Leah Alice

My great wish for 2013 is to use my blog more!  I’ve been remiss here in the last year.  My thanks to WordPress for sending me the panicky domain expiration email — it got me logged back in and wanting to show more of my recent work.

I feel pretty good that my excuse for not being on here much is that I’ve had a year that was blessed by the job gods and I worked on the crews of some great plays, namely Rutherford & Son, Love Goes to Press, and Mary Broome, all at The Mint Theater; and the New Voices Directing Festival at the New School for Drama.  I was also extremely pleased to have assisted costume designer Martha Hally on Mary Broome and the upcoming Katie Roche, both at the Mint.  Katie Roche previews begin on January 26th, and until then, I’ll be immersed in the process of sorting through tweed jackets, vintage cotton print dresses, leather lace-up boots, and low-heeled t-straps.  This Irish play from 1936 by Theresa Deevy is a lot of fun to work on, especially for someone like me who loves vintage fashion.

Speaking of which, another of my great goals for 2013 is to officially launch my Etsy shop.  For the past year or so, I’ve been amassing a little collection of vintage pieces from the 50s and 60s and aim to get it photographed and online by the end of February.  I’ve loved this process — each time I acquire a new piece, I try to find out as much as possible about its provenance through researching the labels and its construction.  It’s a great hands-on way to learn more about fashion history and culture.

And to wrap up, I’ve spent a bit of 2012 improving my sewing prowess and will share some photos of the results of my efforts in the coming year.  I’m working on some clothing, but I also have some home accessories that I made with some vintage fabric remnants I bought just before Christmas at the most amazing ever store Stella Dallas in Williamsburg.

I leave you with a video from the first rehearsal for Katie Roche: if you’re in New York this winter, go see it!

Teresa Deevy’s Temporal Powers opens at the Mint Theater on August 29!  I’m very proud to be working on this production (my second at the Mint).  This is a complex story of right versus wrong, God versus self, of a relationship tested by circumstance.  Not light fare in the least, but it’s a wonderfully crafted story with rich characters who will draw you in and have you rapt until the curtain comes down.  Maybe even long after.

What I love most about working at the Mint is the chance to work with fashion history.  I have always loved vintage clothing and have tended to have an anachronistic personal style; the Mint’s mission to resurrect neglected plays means that I get to apply that on a professional level to help resurrect the fashion of a bygone era.

Right now, I’m in 1927 rural Ireland and am charged with the care of Andrea Varga‘s authentic costumes.  I enjoyed each day of rehearsals with Andrea because I learned so much from her.  I watched as she layered each piece with the details that help tell each character’s story, from the patches on Min’s frock to the airbrushed dirt on Michael’s woolen suit to the mud on Lizzie’s homemade calico dress.  Over the course of rehearsal week, the costumes were transformed until they blended harmoniously into the set and brought each character to vibrant life.

Aidan Redmond and Rosie Benton as Michael and Min Donovan. Photo by Richard Termine.

I hope to one day have the chance to design a period piece.  As I make repairs backstage, I love thinking about who the characters are and what they might choose to wear given their gender, their occupation, or their personal history.  I think about who might have made the repair on each piece and how they would have done it.  Were they skilled at sewing?  Did they have lots of time to do it?  What materials would they have had to work with?

Eli James and Wrenn Schmidt as Moses Barron and Lizzie Brennan. Photo by Richard Termine.

Temporal Powers runs through October 2.  Come see us at the Mint!

Excellent news!  I am now the Wardrobe Supervisor at The Mint Theater.  I jumped in right in the middle of A Little Journey, by Rachel Crothers, which closed Sunday, July 17.

In this three act drama set in 1914, strangers’ lives intersect as a cross-country train bound for San Francisco departs from New York.

It’s been fascinating to work with these period costumes.  I love to get lost in details and clothes from this era have much in that department.  Fine leather on lace-up boots, crisp ruffled blouses, buttons and bowties; fans and feathers; lacework petticoats and elaborate shining timepieces.  I was in love!

I’ve got a short break, then it’s back to work on the Mint’s next production, Temporal Powers, by Teresa Deevy.  Come see!

Photo by Francisco Cervi

The debut performance of the Brooklyn Follies at Galapagos Art Space last November was my first foray into costuming and a study in making do.  For this Duncanesque piece, the choreographer bought some vintage ladies’ slips from Housing Works.  The slips were all size large, but none of these nymphs were.  So I took them in all over and added gold-detailed sashes (actually wrapping ribbon) to cinch the waists.  Then, I took the scraps leftover from shortening the skirts and stitched them to the left shoulders for some toga-inspired drape.   The resulting tunics were understated and classically beautiful.