievements and the kids performances.



Sadly due to the hectic pace of the last few months I only have scanned images from the program as I personally haven't had the time to take snap shots with my own camera... Not even to record the process and development of making some of the more complex costumes.
The program shots really don't do the costumes justice compared to seeing them under full lighting with sets and props...

I trust you will understand and forgive me Darlings...

Fortunately, I have a camera happy friend who usually takes literally thousands of snaps during the performance... 

So... When I do get my hands on his photos... and I will...
 You will see them here first!

But for now here are some more images...


 Sebastian "Under the sea" Surrounded by only some of the Sea Creatures with an incomplete Walrus and Lobster...


 Kiss the Girl... with some of the lagoon creatures...


Flounder and Ariel.... Ursula, Flotsam and Jetsam, an Angler Fish with teeth that light up..(and nearly did my head in trying to create by the way) and Moving Sea Weed...
 Five of the six Mermaid Sisters... The yellow one is missing...


"Scuttle" and his crew... 

Swashbuckling sailors...

So there you have it Darlings...
Just a little taste of what I've been busy with... 

Like I said these shots don't really do the costumes or the sets justice... 
Some of the costumes are incomplete and still had final embellishments to add. Many of the costumes and props like the Jelly fish and Sea Creatures still had to be fitted with battery packs and strings of hundreds of LED lights

Many of the costumes... particularly Flounder, Flotsam and Jetsam and many of the amazing array of animals and sea creatures were made from scratch without a pattern and evolved simply from my head to a rough sketch of my envisioned concept and then into reality... 

I've spent hundreds of hours hand stitching costumes.... ("Flounder" for example... couldn't be sown on a machine) leaving my fingers calloused and bleeding... and then there was the constant lack of sleep from being up till all hours doing the final fittings, adjustments and finishing touches... and in order to get the costumes ready for the program shots I had to pull a couple of "all nighters" and still didn't get some of them finished in time...
There was a great team of mums that helped out with many of the costumes and for that I am very grateful...

Sadly...I should be feeling over the moon with my effort and achievements but in reality I am exhausted and as a result am taking a break from costuming for 6 to 12 months or so... 
I have found that two huge productions a year for the past 4 years has taken its toll on me along with just doing life and all that entails...
 I just need a break and a little time-out for myself to re-think and re-energise. 
Volunteering my time, energy, and creativity has been a wonderful experience for me.  I have been truly blessed to see the growth in self confidence, interpersonal and life skills in the kids that I work with. 
I have stayed true to my creed... that is...

 "Every kid deserves to look spectacular on stage"

And from all the feedback I think I've at least done that...
But now it is time for me...

Till next we speak Darlings... Bottoms Up!

24 comments:

  1. Oh, I think you deserve a break. All those costumes are fabulous and I imagine they take a lot out of you to do them.

    Have a little Princess time!

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    1. Thanks Bob... I'm looking forward to a break. Who knows what lies ahead?

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  2. Looks like a fun and colorful production. Well done Princess and all those concerned!

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    1. Thanks Mate, It was a huge undertaking and It's taken till now to get back into the real world. I am still a little tired but feeling much more relaxed now that its over for another year...

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  3. Princess, you've done a wonderful job as usual! I'm not surprised you (and your team of mums) got the praise you did for these fabulous costumes - and that you need (and deserve) the break. Bravo!

    P.S. I particularly love the Angler fish's light up teeth - great idea!

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    1. Thanks Mr DeVice, The angler fish was fun to make tho nearly did my head in trying to work out how to keep it on the kids head without resorting to a staple gun or 6 inch nails and a hammer. The end result was a hooded contraption that did up under his chin. The huge jelly fish on poles were another drama. No sooner had I finished them when the director decides that they need to be lit up with strings of Christmas lights!

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  4. As always......stunning! I would think Ursula would be a challenge unto it self!!! Your deserve a break. I don't know how you have done all this to begin with. That's a ton of work!

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    1. You are quite right Maddie it has been a ton of work but well worth it just to see the growth in confidence and performance skills in the kids. Ursula fortunately was made by several mums working together and took an awful amount of engineering and trial and error to get right as it had to be able to be propped up against a set behind the actor fully opened and then trail behind her as she came down the stairs from this position. The tentacles were all lit from within with strings of lights.

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  5. You are not a Princess. You are a Goddess!!! And even a Goddess needs a sit down, a cup of tea, and a hobnob.
    Congratulations on your achievements!!!
    Sx

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    1. Thanks Miss Scarlet for your kind words and compliments. Tour suggestion of a cuppa and a hob nob were just the ticket tho I did have to substitute the hobnob for a Tim Tam.

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  6. You are absolutely brilliant, Princess. It's almost like your beautiful garden reproduced on stage. And all your heart is clearly evident as well.

    The lobster and Scuttle particularly caught my eye.

    You more than deserve a rest. Bottoms up to you.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words Mr Hawkke, I cannot claim the kudos for Sebastian the hermit Crab as that costume was made by the actors mother. But scuttle was a fun costume to create. The Moray eels Flotsam and Jetsam were a triumph but sadly the photos don't really do them justice. The fabric was all sequins over net that was coloured when brushed one way and black when brushed the other which made them appear even creepier under lights.

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  7. Princess - you deserve a bloody medal, let alone a rest... Fantabulosa! Jx

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    1. Thanks Jon,
      Like I've said a lot of work but well worth it... And now I can take that break.

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  8. The mind boggles at the amount of work that went into these costumes.

    Have a nice cuppa tea and a lie down.

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    1. Thanks MJ. I haven't added up all the hours but it feels like I've worked on them 24/7 for the past 6 months... I'm knackered. I'm ready for a second cuppa now...

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  9. Another triumph, I don't know where you get your energy from. I'm off for a lie down.

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    1. I don't know where the energy comes from either Mitzi... It seem i get quite driven when working on a project like this... I guess that despite all the drama i really enjoy doing what i do

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  10. Some nights' sleep and you are up to new adventures.


    Congratulations dear Princess - it all looks very fine, even to my untrained eye, and there must have been a tremendous load of work to get all this ready : Just rest a bit and then move on to Broadway or something, it can't be so much different, can it ?
    Seriously m'love, recharge the batteries and all, and why not see if there's a chance for other productions. It is a lot of work, yes - under the circumstances you are in, perhaps it is a little less needle-work and even more fullfilling designing in other circumstances ? One may dream.
    It's great what you done. One only knows what is possible when one has been there, and you tested it - and it is great.
    I wish you all the best Princess, you did not back off, you made this, you learned a lot about yerself. Yes, the mums helped, but you lead them.
    *Mwah*
    Have a gin and a ciggie, you deserve it !
    And relax a bit.

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    1. Thanks Mr Maggs, you have given me some food for thought. I'd like to find a similar outlet for my creative skills that actually pays! Volunteering has been great to get me out of my depressive funk and get me using some of my skills again but it comes at a cost.. Not so much financial but a personal cost where I get exhausted by going the extra mile and then my heath suffers.. One of the partners of one of the ladies in the production team likened it to the song "Hotel California" .... "you can check out any time you like but you can never leave"... I'm starting to believe him.

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  11. You do such a wonderful job of bringing the colors and textures of the characters to life. Wouldn't it have been easier to have tarred and feathered the sea gulls? Anyway, it would be fun to wear hand sewn clothing such as this on a daily basis. After your break, perhaps you could open a shop? No that's not right. An atelier? A House. A Maison. A Salon. That's it. Le Salon de la Princesse.

    By the by, since you're in Australia, I was wondering if you watch the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries with Essie Davis? I love the wardrobe and costumes. I imagine the Princess to be dressed just the same lounging about the boudoir.

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    1. Thanks Mr Pirate
      Tarring and feathering almost became an option!
      In fact feathers were all the go this year with seagulls , ducks, a flamingo, jellyfish and seaweed. the auditorium cleaners hated me by the end of the show as the floor looked like a very colourful chicken massacre after every rehearsal...
      As for Essie Davis and her Seriously Hot Detective I have the first two series on DVD which get played regularly. I would have killed to be part of the costume production team on that one. I used it as a reference to inspire some of the costumes I did for "The Music Man" earlier in the year. That was the era of true style.

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  12. you, sugar, are an absolute genius! gorgeous costumes! but even more, look at the faces of those kids! all smiles. kudos to you and your team of mums. xoxoxoox

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    1. That's what it is all about Savvy and is behind what drives me to do it. It's the kids that matter. It isn't a case of "Look at me!...Look at me!" it's "Look at them! Look at them!... and see them shine"

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