I was lucky enough to be asked to be on the Season Play Selection Committee at First City Players. I was sent a list of potential plays for the 23/24 season to read and help narrow down to individual plays. When I saw “We Will Rock You,” my first thought was, “Cool!! Queen!” Then I read the play…. and it fell into the “Hmmm…. maybe” category. The plot was soooo silly.

Flash forward a bit, what a difference two months can make. Because life happened, I was unable to attend the final decision making meeting and… We Will Rock You was selected. I went back and re-read it and…. get this… There were so many elements that seemed like fun, that I ASKED if I could costume the play!! I DID have some experience with leading costuming, but nothing like FALL MUSICAL experience. The fall musical typically has a huge, complicated cast and draws BIG crowds. In the end, I partnered with Amanda to design the costumes, she had seen the play four times and had a deeper understanding of storylines and characters than I did.

During the read-through I learned a new phrase: Jukebox Musical. In short, WWRY is a Jukebox Musical that takes place in a future taken over by a Network called Globalsoft. Real music is gone, replaced by computerized music. Killer Queen runs the show. There are a band of rebels called Bohemians, and two “Gaga Kids” who break away from the Globalsoft empire to search for music and meaning. You see what I mean? Sort of silly.

When I began researching the costumes, I learned that We Will Rock You is surprisingly under the radar. There are very few costume pages dedicated to the play, and youtube versions were grainy to the point of being impossible to deciper. I took a few screenshots, scoured the internet and determined that there were two basic interpretations of the costumes:

1. Dystopian Mad Max vs. sleek Catwomanesque black leather drones from the future……. OR
2. Rock and Roll chaos vs. Stepford culture with a little drag queen and Matrix thrown in.

We leaned towards the second interpretation, with our own touches added of course. With the play now cast (at 40+), I attended the first “read/sing through.” It was pretty magical from the beginning. We ALL sang along, discovering that maybe we didn’t know the songs as well as we thought we did, or maybe some of the lyrics had been changed a bit, or songs shortened – it didn’t matter. It was fun!

Then came the brainstorming. Amanda and I talked on the phone. We texted. Sent emails. And texted. Met at the office. Texted. Scoured the costume room. Texted. Met at coffee shops. And Texted. Once we had a rough vision, we reached out to our helpers. Luckily for us the play was easily broken down into groups.

The Bohemians: They seemed like a natural fit for Sherry’s esthetic. As Amanda put it, they should look like the little guy from WallE who discovers a pile of discarded rock-and-roll clothes and gear and just starts grabbing. It should look fun. Funky. Chaotic. Somewhat recognizable (Boy George hat anyone? Cyndi Lauper petticoats? Steven Tyler’s scarves and bling?), it should look thrown together. It was fun to watch Sherry work. She came to our meeting having researched rock-and-rollers and iconic rock fashion. She spent a lot of time going over details, questioning, clarifying and getting the perfect picture in her head. She took that home, emailed a more few ideas and questions, then got to work. We just got out of her way and let her do her thing.

Oz, Brit and Kashoggi: For two of the principal characters we called in Jackie. These two were also Bohemians, but needed to look a bit tougher. Warriors. Jackie absolutely killed it with these two – they were amazing!! She also did Kashoggi, absolutely Neo! I loved how Jackie worked. I showed her an inspiration picture, Amanda ordered a few items, handed them over. When we finally saw them, it was above and beyond. But look at the picture… 1000 words and all.

Killer Queen: She was our toughest conundrum. An adult content character that takes over the body of her programmer, she is described in one version of the play as an “Domineering Dominatrix.” When I asked one woman if she could help with costuming she said, “Oh My! This is a far cry from Jane Eyre.” In the end Marna and Johanna created the stunning leopard jacket for KQ. This jacket had it’s own personality, it became a character in the play, wheeled onto the stage and draped on KQ by her handmaidens (not unlike James Brown). And lordy (!!) Tiffany worked that jacket.

The Ga-ga Kids: What started out as a Stepford cheer squad eventually morphed into Stepford cheer squad rocking 90’s rom-com vibes. All in white. Bright white. Think tennis skirts, pedal pushers. The same, but different. To knock back the marshmallow look, Margie took a break from making hats and brain-washing helmets with Peter (Yes. Brain washing. I told you it was a silly play) to work on Finer details such as gray bar codes, id code or QR code on left hip of each Gaga kid.

The Yuppies: Grown up Gagas who serve the Globalsoft corporation. I channeled Star Trek with an asymmetrical jackets (serged with love by Shawn in spite of illness), each with individual bling and a few (not fifty) shades of gray- The same, but different. Each of these characters doubled as something else. Doctors in surgical scrubs and goggles (you know, so you wont look in their eyes and get brainwashed), handmaidens, and cops, who rocked futuristic vests made by Kelsey out of car seat belt webbing and computer keys (Did I mention that costumers are a creative bunch?)

Galileo and Scaramouche: Funny enough, the “stars” of the show were the least challenging to costume. Niles pulled heavily from his own closet -black leather jacket, boots, and we ordered tight ~but not so tight they seemed like leggings~ jeans, a crisp white Freddie tank and finished off with the brilliant touch, suggested by Deidra, the music director, – a simple, single shiny upper arm band, a-la. Live Aide. (Did I mention that costuming is a hive-mind project?) Scaramouche was fun. She transitioned from an emo Gaga Kid to a Bohemian. Once we saw what Jackie had created, Sherry and I knew we needed to embellish the hell out of her Scaramouche’s Boho outfit – she had to match Oz’s energy!

Buddy. When I met Craig, he told me he had a prosthetic leg. Cool!! Definitely going to put him in shorts. I was thinking Beach Boys, but then the news hit that Jimmy Buffet had passed and I wanted to include him. We went with a total JB vibe mixed with Jerry Garcia. I got sort of weird about the finding the perfect Hawaiian shirt. It was a “I’ll know it when I see it” thing. Shopping Goodwill, I saw dozens of Hawaiin shirts, but none worked. One morning, during a fortuitous visit with Sherry, she raided Kim’s closet and “Voila!” Jimmy Buffet/Buddy! (Did I mention that we rely heavily on the wardrobes of those we love? My daughter Sarah contributed several pieces)

Life happened a lot during this play. I was struck – STRUCK by some weird illness that downed me for weeks. There was no way I could go around the actors, I am sure Elizabeth would have killed me if I got anyone sick. I had a trip planned. Same thing with Amanda, she traveled, she got sick. BUT between the two of us, we got er done! We communicated with ALL involved. We put out fires. We called in reinforcements. We pulled off a pretty damn fine costume wardrobe. There was only the tiniest little 911, easily fixed during dress rehearsal. In the end, the play was stunning. Costumes aside, the actors could have worn their pajamas and killed it – they were THAT talented!! I was SO PROUD to have been connected to this play and grateful that Amanda was willing to take me under her wing and let me help her!