As promised, I made it to another costume fitting. This one was just as much fun as Jeff Meanza’s. This time up – company member Jimmy Kieffer.
Jimmy is a second-year MFA candidate in the Professional Actor Training Program here at UNC. During his time at PlayMakers, Jimmy has been seen as the lead fisherman and a bawd in Pericles; the dubious Wickham in Pride and Prejudice and most recently, as the affable Karl in Opus. In Nicholas Nickleby, Jimmy will be taking on a whole host of characters. Below you’ll get to see several different looks for them.
Up first though is long-time company favorite, Jeffrey Blair Cornell. I arrived at Jimmy’s fitting a little early and got these shots of Jeff’s last costume in his fitting. Sometimes early is a really good thing because this costume is fantastic!
Costume grad, Amy A. Page, Designer Jan Chambers and Crafts artisan Rachel Pollock attend to some final details.
And now onto Jimmy’s fitting…
Jimmy shows off his dance moves happy to be reunited with these pants from Pride and Prejudice. Well maybe happy isn’t the word, but he made the best of it.
Associate costume designer Jade Bettin checks this vest for alterations.
Maybe it was a little tight. Pretty sure she did not stick him with a pin.
These brand new boots were special-ordered for Jimmy. You’ll notice hooks in each of his hands. They hook into the loops at the top of the boots to help pull them on. To get them off, a boot jack is typically employed, but it couldn’t be found on this day. I hope they find it soon…
because I’m not sure this method is going to allow for quick changes. It made for a light moment or ten in the fitting room though.
This hat was special-ordered for Jimmy too.
Too bad it doesn’t quite fit…
Crafts artisan Rachel Pollock is brought in to make some necessary alterations to the wildly oversized hat.
Different character… different hat
Wait – it goes on like this
Watchman at your service…
Of course, a velvet robe is more like it…
But it will need some TLC before it’s ready to go on stage. Costume grad Samantha Coles takes a look.
This costume fitting journey has been a lot of fun. Check back soon for images from tech weekend Part I. It starts today! The entire company moves out of the rehearsal hall and onto the stage!