Three Costumes in 36 hours

Flight left Tampa 6:45am on Friday to NYC....

First fitting 1:30pm on Saturday....

Last Stitch on pants hem- 12:30pm on Sunday...

Flight back to Tampa 4:35pm on Monday.....



From start to finish the costume process seems to be fairly quick based on actual hours that it took, but to know who these people are- well I think I have been working on that for my lifetime.
When first reading the script, Sweet Storm, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it all takes place somewhat near my hometown. Tampa, Clearwater, Lithia Springs.....all places that I have taken into my conscienceness over the past 20 years of living here. Knowing the heat, knowing the storm, knowing the sweet smell of the summer air as it lingers through orange groves, walking the old cobbled streets of Tampa, cruising the beaches of Clearwater.......all this makes the picture of who Ruth and Bo are ever so clear in my mind.

Armed with mental notes, visual research and a sense of knowing I shopped my way through a variety of thrift stores, vintage stores, and yes even the modern department stores. I could see pieces of Ruth and Bo here and there. My job- to paste these fragments together so an audience, a director, a playwright and the actors can better know the who, what, when and why of this couple who stands before them on the stage.

Each detail, hopefully thought of- down to the clip earrings and the white crew socks to make a complete picture.

With any luck and speedy postal delivery, the actors should have their show costumes available to work in before the end of their second week of rehearsal. I am hoping this chance to live in the clothes and inhabit them as Ruth and Bo naturally would will prove to be helpful in the process of rehearsal and in the culmination of action and words.