Backstage
Projects
Each production at May River Theatre is developed through the minds and hands of often unseen creative entities. An individual starts with a vision and the helpful hands of many help create that magic the audience sees in the final production. Together they have created a visual spectacle that lets the viewer lose themselves in a world far removed from their own reality; that's the magic of live theatre.
This page is about pulling back the curtain. Taking you beyond the final production into the process that brings us there. Why take away the illusion? First, it develops a level of appreciation for every critical person involved in the show. Second, maybe one of these stories will resinate with you and you will finally hit that volunteer button and come be part of the magic that is May River Theatre.
May River Theatre Board President,
Elizabeth Schlieger
The Addams Family Musical - Costumes - The Beginning
Most of us are familiar with the classic Addams family costumes, they have not changed much since I watched the television show as a child in the 70's. That being said, The Addams Family Musical is a bucket list costume design/creation production for me. The variety of characters and historical representation is epic amongst the ancestor costumes. Where I officially started building costumes last week, I started pulling from our stock months ago. A plethora of old wedding dresses and vintage clothes as found in my living room. #costumeshop
Select and Dye the Fabric
The director (Travis Hornsby) had a vision that the ancestor ghosts would look like they had stepped out of an old black and white photo, which meant I had some dying to do because many of the vintage costumes were an antique white.
Rit synthetic dye did the trick as my kitchen became a dye lab.
_edited.jpg)
Drying the Fabric (Pre-Halloween Spooky)
Once the fabrics were dyed they had to thoroughly dry before I could begin to disassemble and create the specific ancestor costumes Travis was looking for. Bonus, a very spooky August backyard and Carolina room.
_edited.jpg)