MOLLY BLAZE
COSTUME DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY
Matilda
the
Musical
Purveyor of the "Chokey"
Central to the musical, is the antagonist, one, Agatha Trunchbull - a force to be reckoned with and ferocious in mere appearance. In order to create such an intimidating presence, I created an oversized female padded bodysuit for our trim male actor to become otherwise completely unrecognizable as himself anymore. Coupled with canvas and leather garments and trims and adorned with weightlifting belt, ball and chain, bullwhip and the like, Trunchbull was born.
A World of Contrasts
One of my characteristic traits as a Costume Designer is in "seeing" how to tell the story visually in deeper ways than is communicated in the script. Knowing that a key theme in the musical is the threat to the loss of childhood innocence, I imagined having the new, younger students arrive to school with colorful school accessories - headbands, backpacks, hats, and the like. We actually blocked and choreographed for the older, already jaded students to physically steal and strip away these cherished childhood mementos that embody their excitement and joy of their first day of school and the very essence of their youthful innocence. It was so visually powerful to watch this unfold in the opening school scene.
Collaboratively with the hair/makeup designer, we designed the older students after a very "Tim Burton"- like essence. I made sure to layer their school uniform accessories with more greys and to include more "buttoned-up" styling in their design to cover as much of their white shirts as possible. Contrasted with the younger students arriving more primarily in their whites and maroons, these older students who have already experienced prolonged suffering and dissolution at the hand of Trunchbull are "greyed" and "blacked" out from head to toe. Even the makeup around their eyes was sullen and sunken and their hair was disheveled compared to the younger students.
One Little Girl's Bright Light in the Darkness
I have seen the character, Matilda, costumed in many different ways - sometimes seeing her in a dress at the beginning of the show. This never quite made sense to me seeing as she was always called a "boy" and would have most likely just been given discarded hand-me-downs from her older brother. We chose to costume Matilda, thusly, having her start in ragged, ill-fitting overalls and a very boyish T-shirt. It was only at the end of the production when she was adopted by the sweet and gentle Miss Honey that she was given a bright floral dress of her very own .
Matilda's
of
Stories
Light
The beauty of Matilda's stories is in the heart of the subject matter within. Dreaming of a husband and wife, so in love that they cannot be parted no matter any odds that come against them inspired my take on the Acrobat and Escapologist. Very wedding attire-inspired, I created a nod to a wedding gown for the Acrobat's first look that melded with an acrobatic costume style. For the escapologist, the design was very groomsman-like, grounded on a midnight blue base with gold accents and a gold cape to make it more circus-like.
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The second look for the acrobat is more specifically defined in the script, detailed with dynamite sticks in her hair and alluding to the appearance of flames on her costume as would most likely be exibited in the circus costume detailing. For the escapologist, I chose a complementary design that featured a white cape to go with the indicated white scarf he would be wearing and a top covered in medals as if an adorned general.
Tell Me
You're Tacky...
...without Telling Me
You're Tacky
The Wormwoods are such a vital storytelling agent in Matilda. How do we portray what's happening at home to tell the audience why Matilda seeks an escape in books? Or why she is able to better weather the abuse and mishandling inside Crunchem Hall? The negligence, ignorance, and altogether tackiness of the Wormwoods is so tangible throughout their costumes in the show. From the textured appliqued cactus suit and hat for Mr. Wormwood to the "white trash" layers to Mrs. Wormwood (quite literally), we can infer their very character.
Let
Him Have Cake!
Bruce Bogtrotter was his own special kind of challenge. Our actor who could sing the role was nowhere near the kind of "plump" physique that your typical Bruce is made of. For him, I had the opportunity to create a fat suit that would make him look the part but still be balanced out with seeing his head and his legs in his uniformed shorts. It was strategic to create his new figure not only in this balanced proportion but also in a manner that did not inhibit his many and varied choreographed songs and dances.
The Definition of
Design
There's a special place in my heart for those clever design ideas I come up with that just knock it out of the park. For our "Phys. Ed." scene, particularly drawing inspiration from the lyrics of the very prison-like inmate-style of song, the chanted "1-2-3-4" made me similarly think of the inmate identification numbers printed on their prison uniform. Further than that, even, is the concept that none of these students had individual identities anymore in the eyes of Trunchbull. Collectively, this inspired me to give each student a dirtied jumpsuit with the numbers of the song printed as their identification number on the front and "Children Are Maggots" on the backside, Trunchbull's special term of endearment for her students.
Costume Designer/Technician/Supervisor/Craftsperson: Molly Blaze (as Molly McKinley)
Director/Lighting Designer: Tyler Hutchinson
Photographer: Ronnie Sunker
Set Designer: Jared Thornton