His Girl Friday at the La Jolla Playhouse!

I can finally share some of what I have been up to at work!  For those who didn’t know, I’ve been working as a First Hand at the La Jolla Playhouse since the winter.  It’s been really great work and I love my co-workers.  So, you can’t even anticipate how excited I was when I heard our present show was one of my all time favorite movies- His Girl Friday, and the show takes place in 1939!  And we got to work with famous Costume Designer, Paul Tazewell, which was fantastic.  He really researches everything and is as particular about period details as I am :)

Our team was responsible for buliding the lead female ensembles (minus hats and crafts), so we built things for Hildy, Molly, and Mrs Baldwin.  Here’s some promotional stills that are property of the La Jolla Playhouse to illustrate:

Here’s a few of the close up shots I took of the costumes while we were building them.  They were so detailed and structurally well built (if we do say so ourselves), that I had to share the details you might not catch on stage.

Here’s an “in progress” shot of Mrs Baldwin’s coat.  This was before we added the rhinestones, bows, and the butterfly frog (that you can’t see in the promo shots, but if you go see it in person you’ll get to see it!).  And yes, we had to attach all that lace by hand!

Here is an up close shot of Hildy’s suit coat.  We based the shape of the body off of an original vintage pattern in my collection and then Sarah Maisel, our talented draper and ukelele superstar, changed the pattern to our needs.  Karen, our master stitcher, actually stacked the pieces one on top of the other, and bagged out all the corners using silk organza.  And, of course, it’s got the tailoring “guts” all in there.  We had help of many stitchers in all the projects, but I think they came out just beautiful.  A real group effort!

We got to costume Jenn Lyon as “Hildy Johnson”, Mary Beth Peil  as “Mrs Baldwin”, and Bethany Anne Lind as “Molly Malloy”, and they were all a dream to work with!

His Girl Friday runs now through June 30th at the La Jolla Playhouse and features many talented actors and a great creative team.  You can read more about the cast here (pdf file).  I haven’t seen it yet but am so excited to see it soon!  It’s a combination of The Front Page (the original 1920s play) and the 1940’s His Girl Friday film we’re all so familiar with, with a few original twists thrown in the mix, too.

I hope you can see it!  Get more info and buy tickets at The La Jolla Playhouse website.

6 Comments on His Girl Friday at the La Jolla Playhouse!

  1. Kristin
    June 4, 2013 at 11:19 am (12 years ago)

    Wow, these look fantastic!

  2. garofit
    June 4, 2013 at 11:39 am (12 years ago)

    That stripey jacket is amazing, what a fantastic job!

  3. Helen Mae
    June 4, 2013 at 2:58 pm (12 years ago)

    What gorgeous clothes! I wouldn’t mind a coat like Mrs Baldwin’s for myself.

  4. Katrina @ Edelweiss Patterns
    June 4, 2013 at 5:43 pm (12 years ago)

    Wow! Those are lovely. The lavender jacket in particular is quite gorgeous with the Alencon lace appliques. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Esz
    June 4, 2013 at 8:23 pm (12 years ago)

    THE SHOES!!!! In the first pic. I MUST HAVE THEM.
    Omg omg

    *cough*
    Ahem – yes. The clothes are absolutely to die for as well. How amazing that you get to do something like that for a job. Really getting stuck into details and being able to double the drama because its well, drama. Amazing. The shoulders on that coat are a structural feat it looks :-D

    And seriously. I want those shoes. Please say theyre not vintage or secondhand or sourced from somewhere I can not buy down here in the Anipodes.

  6. Ginger
    June 5, 2013 at 6:24 am (12 years ago)

    Wow, amazing! Those look so good! I really wish I could see it.

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