My love for all things dance

I first witnessed ballet was when I was seven years old. My mother had taken me to see the Sadlers Wells Ballet perform Les Sylphides in London, and I was instantly mesmerized! Little did I know at the time that I would become a professional dancer, and then later transition to a costume designer.

That's not me in the photo. I just like the picture!

I never lost my love of dance and dancers. I know how hard it is to train, to become really good, and how short a ballet career will most likely be. Dancers of any age speak a common language, a language of sore muscles, intense and disciplined training, and the pure joy of artistic expression through movement.

In fact, it was my experience as a dancer that got me my first costuming job. I met one of the producers of Ann-Margret's lavish Las Vegas act, who was looking for someone to co-ordinate the 12 dancers' and 6 singers' costumes for her show. I thought I didn't know anything about costumes, only having worn them, never having made them, but the brilliant producer said I must understand what dancers need, and so gave me the job! That was what started it all.

Through Ann-Margret, I met Bob Mackie and became his assistant for the lavish Las Vegas show "Jubilee," and once again found myself costuming dancers. During rehearsals, I even took class with them from time to time if I wasn't busy downstairs in the wardrobe department. 

Leigh Taylor Young in Passions"

Many years later, while designing the show Passions, I had an unusual experience with actress Leigh Taylor Young. It turned out we had a unique connection from the past. She asked me, "Were you ever a student at the National Ballet School in Toronto?" I was surprised at the question, as that wasn't something that was in my bio. It turns out that she was also a ballet student there, a couple of years younger, and "looked up" to me, one of the "older" students at age fourteen!

From ballet to Broadway to ball gowns in Hollywood. Who would have thought!

What is my favorite color?

People often ask me what my favorite color is. That’s a tough one. It reminds me of when I asked my mother, who was the favorite of her children, my brother, my sister or me? Of course, I was hoping it would be me! But she said, “I love you all very much, but I love you each differently.” And so it is with color.

If I’m in the Caribbean looking out at the crystal clear water, I am sure my favorite color is aqua. But then in the spring, when I look at my Palo Verde tree covered in bright yellow blossoms, I think it must be yellow.

But I must say I am partial to a red dress!

There are a couple of iconic red dresses that are burned vividly and indelibly into my brain, never to fade. One was designed by the wonderful Aggie Guerard Rodgers for “The Color Purple” (for which she was nominated for an Oscar Award). It was worn by Whoopi Goldberg as “Celie,” and in the scene, she was running along the road towards her house. An ominous gray sky was behind her, which made the dark red dress become so much more intense as it swirled around her, and the whole mood felt intense and slightly dangerous.

The very first costume I designed for a major client was red and was for Ann-Margret. It was for a disco number (yes, disco..... this was a while back!) for her big nightclub act at Caesars Palace, and later the number was used on a TV special. I had already designed the outfits for the male dancers, and now I got to create a dress for the star. The first time she emerged on stage wearing my red dress was a moment I will never forget!

But if I am to define red, in a perfect world, it would be a beaded gown by Giorgio Armani on exhibit in Rome at a retrospective of the fashion designer’s work. I was in Rome on holiday and read about the Armani exhibit mounted at the ancient Roman Baths of Diocletian.

We entered the exhibit, and the first cavernous room was exceedingly dark. I wondered who would be so perverse as to not light an exhibit so one could see it! But as our eyes gradually adjusted, we could begin to see display cases of the designer’s subtly colored and understated daywear emerging from the shadows. The shapes were uncluttered, slightly androgynous, and executed in his “greige” palette. But then we entered the next room, also dark. A single spotlight mounted up high shone onto a red beaded gown, and I gasped. The way our eyes had adjusted to the dim light in the previous room must have accentuated the brilliance of this dress. To me, it was the essence of red. The ultimate red. I shall never forget it.

OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE!

A few weeks ago I was asked if I could make a costume for a skit that was to be a key part of a showbiz roast for Frank Marino in Las Vegas. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to design/make costumes and I LOVE to make money, so anytime I can do  the two things at once, I’m one happy camper! But I turned this one down. It was SOOO out of my comfort zone. It was to be a large, and I do mean large, tiger costume, Montecore of Seigfried and Roy fame to be exact, with certain elements of puppetry.  I don’t do animals. I do glamor, glitz, beautiful elegant and classy costumers. I haven’t ever worked with foam, never wielded a knife in the cause of a costume, seldom use a glue gun, am not particularly “crafty”, and know absolutely nothing about how to make the apendages of said animal move.

I thought that was that, but the producer could not find anyone else to do the costume and offered me double what I would have asked, so I weakened and said yes!

The cool thing about being out of your comfort zone is that you are forced to expand your capabilities and do things you thought you had no aptitude for. This was NOT an easy job. The animal has to be big, almost as long as I am tall (5’8”!), and somewhat life like. The legs have to move. It can’t topple over. So off I went to the fabric store and bought lots of fake fur. OMG this is the first time I have worked with fake fur.... it is all over my workroom, in the carpet, in my eyes, certainly up my nose. I had to vacuum every day after working, and I’m still finding fur tufts everywhere.

Thankfully, my husband is very resourceful (and a good sport!) and helped me immensely by building a skeleton of bits and pieces of things we had in our garage and at our neighborhood Lowes. Then I bought foam and started to figure out how to create the shape of this animal.  First fitting did not go well. The producer thought it too small. Back to square one. More fur needed. More vacuuming needed. More patience with myself needed.

Second fittng went pretty well, though the mechanics still weren’t working. Back to Lowes for more supplies.

But in the end, I was amazed that I was able to pull it off! It’s not a glamorous gown, like I enjoy doing, nor is it on the level of a Lion King or War Horse puppet. But it got  huge laughs at the event when it appeared and now it’s all over Twitter!

I’m so glad I wasn’t comfortable for a few weeks - such a sense of accomplishment when it all ends well!

COMING FULL CIRCLE, BACK TO MY SEWING ROOTS!

During my costume designing career, often I have been asked if I sew all my costumes. It always bothered me a bit, because it assumed that a designer has to sit at the sewing machine turning out hundreds of costumes a show might need as well as designing them, meeting with the actors, going to production meetings etc. It is like asking an architect if he constructs all his own buildings!

However, I am now in the process of making a number of costumes for a musical groups’s new show, and to my surprise, I am loving it! I have put in far more hours than my fee would suggest but I don’t mind in this instance, because I am having so much fun! I sit up in my second floor office, which has windows on two sides and a view of Mt Charleston to the west, and sew away on my sturdy little workhorse Singer sewing machine. In the evening I sit downstairs on the sofa and hand sew, trying not to leave the tell-tale sequins scattered on the floor. (Sticky rollers are brilliant for getting up sequins!)

For thirty odd years working as a costume designer for stage, film and TV, I have sewn little more than a few throw pillows and hems and minor alterations on my own clothes. I have relied on the fully professional and divinely talented people in my costume workrooms who look at my sketches and miraculously turn them into fully realized costumes. They make the patterns, turn out a “muslin” sample for my approval, cut the fabric, assemble it, and put in those pesky zippers. Then, once the fitting is done, they make the adjustments, and add the beading or trim, and do the final hand finishing. One of the great joys of costume design is seeing one’s creation go from my imagination to sketch to finished product on the actor!

I started hand sewing at an early age, growing up in England. All little girls were taught to sew, and we had a class where the teacher would read to us while we did our embroidery. When I was 8 years old I won my first prize for embroidery!

Later, during my teen years in Canada, I went to a summer course at the Singer Sewing Machine center, realizing that I could get more clothes to wear if I learned to make them myself.

During my Broadway career (as a dancer and actress) I used to sew many of my own clothes, inspiring my friends to ask me to make clothing for them. I even had a line of dresses that I took around to the various theaters on Broadway for the dancers and singers to look at and buy. 

Once relocated to Los Angeles to pursue my acting career, I supported myself in-between gigs with making patchwork dresses and skirts, also quilts and pillows which I sold to interior decorators, private clients, and at outdoor craft shows.

Eventually my career morphed from performing to costuming. My first job was co-ordinating the costumes for Ann-Margret’s nightclub act, dealing with the many costumes for the dancers and singers. When I worked up the nerve to ask if I could design a dress for Ann-Margret herself, guess who sewed it....ME!  I remember many a night struggling away to make it fit, make it perfect, even adding the rhinestones myself.

So, flash forward to my professional costume design career for TV series and films....no sewing! I remember fondly the many wonderful women and men who made my designs come to life. And now, I am happy sitting upstairs sewing away, trying to do as good a job as they did.

DREAM BIG, FORGET THE SAFE LIFE!

In two weeks I will be going to the airport to pick up a young lady I have never met, a young woman who sought me out via email a couple of years ago. She grew up in Turkey, and now lives and works in Germany. She told me about her dreams of designing costumes, even though she is highly educated and accomplished in the field of politics and international relations. I do not know her design talents, but I do know that if she wants a costume career as badly as she seems to, I should encourage her to give it a try. So I did.

She has saved up enough money,taken some classes, got her visa, and is coming to intern with me for a couple of weeks and look into further longer lasting internship possibilities.

She has said in her emails that no-one else has encouraged her but me, so when I read Xazmin Garza’s column in todays Las Vegas Review Journal, I thought of her. Below is an excerpt of Garza's column:

Everyone has a dream somewhere along the line. Dreamers just dare to keep having them well after society expects them to stop. There’s a reason the question “what do you want to be” always ends with “when you grow up.” We equate dreaming with immaturity. 

......To go after something beyond standard goals — 10 fingers and 10 toes, a corner office, the lifestyle that comes with the Champagne that comes with the car — requires bravery. Not just for what might be sacrificed to do it, but for all the naysayers who will inevitably be encountered along the way.

It’s also Father’s Day today, so I am grateful to both my parents (both long gone) for allowing me to dream big. It wasn’t always easy for them, I don’t think, as my dreams of a showbusiness career did not guarantee me a nice stable and possibly affluent lifestyle in the city where I grew up, surrounded by family and friends. But they didn’t stop me when I flew off to Boston the day after I wrote my last exam for my BA, to audition as a dancer for the “My Fair Lady” National Company and, as it turns out, never to live at home again.

So Mum and Dad, thanks so much for letting me go, letting me dream. And I’ll write more about my intern in a few weeks. I hope to be part of her realizing her dreams.

Then and now: Jason Bateman, Debra Messing, so many more

I know this is going to make me sound (but not feel) frightfully old......but I can’t help but take pleasure in seeing so many actors I have worked with in the past working in today’s TV and films. Not a day goes by when I don’t spot a former “costumee” of mine on the tube or silver screen.  

Case in point: yesterday my husband and I saw the film “Identity Thief”, starring two of “my actors”. Jason Bateman guest starred on the TV series “Ned and Stacey” in the ’90’s, and he seems exactly the same as I remember him. Nice. Unassuming, Gently funny. Gorgeous green eyes. I have a photo of him somewhere on set.

Another actor I actually didn’t recognize in the film at first was Robert Patrick.  I went on IMDB and saw this quote "I think 90% of acting is makeup and wardrobe. The other 10% is what I do here in my office, bouncing off the walls."  Haha, I know actors won't agree (and neither do I completely) but I love the shout-out to make-up and costumes! It actually reminded me of Robert, who showed up late to his fitting for a TV one hour pilot  I was designing called “Snitch”. The next day he showed up to his second fitting on time and said “my wife told me I have to apologize for yesterday and that I was being an ass-hole”! He made me laugh, and we got along great.

I love the TV show “Smash” and watch it religiously every time it is on. It takes me right back to my own Broadway days as a dancer. I’m sure lots of things have changed since then, but it still feels very familiar. And there is fabulous Debra Messing, whom I costumed for two years on the aforementioned Ned and Stacey! Debra was a handful, but I adored her. She refused to allow the producers to coerce me into putting her into padded bras (typical sitcom-think!) and had her own ideas for the bohemian Stacey. We had great fun defining her look. Of course, Thomas Haden Church was even more of a handful, but in a completely different way - droll, stubborn, with that incredible voice. But his wardrobe is one of the looks I created (with his input of course) that I am most proud of. The Atlanta Journal Constitution said “ Thomas Haden Church is one of the best dressed men on TV”.

Then there’s “The Big Bang Theory”, a hit TV comedy. I have two of my former “kids” on it. Mayim Bialek was 12 or 13 when I first costumed her for a pilot spin-off of “The Facts of Life”. She was very funny. She had a scene where she wanted to be more grown up and stuffed socks in her chest. And the self assured young woman who is today Kaley Cuoco was 15 wen I first worked with her on a TV movie with Tony Danza, shot in Vancouver. 

Another successful young woman is Alyson Hannigan, I’m sure known to everyone under 35 for many successful series, now in “How I Met Your Mother”. She was also around 15 when I costumed her in one of her first TV shows, which was cancelled after 12 episodes. She wailed ”I’ll never work again”, which is what we all think when a show is cancelled.

Then there’s Dennis Haysbert, the tall actor with the deep voice who is seen in all the Allstate commercials and played the President in the series “24”. He had a bit part in “The Facts of Life” as a cop. I don’t even remember him. And the high school Principal  Figgins, in “Glee”, Iqbal Theba - he played a bit part on one of my sitcoms.

And of course, my biggest star, George Clooney! We all know what happened to him!

P.S. Don't forget to check me out on www.HollywoodMentors.co

REMEMBERING LARRY HAGMAN

I had the pleasure of designing costumes about 20 years ago for Larry Hagman in a TV movie called “Staying Afloat”, produced for NBC.

I first met Larry at the Culver Studios in Culver City, Ca, when I went for my interview. He was sitting in his office which he had draped all sorts of exotic middle eastern fabrics to cover every inch and ceiling, creating a tent like environment. I had never interviewed in quite such a place! I was eager to please, as this might be my very first TV Movie ( previously I had designed nothing by series), and it was to be filmed in Fort Lauderdale. I had dressed up in a smart suit, worn high heels,  and carried my large portfolio. Apparently Larry thought that the way I was dressed indicated that I might not be the kind of person who would get in there and work hard, so initially I did not get the job. However, I was lucky enough to have a producer who was rooting for me, so I went in again dressed more casually (I never was a jeans kind of girl), and he liked me better and I was hired!

My next meeting with him was at our first fitting, He was playing a rich man whose father had disowned him and who only possession of note was a 1930’s designer yacht, so I had brought in lots of beautiful clothing, nautically inspired. He liked some of the things, but rejected anything that had any brown/tan/beige in it (which was half of my selection), apologizing for not telling me he only liked blue!

Anyway, after that it was all “smooth sailing”, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He was very funny, and enjoyed “holding court” and telling stories,  many of which were about his days on Dallas. He said he was so famous during that time that the extras would steal the powder puffs that had been used to mop his sweat, and that if he fell asleep on set or traveling on a train, people would snap his photo with his mouth open during a snore!

He had a mischievous side, a stubborn side, an eccentric side. One time I had placed some pastel plaid shirts in his trailed to be worn with his navy blazer and he told me point blank he didn’t like plaid. I sweetly said I didn’t have any other choice handy, and would he reconsider? About thirty minutes later he emerged completely dressed in the outfit, plaid shirt and all, winked at me and said “I like plaid now”. 

One custom he had established for himself which he would NOT under any circumstance break, was that he would not speak at all one day a week, on a Saturday I believe. No matter what. We could not shoot any scenes he was in that day. One day a reporter had been scheduled for an interview for a story on his silent day (by mistake) and though he didn’t cancel the interview, he only answered questions with facial expressions, hand gestures, and occasionally a note on a pad. It seems ironic now, as his death last week came from complications from throat cancer.

When we returned to Los Angeles, there was one last day of filming to be done, and he offered his gorgeous home in Ojai as a shooting location. He had told me that he was tired, after Dallas, of having all his money in the hands of agents, managers, and lawyers, and he wanted to put it instead into something he could physically see and enjoy. So after a big search, he found the perfect plot of land on top of a mountain above Ojai, with a view to the Pacific. The house was designed by him and his talented wife Maj and decorated to perfection. There was a pool in the central courtyard, streams flowing out of it into an infinity pool  off the cliff, as well as an indoor lap pool and deep jacuzzi. Hammocks were strung across the porch of the house that overlooked the valley and the ocean. Everything was in the most immaculate taste.

Larry gave me the gift of a book on needlecraft that his mother, Mary Martin, had written, since he knew I loved quilting and embroidery. 

I always smile when I think of him.

COSTUMES, HALLOWEEN, & COLORFUL CHARACTERS

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  Every once in a while I have several nights in a row when I awake around 4 am and can’t sleep. I think I am worried about the outcome of the presidential election. But no, this is not a political blog, so I will quickly move on!
  
  
  Here’s what made me happy this week:
  
  
  • The newest issue of Entertainment Weekly (which I subscribe to) features several articles under the banner ‘Hollywood Design Report”, chronicling costume, set, and prop designers for various films and TV series (Once Upon a Time, Les Miz, Boardwalk Empire and more”!  I'm happy also to see the wonderful work of my colleague Eduardo Castro featured so prominently on the cover and inside. I remember back 10 years ago or so when the Costume Designers Guild (on whose executive board I served for 3 terms, once as Vice-President) first searched for a PR firm to raise the profile of costume designer. All of the applicants made their case that it would be a very hard sell, as most publications were more interested in the stars, not designers. Thankfully that has really changed!
  
  
  • I have been asked to give a presentation at a fundraiser for PBSVegas on the fashions of Downton Abbey. The event will take place at the Mandarin Oriental here in Las Vegas in December and will be an afternoon tea. I have a lot of research to do to come up with a worthy presentation which will honor the costumes, and also be interesting to a large group of PBS supporters.
  
  
  • I finished a little girl’s Halloween costume and had the delight of seeing the 2 1/2 year old twirl delightedly and gaze at herself in the mirror! I rarely make Halloween costumes (most professional costume designers don’t much care for Halloween!) but this seemed like a worthy project for an adorable toddler and a very nice client.
  
  
  • I received a phone call from one of my “students/mentees” to give me the good news that she is now Assistant Costume Designer for “Absynthe”, one of the big shows on the Strip, thanks (in a small part) to my recommendation. Nothing gives me more of a thrill than hearing that someone who sought me out for training, who put in the time and hard work, and has steadily worked on her career, is achieving success and accomplishments. I am so proud of her, and so grateful that she has kept in touch with me. In fact we are meeting for lunch in a week or so.
  
  
  • And lastly, I was watching The Today Show the other morning and saw a feature on three seriously senior women (80’s and 90’s) who have flamboyant and colorful personal style. I suppose the younger generation would look at them and think they are off their rockers, but then seniors often look at today’s teens and think THEY are off their rockers! But these seniors made me laugh and smile at the riotous colors they wore and the joy they took in their own unique sense of style. One said she calls herself “a geriatric starlet”, and another says “life is very grey when you dress up it makes you happy.” When I see older women, especially here where I live in Las Vegas, wearing baggy cotton crop pants, boxy t-shirts, and Birkenstocks, I despair, and think I’d rather be wildly eccentric and colorful as I approach senior style myself!. So, as the spriti moves me, so will I dress!
  
  
  
  
  
  

WORKING WITH PENNY MARSHALL

I just saw Penny Marshall on The Today Show, and I have ordered her book. Can’t wait to read it!

I had the interesting experience (and yes, I would say, the pleasure) of working with her in 1992 when I was hired to costume design the TV series A League of Their Own. The movie had been a huge hit, and the TV series was the hot ticket - everyone in Holllywood wanted to be involved.

A man I had previously worked with on several other series was producing it and set up a time for me to come in and meet with Penny. She was sitting behind her desk in her huge office at Sony Studios when I entered, and was eating from a large bowl of spaghetti! She apologized, saying she had not had a moment to have lunch, and to please sit down and show her my portfolio. It was a bit disconcerting, and I was nervious. She was so droll! In my nervousness I said that I was experience in the “thirties” costumes that would be needed, and without missing a beat and without looking up she said “forties”. I had nearly blown it! World War 2 story - of course 1940’s costumes!

I started work early before the cast was set, as she wanted me to have enough 40’s clothing to outfit all the actors doing screen tests. Every actress in town wanted to be cast and therefore were so sweet and appreciative of my efforts to make them look the part. Only later when we were well under way filming did the seven “Peaches” girls start to get competitive and fight for rank!

Penny was always droll, both in production meetings and while filmling, and she had her favorites. She was never big with compliments or lots of touchy feely stuff, though I think I would have heard about it if she hadn’t liked what I was doing. She expected top level work from everyone, but didn’t see any need to draw attention to what she thgouht was the norm.  Her brother,  Garry Marshall, on the other hand, was the exact opposite - outgoing, mellow, kind, full of smiles and compliments all around. I reminded him that he had nearly cast me as Gwendolyn PIgeon in the TV series The Odd Couple  some years back (while I was still an actress) and he was kind enough to say I was a wonderful and he wishes I had got the part! He may not even have remembered me, but I didn’t care!

We only filmed 6 episodes, and Penny directed a couple of them. Tom Hanks came in to direct one episode too, though at first I didn’t recognize him, as he had just finished filming Philadelphia, and was still thin and growing his hair back from that Oscar winning performance.

Only two episodes aired, in mid summer. The show got bad ratings, and was plucked off the air. I however, was incredibly honored to still get nominated for my first Emmy  for Best Costume Design for a Series.

THE VALUE OF HAVING A MENTOR

When I was starting my costume design career many years ago, I was very grateful for the guidance and encouragement I received from several “mentors”. Back then, the word “mentor” was not in common use as it is now, but I realize in retrospect that several key people played a very important role in my life.

Bob Mackie is obviously one of THE most important mentors in my life. When I met him, I had already transitioned from my career as a dancer and actress and started my costume career  co-ordinating the dancers and singers wardrobe for Ann-Margret’s big Las Vegas nightclub act in Las Vegas. For you younger readers, she was a huge star at the time, and had all the best musicians, writers, set designers, and of course, famed costume designer Bob Mackie to do all her fabulous costumes and beaded gowns. 

I remember the first time I met Ann-Margret and Roger Smith, her husband and manager. I had been taken to their house in Beverly Hills, up a dirt road off Benedict Canyon where once Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart lived. It was about ten am, but Ann-Margret had slept late. Eventually she came out of her bedroom, hair tousled, no make-up, but warm and gracious. She hugged me and I was astonished at how petite she was. She asked me if I would put a heavy metal zipper in the back of one of her stage beaded gowns so it would be easier in a quick change. Imagine me, replacing the exquisitely hand sewn zipper in a $10,000 Bob Mackie beaded gown with a big metal zipper! What would he Bob Mackie think?

It wasn’t long after that I met him and I guess something about me struck him as, a year or two later he asked me to be his assistant for the Oscar Awards Show 1980, and then Jubilee, opening at the MGM Grand in 1980. This started a life-long connection with one of the best designers in the business, and with a kind and generous man. I did not call him a mentor, I was just his assistant, but I had the opportunity to watch him work at every level of the process - greeting a star when they arrived for a meeting, sketching, designing, choosing fabrics, choosing the best pattern-maker and team of sewers and tailors to execute the design, and most importantly, fitting it on the performer, usually many times. I watched perfectionism at its best.

There simply was no better training ground for me. I watched everything, asked many many questions, and for many years during my career, called for guidance and advice when I got stuck. Even last year, when I requested an hour out of his busy schedule for an interview for a book I am writing, he willingly gave me his time.

I would be remiss not to mention my other mentors, two designers who worked in Bob Mackie’s company, Peter Menefee, whom I assisted for several years, and Ret Turner, who is known and loved by every designing and costumer in Hollywood. 

So why would someone like me be willing to mentor someone at the beginning of their career? Well, one of the obvious answers is that others helped me so much along the way, and it is my turn to help others. 

I had started this blog with the intention of discussing how to find a good mentor and why it is important, and why I like to mentor talented young designers and costumers, but this is running on too long, and I will have to save it for my next post.

In the meantime, you can find out more about my mentoring and training course at my website www.hollywoodmentors.co

ROBERT FLETCHER, famed Costume Designer

For those of you interested in costume design and costume designers, please enjoy this  article I wrote, for the website of the Costume Designers Guild, my "union", local 892, for most of my designing career in Hollywood.

http://costumedesignersguild.com/articles-videos/news-events/

SAN FRANCISCO, WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE! Plus memories of the late Phyllis Diller

DIANA'S NOTE: I wasn't going to publish this edition of my blog for a week or two, but I saw today that Phyllis Diller has died at age 95. Many of you younger readers will not remember her, but strangely enough, I just wrote about her last night, in paragraph 3 below!

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I spent last weekend in San Francisco, a city I have not visited for at least 20 years. The trip had a dual purpose:  to attend a wedding shower for some dear friends  and to interview one of our finest costume designers Aggie Guerard Rodgers. (The Color Purple, Beetlejuice, Return of the Jedi, need I say more?)

As always, memories came flooding back. I first visited San Francisco in my very early twenties, when I was a dancer with the National company of My Fair Lady. We had previously played in Los Angeles where I saw my first palm tree and ate my first Mexican food, and now we were at the Curran Theater on Geary Street in San Francisco. Right next door at the Geary Theater, Gypsy was playing with Ethel Merman, and since their opening night was right before our opening night, we were able to attend. I had been told that Merman had just heard that Rosalind Russell  was going to play “her” role in the film version, so when she bellowed her opening line “Sing out, Louise” from the back of the house, the place went nuts and cheered and applauded her in support.  Again, when she sang “Mama’s Turn” in Act 2, she brought the house down a second time.

In San Francisco I had my first Ramos Fizz in the little bar across the street, saw my first drag show, and went to the Hungry I to see a “new” comedienne called Phyllis Diller. There was a big line to get in, so, in a moment of unusual bravado, I marched to the head of the line with my dancer friends and asked if they extended “professional courtesy”. They ushered us right in past everyone, including it turned out, our company manager! Diller was hilarious, and we quoted her endlessly for months after that.

Touring was great fun at that age, especially with a big musical, where there were lots of dancers and singers my age to hang out with and go sightseeing with. There was a key group of us that stayed friends from those days to now.

About 8 years later I returned to the Bay Area, this time as choreographer for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. The star, the late Godfrey Cambridge, had rented a houseboat in Sausolito for the run and invited one of the dancers to stay there with him, She wasn’t comfortable with that, so she invited me and another dancer to stay there too. Godfrey was habitually running late, and one night the theater called in a panic because the 4 of us hadn’t shown up yet for the show. We hustled Godfrey into the car, and as we crossed the Oakland Bridge toward the theatre in Berkeley, I looked over at the speedometer and saw that he was driving over 100 mph! We moved out the next day - a wee bit too much adventure for our taste!

I returned to San Francisco two times more as an actress with The Odd Couple and later with The Killing of Sister George. Sometimes I was lonely, as plays have much smaller casts, so I would find a ballet class to attend just to be around people. 

I also learned to drive in San Francisco! Having grown up in Toronto, where the public transit system is so good you don’t need a car, and then moved to New York, where having a car is not necessary either, I had never learned to drive. I got my license in Los Angeles and as soon as we got to San Francisco I rented a car and drove every day. I went up and down those steep hills (not stick shift, thankfully), over the Golden Gate Bridge, and down the winding road on the other side to Stinson Beach. It was scary, but I loved driving, and still do!

And then this weekend, I met Oscar nominated costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers. She has lived in the Bay area her whole life and managed a very successful career designing major feature films from her home base in San Francisco, commuting to Los Angeles or location when necessary. A warm and totally down to earth woman, I loved her right away! She shared with me many of her stories and her views for an article I am writing for the Costume Designers Guild website as we had a super lunch at a Creperie in the MIssion District. 

San Francisco - what’s not to like?

(and don't forget to check out my online costume training course at www.HollywoodMentors.co)

BROADWAY AND DANCERS, I LOVE THEM ALL!

Last night I watched “SMASH” on TV and it reminded me how much I love Broadway performers, singers and dancers. Well yes, I was one once, and I treasure every moment I spent performing on several Broadway stages.

I remember those auditions - terrifying! If I got to audition first as a dancer, even in those huge cattle calls (as they were called) on stage where 400 dancers got whittled down to 30 or so for callbacks, I knew I had a very good chance. If then I got to audition as an actress, I knew I had a good chance.  But as a singer? No, no, no. 

I would have worked on a song or two with my coach in preparation, it would go somewhat OK, but the moment I was standing in front of that table of producers and directors, I knew I really sucked. And I knew it after the first few lines of the song, knew the directors wanted to cut me off and were being polite. I would feel so humiliated, and would usually hail a cab and cry in the back seat all the way home to my fourth floor walk-up apaprtment just down the street from Lincoln Center!

But dancing, yes, I usually made it to call-backs, and made it into four different Broadway Shows!

In fact, it was my experience as a dancer that got me my first costuming job. I met one of the producers of Ann-Margret’s lavish Las Vegas act who was looking for someone to co-ordinate the 12 dancers’ and 6 singers’ costumes for her show. I thought I didn’t know anything about costumes, only having worn them, never made them, but the man said I must know what dancers need, and so gave me the job. That was what started it all!

I certainly made some mistakes along the way, especially in the beginning. In one of my early jobs actually creating costumes, I asked to be allowed to make the dancers jumpsuits for a dance number to “Car Wash”. Believe it or not, two way stretch material was not yet on the market, but I was able to find a ski pant fabric that did stretch one way. Thinking the guys would need it to stretch sidesways to allow for their chest expansion, I cut the jumpsuits in the wrong direction. I got that call from Roger Smith that no-one just starting their career wants to get....”your costumes are all ripping at the waist when the boys do the dance number”. A good friend gave me some excellent advice. He said, the best way to deal with a big error like this is to offer several choices of solutions, so I got up my courage to call Roger back and suggest that I come to Las Vegas, and spend the day inserting a stretchy band at the waist so the guys could move. It was a LONG day, as I had 8 jumpsuits to fix in time for them to be worn that night in the show, but there seemed to be no hard feelings. And I NEVER cut stretchy costumes the wrong way again!

THE GLOBAL REACH OF SANTA BARBARA

Sometimes I wonder if my chosen profession really has any serious positive effect on the world. After all, I’m not feeding the poor, healing the sick, or working to change the world. I design costumes. I help tell stories. 

But every once in a while I am reminded of how much pleasure certain shows I have been part of bring to people in places outside of my limited world. “Santa Barbara” is one such show, a daytime soap opera that told the stories of beautiful people in the sunny California town. 

A few years ago I heard from a young Russian woman from Bellarus who wrote me about how valuable and popular the show was in her bleak communist country, when it first started opening up to the Western world. I can’t express it better than the author herself: 

More than just a popular TV show, “Santa Barbara” was a phenomenon in my homeland. Every night at seven o’clock the street were empty as the citizens of the former Soviet Republic huddled around their television sets to watch the first American program to air in the post-communist era. Not only the world of American culture portrayed through Santa Barbara was mesmerizing, it also provided a possibility for escape from the bitterness brought on by the collapse of the Soviet Union. In a place shrouded in snow for most of the year, where the average temperature seldom climbs above 40F, the warmth and sunlight of that Southern California town and the luxuries if its inhabitants hypnotized most of my fellow countrymen, and certainly myself.

After that email, the young woman, named Antonina Grib, who had come to the US on a tennis scholarship, contacted me again, eventually came to LA to intern with me on “Passions” and is now a very successful and in-demand costumer in Hollywood, living indeed “the American dream”.

Recently, I was “found” by another fan, this time one who lives in Torino, Italy, who to this day  loves Santa Barbara. He runs a fan site in Italy and his interview with me appears this month at the link right below this post.

He wrote me: 

Santa Barbara came to Italy in 1989  and it ran until the last episode in 1999. I followed the soap from the beginning until the end and never missed one episode.   And I often wonder: Why?

The reality is that “Santa Barbara” struck my imagination because I could share it with the person who most of all taught me something about life, my grandmother, Grace.

.

When I was about 12 years old, one morning I was awakened by a mild earthquake.

My mother rushed to me and to my grandmother to tell us to leave the house immediately for fear of collapse. We did not have much time, so I took a backpack and filled it with all the videotapes of Santa Barbara. Nothing else interested me, I just wanted to save “Santa Barbara” - (What a hero!). When my grandmother saw me full of videotapes, she began to laugh and then all of us began to laugh. The house did not collapse... perhaps for this reason. That was many years ago, but if there was to be another earthquake today, I would do the same.

So if my career creating lovely costumes for characters on stage or in films and TV has brought a little bit of joy, then that makes it all worthwhile.

STARS IN THEIR UNDERWEAR: WHAT REALLY GOES ON IN A WARDROBE FITTING!

I must say, as a costume designer for primarily contemporary films and television, I LOVE what goes on in the fitting room. It is where the actor and I find the character. Together.

By the time I meet the actor, I’ve already talked to the producer and found out what he/she wants (“don’t spend too much”), I’ve talked to the director about the concept, and I’ve talked to  the production designer about the palette.

I’ve done the research, I’ve let it all brew together in my subconscious creative center. I’ve done the shopping, renting, sketching, and now the actor is coming in for a fitting. 

I set up the room with the mirror, good lighting, lots of pins and tags, and the selection of clothing that at this point is just “wardrobe”. With the actor, it will become a costume.

After the initial introductions and small talk, there will be that awkward pause, as the actor realizes he or she must undress and stand before me, near naked and at his most vulnerable. (Does my butt look big? Are my tits sagging? Did I wear clean underwear?)Some actors are totally comfortable “dropping trou” and getting ready to try on clothes. Others are more hesitant, as often it is the very first time they have met me. So at this point, I have to make a decision. Do I step  out of the room? Do I busy myself filling out a tag or looking at my notes? 

Often I just say “are you comfortable with me in the room?”. After years of experience, I can usually sense when I need to step out. I usually do so for really senior actors (even though often they are the most cavalier), for actors whose bodies might cause them to be self conscious, and for cerrtain ethnicities. I actually learned the hard way from an Indian actress who wouldn’t undress in front of me - she told me a woman of her culture would never disrobe in front of another woman.  And I ALWAYS step out if it is a child, as I expect them to have their parent or guardian with them.

Then the fun begins. We try on clothes. I have already brought in the clothes that I think will help them find the character, but I can never tell until it actually goes on the body and the actor “inhabits” it. I try and limit the number of “opinions” in the room, discouraging comments from assistants, girlfriends, agents, etc, so that I can carefully guide the actor into the outfit that I think works perfectly. They need to trust me, and I, in turn, need to earn their trust. I never tell an actor they look good if they don’t. If something is really looking awful on them, I make it my fault saying “damn, take that off, what was I thinking bringing that in”. I also know not to say “OMG, you have such a hot body!”, even though I might be thinking it!

Eventually I can tell from the most subtle of body language that the actor is starting to feel right in the clothing. Now it is beginning to become a costume. Now all is left is to do the alterations that make it perfectly adjusted for their body, photograph them in the wardrobe to send over for approval from the director or producer, make tags and notes for scene numbers and voila, we have a costume!

If the actor turns to me and says “i didn’t really find the character until I put on this costume”, you will find me beaming from ear to ear, as I have done my job.

Being out of your comfort zone is good for a career.

I am around young people a lot in my role as costume designer for independent films, videos, commercials etc and in my role as a mentor, and I am often reminded how terrifying “first times” can be in a career, especally at the start of a new job, a new film, a new anything that requires you to work in your chosen profession and risk failing. 

But risk-taking is essential for moving forward in a career. When I am asked, should I quit my day job and go for full time acting/directing/designing? Should I move to LA? Should I quit the full time dancing gig I have (in the chorus, where I can go no further), and risk everything auditioning for principle roles?..... my answer is always yes! yes! yes! If you are asking the question, then you are ready to take the next step. You must take the next step. If you are too comfortable, you won’t move forward. Somehow the very act of making that scary leap of faith forces you to land on your feet. 

Many years ago, when I was a dancer on Broadway, my friends thought I was crazy for turning down a new job in the long running show “Hello Dolly”, but it was another chorus job and I wanted to act. It took a while, but I eventually got my first acting role as Gendolyn Pigeon in the National Company of “The Odd Couple.” 

Some years later, after five years of being an assistant costume designer, (though an assistant to the very best, Bob Mackie) and wanting to move on,  it took working days as an assitant and nights designing low budget theatre projects for no pay. I often was so exhausted I thought I would die.  But I got my name out there as a costume designer in my own right, which eventually led to my first paid costume designer job on “The Fact of Life”. Flash forward: after I had designed half a dozen TV sitcoms, one producer had the nerve to tell me that I would NEVER get hired for a serious drama or movie, since I was known for sitcoms. I took great delight in proving her wrong! 

The scary times were many. But what I learned is this:

• You never die from exhaustion. You may feel really lousy and think you are going to die, but you don’t.
• You won’t starve. You may get a tiny bit behind on your bills, but you won’t starve.
• You will never get hired for a job that someone doesn’t believe you can do, even if you don’t quite believe it yet yourself.
• You can get through those first frightening days and weeks of a new job if you keep showing up, staying calm, listening and watching, and most of all, believing that each day will get a little easier and you will feel a little more confident. Before long you will feel totally confortable in your position, and before you know it, you’ll want to be out on the edge again!

Remember to check out my online costume training program at http://hollywoodmentors.co