Kyle 2/12/10 Goodbye Merry Wives!

This mysterious character seems a good way to end my Merry Wives of Windsor set in the 1950s.

Poor Master Ford. He's such a jealous husband - completely un-trusting! He goes to The Garter Inn disguised as a man named 'Brook' to hire Falstaff to seduce Mistress Ford under his name, paying Falstaff a good deal of money.

The 'Brook' character puts me in mind of film noir - bad film noir - a parody really. He has the hat, tipped to shadow his face and the trench coat - very London Fog. I think that his shoes may need to be more fancy and interesting - to be really recognizable.

This was a really fun project. I would love to do a production like this some day...you know, with input from a director and everything. Someday...someday.

Kyle 2/11/10

Children are hard to draw. I don't know if I've ever really drawn one successfully before. Their proportions are all messed up. Their heads are pretty much adult size but their bodies are like 4 0r 5 heads instead of 7 or 8.

William and Robin are the two named little kids in Merry Wives. William is the Page's little boy - a middle class family with some money - so he gets a fun play outfit. There is tons of research for kid's cowboy costumes. This one is red suede with white leather trim and some cute little boy boots. Robin is Falstaff's page (or sometimes called his son) - so he doesn't have the ability to get a fun cowboy costume - so he gets to be the Indian in the relationship. He's a little poor and dirty but William has lent him his feathered headband and bow and arrow set so they can play...so mid-century.



Yesterday, I said that I might do two drawings tonight so I could finish up Merry Wives this week. As you can see, I did.

Rugby is the servant of Dr. Caius. I think of him as a young college guy, sort of an intern or assistant. He follows Caius around a lot. I didn't want him to be in a suit, but fresh and young, in a fun patterned sweater, some baggy chinos and some deck shoes. Finally, a man that's not in a suit.

One drawing left for tomorrow and then on to a new project and new surprises (check back to see all the fun we'll have)!!!

Kyle 2/10/10

I did this sketch in record time...and, oddly enough, it looks pretty good...hum.

Justice Shallow is one of the more serious characters in Merry Wives (though he's still pretty dang funny, just in a dry, bumbling kind of way). Doing this show in the 50s makes it hard to differentiate the characters for whom their occupations are a major character trait. Judges from the Elizabethan era may have walked around in robes and chains of office and stuff to show their occupation, but I'm pretty sure they didn't do that in the 1950's. But them I realized that this guy is totally in a Shakespearean comedy...

There are only three drawing left for Merry Wives. I might do two tomorrow just so I can get it done by the end of the week and can start on my new project on Monday rather than drawing (HA!) it out.

Kyle 2/9/10

Merry Wives is wrapping up...just a few characters left. They're the random characters that everyone kind of forgets about...they are important characters in their own ways, they're just the ones I sometimes forget about. You know, servants, pages, inn hosts, county Justices...the usual suspects.

The Host of the Garter Inn has several funny scenes, mostly dealing with Falstaff and Master Ford. In my 1950's version, the Garter Inn is a bowling alley. The Host (he doesn't have a name...he's like Cher or Madonna...in his own greasy way) runs the bowling alley, tends the bar, fixes the lanes, you know. Finally a guy who doesn't wear a suit! He's totally casual: slacks; plaid button down shirt; tanish wind breaker jacket; half apron...its a sassy look.

By the end of the week I'll be done with this show. I think that my next project will be a musical...a fun one.

Kyle 2/8/10

Hello, all! Its good to be sketching again after a few days off.

I attended the opening of Oedipus the King on Friday night at the Clarence Brown Theatre Company, and it was super good. I'm really glad to have that show off my plate as we go into dress rehearsals for Charley's Aunt this SATURDAY!!! AGGG!! Seriously though, we built quite a bit for Oedipus: two fully tailored melton wool military overcoats; a really beautiful silk crepe de chine gown; some amazingly hand painted over-tunics; some shalwar pants (think MC Hammer)...you know just some stuff. I'm in the middle of 1912 right now, though, and all I can say now is, "DAMN YOU CHIFFON!!!"

Ok, so that's out of my system. I sketched another man today, as you can see. It is Master Ford, the other husband in Merry Wives. He's a very jealous husband, and at one point in the play tears through a huge dirty laundry hamper looking for Falstaff. I'm trying to fight the urge to just have all these guys in suits, but it is so hard! I'm sure that color and texture of the suits will help to characterize them though. I think that I've almost made it thought each character in Merry Wives (only 5 left!!)...any ideas on what my next project should be? I take requests!

And yes...in the sketch he is holding a 1950's Maidenform Bra...

Kyle 2/4/10

I promised you all a man, so I hereby give you a man...In a suit. It seems like I'm always drawing men in suits! In Grad School I designed How To Succeed in Business without really Trying (lots of men in suits, though I didn't draw them) and, for my Master's Report, Guys and Dolls (LOTS of suits - which I did draw).

However boring it may seem, I actually like drawing men in suits. I love trying to get the curve of the collar around the neck just right, the drape of the coat, that caving and creasing of the sleeve - its all very technical and structured. I've done a good bit of tailoring - especially since I've been at the CBT. Actually it all began when I tailored coats for Eric's thesis, and they've been making be tailor ever since...I think I've made a coat for almost every coat since then!! I think that actually knowing garment construction helps me draw - I can see the pattern pieces in my mind and then just wrap them around a form...if you can think of a dress (or suit) in pieces as you draw and how they all relate to each other, then you don't get too overwhelmed with the garment itself...maybe that makes sense. (Its kind of cool that I can draw something and then draw the pattern sometimes!)

Any whoo, Master Page is the nicer of the two husbands in Merry Wives, meaning he trusts his wife (though not his daughter). I think of him as a jolly businessman who has his slippers and pipe waiting when he gets home from a long day at the office - one of those gray flannel suit men so iconic from the 1950s.

I think that this sketch is pretty successful...but I've been staring at it for a while....The hat might be a little off, but hats are way harder then they look...

PS - I won't be posting tomorrow as I'll be at the opening of Oedipus the King here at CBT (made TWO coats for that show! Melton Wool Trench Coats!)...maybe I'll make one up this weekend...we'll see!

Kyle 2/3/10

Another set of dresses for Mistresses Ford and Page. This is the "Fairy Costume" for under their swing coats...black chiffon over their heads with flashlights for the "BOO!" look. The dresses would be dark (Navy? Forest Green?) but not black. Their husbands would have the same "BOO!" look too.

One of the things that I need to work on is faces in profile...this isn't the most proportional sketch...and her head is all kinds of jacked up, but, meh, you win some, you loose some.

Tomorrow I have to draw a Man. I WILL draw a Man.

Kyle 2/2/10

Not only is it Groundhog's Day (6 more weeks of Winter! Burrrrr!) it's also my parents' 30th wedding anniversary! Thanks for gettin' hitched, Mom and Dad!!!

In an earlier post I talked about how setting Shakespeare in a more contemporary period means that you need more clothes and costume changes. I'm not arguing that point at all, but I did say something like, "Well, Mistresses Ford and Page would wear these dresses and then have cardigans and different skirts and blouses to change them up day to day". Translation, "I'll pull some crap." Well, F that S! I'm not actually producing this show, I don't have to worry about budget, or labor, or time, or anything really. So, up yours director/shop manager in my mind!! I'll draw all the pretty dresses that I want, and you can't stop me!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

So yeah, here's a second set of dresses for Mistresses Ford and Page - cute dresses...They have a letter...and they are friends...hence the entwining arms.

Kyle 2/1/10 - Locked in the Cloak Room...

Wow...its been a full month! How crazy! I'm not sure if anyone besides the three of us that post hear actually look at the site...lets make some comments people!!!

When I was a kid there was this movie that I loved. It was called Lady in White. It was a sort of thriller/horror/ghost/romance and I thought that it was the coolest movie ever. The story opens at Halloween in the early 1960s and a little boy, Frankie, is locked in the cloak room at school...he sees a ghost of a little girl (Melissa Anne Montgomery - I will never forget that name), and then a guy comes in and tries to strangles him. He tries to hide under his costume, which is, if I remember correctly, is a vampire mask - Bella Legosi style. I wanted a Halloween costume like that sooooooooo bad!!! (Though, not to hide behind as someone tries to strangle me!)

Back to Merry Wives and thinking of what the characters dress in for the "Fairy Scene". Sir Hugh, the Welsh Parson, is one of the ring leaders in the scene, with lots of speeches and taunting of Falstaff. I thought that it would be funny to dress him up as something that was kind of "unholy" seeing that he is a Pastor, and then I thought of the vampire mask that I wanted so badly after seeing Lady in White... BAM! PERFECT! It's also kind of funny because Sir Hugh has an accent that no one can really understand - and so does Bella Legosi! He's got a cape (black and red satin) and one of those masks!!! I still think that it is really funny that we see their recognizable costumes (ie - Hugh's cassock and cardigan) under the "Fairy" costume.

I saw Lady in White recently (well, Halloween of 2004). I hadn't seen it in probably 10 years or so. I was with a group of friends at Utah Shakespearean Festival carving pumpkins. It wasn't quite as scary or thrilling as I remembered and the special effects were horrible, but I still sobbed at the end...and whenever I hear "Did You Ever Hear a Dream Walking?...Well, I did...," I get chills and cry a little for poor Melissa Anne Montgomery.

Kyle 1/29/10

So tonight was kind of a bust. I wasn't going to be able to post anything because I was supposed to be in First Dress for Oedipus Rex here at the CBT, but we're in the middle of "BLIZZARD 2010!!!!" here in Knoxville so, just when everyone had gotten into costume, they had to call the rehearsal...oh well....I got to come home to sketch.

So, uh, spoiler alert, Anne Page gets married at the end of Merry Wives....sorry to give it away, but its a Shakespearean Comedy! There's always a happy ending wedding at the end! I didn't write it so don't blame me!

When we see her first in Act V, scene 5, she is in a "Fairy" costume. It needs to cover whatever her wedding dress is and not be white or green. I found a pattern for a huge swing coat to go over a circle skirt crinoline, paired it with a scarf around the head and a devil mask, so I guess the coat is red...no...pink, because - get this - Anne's wedding dress is PINK! (Blush and Bashful, anyone)

The dress, itself is pink taffeta with a huge crinoline all covered with several layers of tulle! The bodice is the pink taffeta covered by a really thick, rich lace (I'm actually drooling right now!). The veil is based on Jackie Kennedy's veil...lace edged attached to a little taffeta covered bonnet (maybe kinda Mary Tudor style, you know, to keep it real). Little satin pumps, and little gloves with while pearl triple strand bracelets...

Now I'm exhausted...but the snow outside is really pretty...just like my dress.

Kyle 1/28/10

More from the last scene of Merry Wives...

Master Page has told Slender that Anne will be dressed in white in the forest and that he can abscond with her, while Mistress Page tells Dr. Caius that she will be dressed in green...little do they all know that Anne had told Fenton of the plan and the Host of the Garter Inn helps them to escape and Marry.

The boy in white would be Nym, one of Falstaff's bowling buddies, dressed as a Ghost, while the boy in green is Pistol in a green cape and "Martian" mask. I suppose if this was produced at a theatre where they wanted to use more children they could be played by some teens...though is it more creepy that the men should run off with young boys...

Hilarity really ensues when Slender and Caius show up and steal away with the men who are dressed as Anne...Caius even actually goes though with the marriage ceremony!

Kyle 1/27/10

In the last scene of Merry Wives, Mistresses Page and Ford meet Falstaff in the woods an lead him on a little bit. After they hear a noise they flee, joining in with the "fairies" to taunt Falstaff.

I've always loved how put together women were when they left the house in the mid-20th century - coat, hat, gloves, pocketbook. It was all very put together and quite glamorous (no one has glamor anymore do they - well not normal people). I would love to see the ladies enter in some lovely swing coats (they are so easy to find in vintage shops and most costume stocks) with hats and gloves - the full get up. Under the coats they would have their fairy costumes.

I was trying to think of what the adults would wear for their costumes...you have to have the boy in a white costume (Ghost?) and a boy in a green costume (Alien?) mistaken as Anne, Sir Hugh (I'm thinking vampire costume?), Anne (in something pretty with a mask and dark shawl or hooded cape?) and then the wives and their husbands. What I'm thinking for all of them is black body (dresses for the ladies and the dark suits of the men) with dark chiffon veils and flash lights underneath...could be fun...More tomorrow

Eric is totally right...this is getting faster.

Kyle 1/26/10

One of the funniest scenes in Merry Wives is Act V, scene 5, in which many of the characters dress in fanciful costumes and taunt Falstaff. They burn him with candles and pinch him, all led by Mistress Quickly and Sir Hugh Evans.

For my 1950's production, I've set the scene at Halloween with the characters in Halloween costumes. Mistress Quickly is a witch in a battered witch's hat and dyed black chenille bathrobe, with fake nose and chin. I think that part of the humor comes from the fact that they aren't really well disguised (Quickly keeps her glasses and neck scarf) and Falstaff is just a stupid old drunk who is easily fooled in the dark.

There are supposed to be "many children" who enter with Sir Hugh, but there are only two named children in the play - Robin, Falstaff's page (or sometimes his son) and William Page, the Page's son. A lot of little boy's costumes in the mid-20th century had to do with the space race - Space Men and Robots abound in all of the pictures I could find. Another choice would be Cowboys and Indians, I suppose, though I find Space Men and Robots more frightening (a clown would be the scariest!)! William would be the Space Man, as his family could afford a fancy, store-bought costume, while Robin would be the Robot - made from cardboard boxes and painted silver with buttons and levers.

There are many more characters in the scene. I think I'll do some more of them tomorrow...it is fun to design a costume for a character who is wearing a costume!

Kyle 1/25/10

I did two sketches today because I just couldn't decide about this character. The costumes I've sketched a very similar, but I'm up in the air about the body type...

Mistress Quickly is one of the funniest characters in Merry Wives. She is Dr. Caius' maid and generally makes a lot of trouble for him...it's great fun really. She is also friendly with Anne Page and is a proponent of Fenton. She also plays a huge part in the finale faerie scene.

As you can see, the costumes are pretty much the same. If she is thinner and younger she'd have a slimmer A-line skirted dress sort of maid's uniform. As a larger, older woman she'd have a blouse and fuller skirt. The older version is a little more disheveled, more pattern on pattern. She's a very comic character and an the older character sketch plays the comedy where as the younger sketch ties her more to Anne as a friend.

Thoughts?

Kyle 1/22/10

Another of Anne Page's suitors in Merry Wives is Doctor Caius. He is French and other characters constantly make fun of his accent. He is much older than Anne so it is a little creepy that her mother wants her to marry him.
Who doesn't love a good double breasted suit...especially in gray pinstripe...

Kyle 1/21/10

One of my favorite movies is Pleasantville. Especially the parts in the bowling alley where all the men hole up when things start to turn to color. Its such a great image, all those guys bonding in the bowling alley, all getting strikes and having a good time.

Pistol and Nym are two of Falstaff's cronies in Merry Wives of Windsor (there is a third, Bardoph, and he would be part of the team too). They're really just a couple of guys, just bowlin'...drinkin' beers. I think that Falstaff could also have a Bowling Shirt too for his scenes at the Garter...hangin' with the boys.

Some of the play takes place at the Garter Inn - maybe this is a bowling alley instead of a bar? The Host could be the owner or something...hummm...interesting.

Kyle 1/20/10 (the Late, Late edition...)

I got home way late tonight from helping Keith set up his house for Saturday's party...a lot later...

Slender is one of Anne Page's other suitors. He is put forward by one of her parents and Sir Hugh (and maybe someone else...its way late and my script is so far away). He is really shy and can hardly speak a word to her.

I'm going for the total opposite of Fenton with him. He's young like Fenton, but a complete nerd...future IBM Executive...maybe that's what Anne's Mother (or Father? like I said, script so far away...cannot...reach) sees in him, future stability or something...

Kyle 1/19/10

Happy Birthday, Dolly Parton!

Out of all three suitors to Anne Page in Merry Wives, Fenton is the one that Anne loves. He's kind of a weird character in that, as an audience member, you love him too, but you also hate him. We find out that Fenton loves Anne too, but he started loving her because of her family's money, and then grew to love her as a woman as he got to know her. Boys are stupid.

To make it short, he's a hard guy to figure out. We know that Master and Mistress Page don't dislike him as a person, but think that, while he is well born, he is too poor to marry their daughter. In fact, Master Page believes, truthfully at first, that he only wants to get his hands on the Page's money.

Here's where it gets difficult. Is Fenton a "Rebel without a cause" or is he a nice, clean cut guy, all star quarterback kind of guy? My first impulse was bordering on "greaser" guy, but I don't want people to be thinking "Tell me about it, stud" the whole time. And then I went the other way. Its tough. I'm starting to think that he's a little mixture of both worlds. Beginning the play in the letter sweater, jeans and tee-shirt, and then later remove the sweater and add a James Deans-esque jacket, and then, for the end where he escapes with Anne to get married, he wears a smart suit of some sort. Could work.

I tried to loosen up a bit with these drawings and do them a little more quickly. Not really sure if I doing them faster helped or even makes a difference. My past sketches didn't take me all that long to get down on paper, and then its just a few minutes on details and shading...egh...whatever.

Kyle 1/18/10

Anne Page is the daughter in Merry Wives of Windsor who is being courted by three different men. One is old and favored by her mother, one is a total nerd, and favored by her father, and one is her dream man who is in love with. This is one of the sub-plots in the play that flushes out the story.
It has been said that Merry Wives was written quickly by Shakespeare by royal command of Elizabeth I who wanted to see a play with "Falstaff in love". This account is, however, suspect as it was recorded over 100 years after the play was first performed in 1602. The Anne Page sub-plot makes me believe that the the account may have some credence as it does not directly involve the central character of Falstaff but, while amusing and charming, seems at times to simply flush out the length of the play.
As I've though more about this project, I've remembered what someone told me once about setting Shakespeare in more modern periods. When you do it, you need more clothes. Merry Wives is set over a three day period. Modern people don't wear the same thing for three days in a row, unless it is a uniform. I think that this problem could be handled easily with Merry Wives. Suits on men are easy to double on a day change basis as are trousers. The women in the play are middle class and could do with simple skirts, blouses and sweaters to vary their looks along with the previous sketches that I've already done...this is all hypothetical, of course.
Good to have Jen back. I love what she's doing with Boheme and it is so fun to see the differences in our styles!

Kyle 1/15/10

One of the sub-plots of The Merry Wives of Windsor has to do with the marriage of Anne Page, daughter of Mistress and Master Page. She has three suitors, one of which is put forward buy Sir Hugh Evans, a Welsh Parson, to her Father. He's a funny guy and, although he is a religious man, he is the idea man for several of the sub-plot intrigues. Its a pretty simple costume, Anglican cassock and cincture, with the Anglican collar and Parson hat. I wanted him to have a little more of a sense of humor, so I gave him a cable knit, shawl collared cardigan. I love a good cardigan, don't you? I'm wearing one right now...under my Snuggie, of course.