When originally contemplating what production I should undertake as my costume design thesis project, my thesis design advisor Valerie Ramshur, asked me to consider what show I might want to conceptually design. Valerie suggested a musical, as I don’t have many musicals in my portfolio. She felt that a large-scale musical would not only fulfill the thesis requirements, but also challenge me in completing a full Bible and the necessary accompanying paperwork. The multiple costume changes and character development that occur within the arc of a musical, as well as the consideration of ensemble changes and possible dance numbers are important aspects to be considered. 

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I would have to spend four months with this show, listen to the music repeatedly and dive into the all the research rabbit holes that will come along, so I needed to love it. I made a list of various well-known musicals that sparked my interest. I thought of Sweeney Todd, Follies, Amadeus, Jekyll & Hyde and I fell upon Barnum. I believed this would be incredibly interesting for me with my touring experience with Ringling Bros & Barnum and Bailey and my love for the circus. I suggested all of these along with several others, only to have Val return with other titles in the same vein such as Pippen or Side Show. With these suggestions I started my research, listened to the music and read as much as I could about them. Realizing Pippen was not my cup of tea, and after listening to Barnum I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t listen to that soundtrack for the next four months. Upon repeatedly listening to Side Show, along with a little background research on the biography of the main characters, I was excited the most by Side Show. 

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Valerie and I discussed it further and we both realized that there were many opportunities in Side Show that would be to my advantage. First, I realized that many of the shows in my portfolio are happy, brightly colored or avant-garde. I needed to add something that is a bit grittier and dirtier in order to present a range of work and tones that I am capable of. Secondly, Side Show had a wonderful opportunity for the freedom to cast a large amount of diverse people which I wanted to explore. Not only in race but with differently abled people as well. It is a show that tells the story of people who were not accepted in the mainstream of society of the 1930s, and I felt we could include those very people in our cast. These diverse people could help tell stories that negatively exploited people in the past with similar, or in some cases radically different, modern counterparts. Third, my love for research and history would prove invaluable with a production such as this.  Originally the musical was barely based on the true story of Daisy and Violet Hilton, and the revival that was closer albeit still theatrically dramatic. I wished to reconceive of ways to incorporate the original life story of the Hilton Sisters back into the production by adding my own (and the director’s) spin on the existing script. 

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We decided to hypothetically set our production with Roundabout Theatre in Studio 54. We decided I would work with a $375,000 budget. You will be able to see three different variations of the budget and how it evolved to fit into the required monetary amount.

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When I started reading the script, I soon realized the original production was very different from the revival. I inquired of Val and my costume design professor Ann Hould-Ward if it would be possible to get my hands on a copy of the revival script and they were able to procure it! Interestingly, the two scripts were different in many ways with the revival focusing more on telling a closer history of Daisy & Violet Hilton. After discussing both the original and the revival scripts with my newly appointed director, David Esbjornson, we decided on the revival script as it was closer to the story we wanted to tell. David and I also discussed changing some of the characters to other historical side show attractions (some of which were in the original production and cut from the revival) and creating more background for each of those characters. We removed the Geek, the Tattoo Lady, Half Man/Half Woman and the Female Cossack and in exchange we added in a Contortionist, Snake Charmer, Sheik, two Male Cossacks and two Harem Girls. These not only brought in more variety of attractions, but we were also able to include different races and disabilities.

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Ann did a wonderful job casting with a diverse array of performers who have very different backgrounds and strengths. Micah Fowler is in a wheelchair, Katy Sullivan has two prosthetic legs, and Russell Harvard is deaf. The ethnicities of the cast included but not limited to African American, Arab-American, Pakistani, Chinese, Egyptian, Hispanic, Filipino, British and white. Lending itself, in my opinion, to be incredibly meaningful to the performers who are playing side show attractions which reflect their own oppression as people of color navigating mainstream American society. For instance, I took take the beautiful textiles of Pakistan and incorporated those patterns into Mahira Kakkar’s costume. Marrying the ideas of the wild west sharpshooter with fabrics that reflect the actress’s cultural background. I wanted to explore not only our racism in the American theatre complex, but also our ableist tendencies that exist within the narrative that is told with each production of Side Show. It would be an opportunity missed if we did not have these discussions with this production. 

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 Included in the digital bible, you will find scene breakdowns, a costume plot, various budget sheets, build bids for costume shops, and vintage research for my director and for vintage dealers. I have also chosen to draw 73 looks from the show exceeding the required 50, but not the complete 130+ looks in the production. I chose to include all of the lead character’s looks (Daisy & Violet, Sir, Terry, Buddy and Jake), all of the Side Show Attractions and three male and three female examples from each ensemble. In the Folder I) Color Sketches and Final Renderings, you can see in Folder 2) Sketch Revisions how each sketch went through multiple revisions during this process. I did draw all 130+ looks as croquis. The croquis, a term for generic line drawings, were meant to be an exercise in the broad conceptualization of each costume before the line drawings and being able to show the director those rapid thoughts. The croquis proved to be difficult to discern by the director and were not as effective as I hoped and therefore proved to be more as an exercise of small-scale color exploration. Through this I realized I needed much more color throughout the show, especially in the ensemble members, but also in our lead characters, Daisy & Violet. 

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As you examine the breadth and depth of the dozens of research boards, drawings and various versions of paperwork, I hope that you can see the adaptations that were continuously made as I dove deeper and deeper into this story. In addition to all of my paperwork, I have also included a glossary for anyone unfamiliar with certain aspects of Side Show and its history or the paperwork process for costuming.

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My goal was to create a useable digital bible example that I can continue to utilize in a professional setting with more online experiences but also being environmentally conscious.  Costume Design Bibles are a huge feat of organization, artistry and patience, and I hope that I have conveyed all of those skills in this thesis project.