MOLLY BLAZE
COSTUME DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY
Iconic Characters
Costumes
Sky
for the
Modifying the costumes for the flying in Mary Poppins was a key factor in their design. All of Mary's costumes were built from scratch, so seaming was strategized in the design and build process to anticipate accommodating the slots for the hardware of the harnesses worn by the actors to put them to flight. Bert's pants were a duplicate set - one for his other non-flights scenes and one for his harness flying scenes.
Sew
Statuesque
One of the many magical moments in Mary Poppins is when the statues come to life in the park. Using morph suits for the base and building various Greek tunic designs out of a stone-like print fabric, coupled with sculpted foam wig headpieces, these dancers brought so much magic into existence for both the story and for the audience viewing.
The morph suits provided grey base coverage that prevented the makeup team from having to quickly body paint actors otherwise used as core ensemble characters in scenes both before and after, providing it only to be necessary for their faces to be painted. Jazz shoes were similarly painted with Angelus leather paint to perfectly match the shade of the morph suits and face paint.
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For detailed design on the creation of the foam sculpted wigs, check out my "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" page on my Crafts/Millinery tab.
Two Means Trouble
Robertson Aye and Mrs. Brill were two of my favorite characters to design because of their overarching and ceaseless witty banter. Whenever I have two characters so deeply intertwined with one another in the storytelling, I love to consider how to enhance their essences as a pairing - in this particular case, being household servants, I gave them a tight and matching color palette that helped amplify their interconnectedness and on-stage presence.
Costume Designer/Technician/Supervisor/Craftsperson: Molly Blaze (as Molly McKinley)
Director/Lighting Designer: Tyler Hutchinson
Photographer: Ronnie Sunker
Set Designer: Jared Thornton