So you’ve seen the CHART (if not, see video Casting Process with Joe & Tom -June). Costume pieces for a show the size of Nicholas Nickleby number in the hundreds! Costume designer Jan Chambers started with the color palette below and began sketching only to end up with hundreds of sketches. I’ve worked in this building… Read more »
The poster art process for Nickleby started by meeting with the directors, Joe and Tom back in July. This is much earlier than we typically discuss artwork – but of course Nickleby isn’t a typical show. In our initial meeting many themes were discussed including the people of Nicholas Nickleby, the locations, hope, loss, family,… Read more »
McKay Coble’s set model is now complete. She’s painted it and even included figures just for fun (or for scale). Either way, her attention to detail in this model is staggering to me, a lowly graphic designer. On the day I went in to shoot these photos, it took much longer than planned because I… Read more »
When working in a specific period, I often do method research into millinery techniques of the time in question. In our costume library, we have texts from throughout history on how various articles of clothing were made in earlier eras. Granted, we don’t follow those to the letter, rather we use them as guides for… Read more »
We had to interrupt our regularly scheduled blog this week for an exciting announcement. The role of Nicholas Nickleby has been cast! We are thrilled to announce that JUSTIN ADAMS, last seen at PRC as Mercutio, will return to perform in the title role. Of his performance in PRC’s Romeo and Juliet, The Independent Weekly’s… Read more »
Just after “Pride and Prejudice” closed but before the end of the spring semester, PlayMakers’ costume department met with designers Jan Chambers and Jade Bettin to strategize costume production on “Nicholas Nickleby.” Jan had some initial costume renderings to share with us, and Jade presented an impressive (large, daunting) costume plot?basically a huge spreadsheet listing… Read more »
While we’ll be checking back in on McKay Coble’s set on a regular basis, we’re moving this week into the realm of costumes. First up will be costume crafts artisan Rachel Pollock. Check out her blog entry Thursday morning as she delves into the world of Dickensian bonnets. In coming weeks, we’ll also hear from… Read more »
You’ve been patiently waiting and here it is… The set model reveal! This video is actually Part 1 of a series. It’s a complicated set, so check back over the coming weeks for additional videos demonstrating McKay Coble’s amazing set model. A warning – the camera starts out a little shaky. That’s what a camera-woman… Read more »
I know you’ve all been waiting for the big set model demonstration video, and believe me when I tell you – me too! Unfortunately, the technical gods (or demons) have decided it is not meant to be this week. It simply refuses to upload, so we’re back to the drawing board for today! However, all… Read more »
Set designer McKay Coble walks us through building the set model for Nicholas Nickleby. Bare model: first we build a model of the theatre in which the set will stand. This is what it looks like under all of the scenery you see at PlayMakers. Painting the floor: I paint/stain individual board of differing widths… Read more »