Tag Archives: costumes

One Of These Plays…

Posted on February 23, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

You know, like “One of these days…”  I thought it was an acceptable play on words.  What else can I do on Wuss-out Wednesday but play a little bit with words?  Yes, Wuss-out Wednesday follows Tired Tuesday as inevitably as… as inevitably as I begin a simile and can’t think of a good way to finish it.

I tried to write a blog post while at work today, but it was only another I Can’t Write a Post post, and I thought, why am I writing such a thing in advance?  Should I not be composing at the keyboard at such times?  So that is what I am doing.

We are doing complete run-through on Steel Magnolias, last night, tonight and tomorrow.  We must be in full costume by Monday, but the director would be delighted to see costumes any time between now and then. With that in mind, I put on the skirt I think will do for me in Act I Scene 1.  I purchased a jacket I think will coordinate with it last Saturday at New 2 You Consignment Shop in Ilion (perhaps you read my blog post about it).

Regarding the rest of my costumes… I’m working on them.  Quite frankly, I thought I had more stuff than I in fact do.  Oh dear, I suppose some of my cast-mates might read this and they will look sternly at me when they see me in.. yikes, less than an hour!  At least I looked over my lines today.  And other people’s.  I learn my own lines first, so for the first couple of rehearsals off book I sometimes say them at the wrong time.  How embarrassing.  Other actors learn their lines and where those lines go at the same time.  I’ll have to try that one of these plays.

 

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Getting Ready for Ruby’s

Posted on February 21, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would share a few pictures from Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the interactive murder mystery to be presented by LiFT Theatre Company at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls, NY this Saturday.  We had rehearsal Sunday, to which some of us wore our costumes.  So I guess this is kind of a preview.

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Yes, that’s a flask tucked under the garter on my sexy leg.

This one turned out kind of blurry, but here I am, as Ruby Van Rensselaer, wealthy socialite, investor and lush.  The basement of the Overlook will become Ruby’s Rathskeller, the hottest speakeasy in Little Falls.  Ruby does not run the place, but she fronted George Raffles the money to open it and he named it after her in gratitude.

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Full disclosure: I found this dress in Ilion Little Theatre’s costume collection and wanted to wear it myself.

This is Vivian Velasquez, who runs a recently-opened rival speakeasy.  What’s she doing at Ruby’s Rathskeller?  Sounds suspicious to me!
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Isn’t she hot?

And this is Mavis LaLonde, George’s girlfriend.  She runs the bordello upstairs from the speakeasy.

Incidentally, those are fake cigarettes.  We’re not going to blow smoke in anybody’s eyes.  Not literal smoke, at any rate.  As for figurative smoke up, you know, other body parts… well, that is a vulgar expression. I don’t think Ruby would use an expression like that.

Rubbed Out at Ruby’s will be this Saturday, Feb. 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Overlook Mansion, 55 Douglas St., Little Falls.  Tickets are $25, available at  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2840239.  For more information you can call the Overlook at 315-823-1907, or you can visit their Facebook page.

 

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He’ll Never Even Miss the Duck

Posted on February 19, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

What I day I’ve had and it’s not over yet!  We got to sleep in, because Steven did not work till 10:30 this morning.  After a fairly leisurely first part of the day, I got to moving and shaking when Steven left for work.

I first buzzed by the post office, where once again I needed post card stamps. I sent some people post cards of Utica, NY, which I purchased at the Oneida County Historical Society last Saturday.

From there I went to the Hot Spot Salon and Spa in Herkimer, where I had scheduled a pedicure.  I haven’t had a pedicure in months!  I was early, so I worked on the character sheets for the murder mystery I’m writing to be presented by Ilion Little Theatre at Morning Star Methodist Church April 1.  The title is He Laughed Himself to Death.  Soon, however, I was soaking my feet and chatting with the stylist.  I got my toes painted red, in honor of my character, Ruby, in Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, to be presented by LiFT Theatre Company at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls Feb. 25.

With my toes all pretty (and a little cold, since I insisted on wearing my faux-birkenstock sandals (isn’t that a more elegant term for them than Fakenstocks?), I went to Ilion Little Theatre, where I met a couple of cast-mates from Steel Magnolias, to be presented the first two weekends in March, one of whom is also in Ruby’s.  We were going to shop a few thrift stores.

First we went to the Cornerstone Shop on Morgan Street.  We found purses for our characters in Ruby’s, and they found  a few good shirts for Magnolias.  I found a black evening purse with rhinestones on the clasp.  I did not need it for any play, or indeed at all, since I have many evening bags (I kind of collect them).  I bought it anyways.  It was beautiful!

Next we went to the New 2 You Shop in Central Plaza.  My friends had never been there, a scandalous omission.  We spent a lot of time looking at all kinds of things.  I found two pair of earrings, one for Ruby, one for me.  I tried not to look at the books but failed.  I actually refrained from buying any; aren’t you proud of me?  I found a jacket that will work for Claree, if I can put the right skirt with it. It was only a buck!

Then I saw a little duck that was only a dollar.  Wouldn’t Steven like a little duck?  However, we have many, many stuffed toys and are constantly giving each other more.  I refrained.  My friend Kim thought Steven might be disappointed.

“I will fix him something wonderful for dinner,” I said.  “He’ll never even miss the duck.”

“He never even has to know about it,” Kim suggested.

“Well, he will when he reads my blog and the title is, ‘He’ll Never Even Miss the Duck.'”

Kim agreed that was a good title, so I used it.  We had thought to go to the Salvation Army Thrift Store, but I was quite shopped out by that time.  I went home and had something to eat.

Now I have to get my rear in gear again and figure out something wonderful for Steven’s dinner.  Otherwise, I guess I’ll be going back to New 2 You on Monday and buying that duck.

 

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Come On, Steve!

Posted on January 28, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

That is  silly headline, but since this is Lame Post Friday, I do not apologize.  I have been scurrying around since I left work as if I thought I was going to get something done.  Ha!  How long have I known me?  But at least I can cross Make Blog Post off my list (full disclosure:  it is only a mental list today) before going back to enjoying my Friday.

Immediately after leaving work, I went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store (known as Salvation Armani to some) in Ilion, NY.  I was seeking a costume for the 1920s murder mystery LiFT Theatre Company is doing at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls in February (I keep promising more on that later; maybe tomorrow I’ll finally write that one). I thought I could find a prom or bridesmaid’s gown that would work.  I thought drop-waist, light material, maybe a little lace, at least knee length.  Some ’20s costumes are short, of course, by my character is an older, glamorous, rich lady.  Well, she thinks she’s glamorous.  Actually she’s kind of a lush, but I digress.

I went through two racks of all kinds of dresses.  I found one that was ridiculously close to perfect, although it was black instead of red (my character’s name is Ruby).  Also, it was a size zero.  Now, you may not believe this, but I did have a 25 inch waist roughly a hundred years ago.  However, I have never, ever, for one moment ever in my life, been a size zero.  I kept looking.

The stop at the Thrift Store was not a total loss.  I found four books, two of which are the old, pulp fiction paperbacks I collect.  No, I did not think I was going to find a dress in with the books.  Did you think I was not going to look at the books?  How long have you known me?  Oh well, I guess some of you may not have known me that long.  I like to look at the books.

After buying the books, I went to New 2 You Consignments in Central Plaza.  They have a lot of prom dresses!  I tried on one that might kind of sort of work.  I don’t know.

Then I felt discouraged and went home.  I chatted on Facebook with a friend who had talked about coming over for drinks and snacks tonight.  I realized I’d better run to the store and get some food.  I went to Hannaford.  I am so indecisive.  It took me a while, but I got home with some stuff.  I started mixing dip and chopping vegetables, occasionally running to the computer to check if my friend was in town and on her way over.  As it turned out, once she got home, she felt tired and cold and wanted to stay there.  I surely could not blame her for that.  For one reason, I don’t want her getting sick.  She is in both Steel Magnolias and the murder mystery.

I finished my chopping and mixing, because Steven and I still have to eat.  It was almost time for him to get home.  I poured myself a glass of wine and sat down to make my blog post.  Which was, you know, this.

Incidentally, Steven got home about three paragraphs ago.  I started typing faster, pausing as he started to tell me about his day.  But now I think I have typed enough to hit publish.  I need to eat some of the food I indecisively bought and hurriedly chopped up and/or mixed.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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MVG Goes Hollywood

Posted on October 29, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well,  let’s see if I can do this.  I’m on my tablet, trying to make my post about the costumes at the mall.  This first photo is front the Grace Kelly section.  The dress in the foreground is from Rear Window,  the background is from To Catch a Thief.

We love Rear Window.

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As I have mentioned  before, it is awkward to post on the tablet. Still, one must persevere.

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I was a little disappointed that the Better Davis dress was just one from an awards show.  When I had heard there would be one of her dresses there, I confess I got my hopes up for the iconic party dress from All About Eve.  Still, Bette Davis.  There could be no possible objection.

In many people’s minds Bette Davis and Joan  Crawford go together.  Both are represented here.  I liked Joan’s dress even better.

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I had to take the plaque separately.

Likewise,  I needed two shots for Drums Along the Mohawk , which of course has a delightful local connection.

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Many will recognize Audrey Hepburn’s dress from My Fair Lady.

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We didn’t recognize the movie these costumes were from,  but we liked them.

The display continues at Sangertown Mall through tomorrow,  Oct. 29.  Sorry for giving local readers such short notice in case you want to check it out, but these things happen.  I hope at least you enjoyed my photos.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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We Do the Doodah!

Posted on July 26, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’ve always been kind of fascinated by the Doodah Parade, which is part of the Ilion Days festivities.   For one reason, what a great name.  The Doodah Parade.  I keep finding excuses to say it.  When some members of Ilion Little Theatre signed up to march, I was happy to join them.

One member allowed us to use his pick-up truck (full disclosure: he was kind of strong-armed into it).  The plan was for most of us to walk, but marchers could take a break in the truck.  It would be a handy place to put things like bottles of water or stuff we were handing out.  We met in the theatre parking lot to decorate the truck.  We had a minor setback when we discovered the brand new helium tank was empty, but we made do with lung power.  Balloons, ribbons and shiny hangings soon adorned the vehicle as participants continued to show up.

We had a sizable contingent from the Young Actors Workshop (YAW) as well as adults.  Some people wore t-shirts from plays they’d been in; some were in costume.  I dressed as a pirate myself.  We also had a couple of ladies in historical costume, a few princesses, one fabulously dressed diva, and Tierney, the mysterious neighbor from the ILT production The Birds.  The last two were the most impressive costumes to me, the diva because she walked the entire route in high-heeled sandals, and Tierney because his costume included a black canvas poncho with hood.  It was a sunny, hot  evening.  Those are some dedicated parade people right there.

We were a little late getting to the staging area, although it was fun riding in the back of the pick-up truck along part of the parade route, which was already filled with people.  We all waved, shouting that we were a preview.  We were in fact a preview of the end of the parade, because that is where you end up marching when you show up late to the staging area.  It seemed to take a long time to get started but at last we were headed down the street, waving at spectators and spreading the word about Ilion Little Theatre.  Some of the kids had candy to throw.  Others handed out pens and fliers.  I asked that a pen be saved for me, so I could write a play with it.  I’m sure I will feel very inspired to write a good play using a pen that has “Ilion Little Theatre” printed on it.

My husband Steven had to work till six so did not try to join us in the marching.  He waited for us at the end, where he joined us.  He was wearing his t-shirt from Roxy, a play which I may have mentioned in a few blog posts last summer.  We all walked up the hill to the theatre parking lot, where most of us had left our cars.  We were full of plans for next year’s Doodah Parade.  I think everybody had a splendid time, although I’d just like to mention, I’m still waiting for my pen.

 

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Alas, No Naked Actors

Posted on April 22, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday before rehearsal for Leading Ladies (remember, that play I mentioned once or twice?), I got a Facebook message that the OD wanted a photograph of the cast.  In costume.  That night.  Yikes!  Oh, for non-local readers, if any, the OD is the Utica Observer-Dispatch, one of the local newspapers.  Of course we have been working on costumes right along, but with a cast of eight, numerous costume changes and two cross-dressing characters, these things take time.

I emailed the cast to give them a heads-up and searched my house for a few things.  One thing I needed was Steven’s three-piece pin-striped suit.  He has worn that suit for roughly 859 plays since the late ’80s (I just made that number up; I really have no idea).  Here is the story of the suit:

Back when we were merely dating, we had gone to the thrift store in Potsdam, NY (we lived up north at the time).  I was looking for men’s blazers, which I love to wear. Steven was just looking.  He found a practically brand new, dark blue, three-piece pin-striped suit that fit perfectly.  When we went to pay for it, the lady said in kind of a hushed tone, “You know, three piece suits are eight dollars.”  I worked at JC Penney at the time, and I knew that suit had cost at least a hundred bucks new.  I was happy to pay eight dollars for it.

Getting back to 2016, I got to Ilion Little Theatre (ILT) early and once again went through the costume room upstairs.  It took me several trips to bring down all the stuff I pulled.  I’m certainly going to get my exercise putting it all away.  As cast members started showing up I got them started trying things on.  One fellow went upstairs in search of a suit.  When he came down with one, I sent him back up with the actor playing his son to find another one (um, another suit, not another son).

We all had great success with our finding and trying, although I could not convince one cast member that the mauve hat does NOT go with the blue dress.  She won’t wear it, because as her director I told her not to, but she is not happy about it.  However, we were able to begin rehearsal not too late with everybody wearing something (although naked rehearsal shots would indeed cause a sensation in the local paper).  The secretary of ILT was there to take the picture to send to the OD.  She got some good action shots and one or two posed pictures.

Alas, this is not a photo blog, so I cannot share them here.  Perhaps one day I will figure out how.  Don’t get your hopes up too high, though:  I probably will not be able to talk the actors into naked rehearsal shots.

 

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Running Out on Rummage

Posted on April 16, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

In lieu of my usual Friday Lame Post, I shall tell about a brief Mohawk Valley adventure I enjoyed after leaving work this afternoon.  Last night when I looked at the newspaper, I noticed a rummage sale at the Episcopal Church in Ilion NY.  I could have hurried right over, but I had already reached the sweats on, bra off portion of the evening.  I decided on a quick stop after work today instead.

I was searching for props and costumes for Leading Ladies (remember, that play I’m directing at Ilion Little Theatre?).  Of course I did not rule out finding something for my own personal enjoyment, but that would be strictly by the way.

Right away I found a decanter, such as a rich person might have sitting on a table with booze in it.  I wanted one of those.  For the play, I mean.  I don’t have any booze in my house to decant; I stick with wine.  Then I saw some tins.  I don’t need any tins for the play, but Steven likes to put Christmas presents in tins.  Put a present in a present, he says.  I picked out three.  Then I found two large silky-looking nightgowns.  I thought these might supplement the costumes for the boys that dress as girls (the titular leading ladies).  If not, they might be useful as part of a Halloween costume sometime.  Waste not, want not, I always say.

I asked if I could put my stuff down while I looked at the books and jewelry.  I snagged two books and a huge handful of jewelry.  The nice lady in charge of the jewelry counted up what all I had while I took one last swing though the tables.  That was when I found the VHS tapes.  Cheesy movies!  Yay!  There were a couple of titles I already own (The Killer Shrews and Plan 9 From Outer Space), but I found SIX I’ve never seen.  Cheesy movies have nothing to do with the play but EVERYTHING to do with this blog!

It turned out I had gotten a little too excited about the jewelry and did not have enough money to pay for it all.  The nice lady agreed to hold it till tomorrow, when either Steven or I will return with the cash.  As I was paying for my other purchases, I discovered the decanter was broken.  I told them somebody might still like it to sit on a shelf and look pretty, but I needed one I could actually pour a drink out of.  This was just as well, because I would not have had enough money for everything otherwise.

The ladies at the rummage sale said they would be happy to see me tomorrow, when it will be dollar a bag day.  I’d probably better send Steven, because I would probably find at least a couple of bags’ worth of stuff more.

 

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I’ll Be Looking for that Link

Posted on April 8, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t think Tired Thursday has the same ring as Tired Tuesday, and yet here I sit.  Well, instead of crying about how tired I feel, I will give a brief overview of my post-work errand running.  I had thought to write a blog post about that earlier today when I had difficulty coming up with a topic to write on while on break at work.  Of course now all I want to do is sleep on it and I fear the post will not be very good, but we have established that for Mohawk Valley Girl, a bad post is better than no post at all, so here goes (I don’t care if that is a run-on sentence).

I need some props and costumes for Leading Ladies, the show I am directing at Ilion Little Theatre (stand by for this blog to become All Leading Ladies All The Time, it’ll happen soon).  This being the only weekday I don’t have rehearsal, I thought a few stops on the way home would be appropriate.  Full disclosure:  I did not make all the stops I intended to and one place I was pretty sure would not have any props or costumes.

It was pouring rain when I left work, but one must not let weather deter one, must one (one being me, of course).  I kept telling myself that this was better than snow, but I’ve heard we’ll have snow again before too long, so I suppose I will have a basis for comparison.

First I went to the Thrift Store in Ilion, NY (I work in Ilion, by the way).  No props, but I found a black shawl, which I have been wanting to go with my little purple dress (I refuse to own a Little Black Dress).  Now all I have to do is lost that damn ten pounds so I can wear my little purple dress. I merely glanced at the fancy dresses.  My costume ambitions were merely to look.  We’re going to check the Ilion Little Theatre costume collection before purchasing anything.

At New 2 You Consignment Store, where I went next, I found a decanter such as a someone might have sitting on a table in a ritzy sitting room.  I wasn’t sure I loved it, though.  The lady there, who I am acquainted with because her daughter did a marvelous job in the murder mystery I have been talking about (perhaps you read my latest blog post about it), said if I decided I wanted it, I could call her and she would hold it for me.  We talked about the play, and I mentioned my need of dresses for a couple of manly-sized men.  She said she had some quite large fancy dresses, so I may be in touch with her about that, too.

I was getting sick of being out in the rain but decided to make one more stop at Earthly Matters, a store I have lately become aware of.  I did not think it was anyplace I would find anything for my play.  I thought I would like to write about it.  Oh, I SO DO!  I stood there for a while talking to the owner, looking at beautiful things, and taking notes.  I shall write a full post about it and perhaps an article to submit to Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  For today, however, I content myself with a mere mention.

I went home after that, bypassing the dollar store and a couple of other stops.  There is another thrift store and at least one more consignment shop I can check.  When I don’t feel so tired.  Sorry to keep complaining about it, but you know how it is.  If you don’t know how it is, well, just work some overtime and direct a couple of plays and do a few more things other than sleep and then write a blog post about it.   You can post a link in Comments and perhaps I’ll read it.

Happy Non-Sequitur Thursday, everyone.

 

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