Don’t They Sweat?
I find myself fascinated with the mechanics of the acting process. The mental part, too, but right now I am contemplating how the actors get from Point A to Point B and what they wear while they make that journey.
Wednesday night, while watching the rerun of Mother’s Little Helper, I noticed something I had overlooked before: the actors rehearse in costume. And I am not referring to Halloween dress-up.
When I met Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber on the Medium set, I noticed Patricia’s outfit because it was soft and pretty and looked incredibly comfortable. In one of the dream sequences last night, I realized she was wearing that same outfit. I had no idea it was supposed to be pajamas. Who wears cashmere pajamas? Maybe it is just a soft knit.
They were rehearsing Mother’s Little Helper that day but I did not know anything about the story except that Sofia, as Ariel, gets “reeeeally bloody.” (Hellooooo Carrie opening sequence.) Looking back, I realize now that Patricia and Jake were both already in costume when I saw them rehearsal the kitchen scene, where Allison finds out by telephone
about the dead teen’s Internet stalker.
Aren’t they afraid they will sweat? Or spill? Or catch the outfit on something and get a big tear? Do the wardrobe people freak out until the scene is in the can?
Obviously I do not know the first thing about how it all works. Anybody?
Tags: medium, medium nbc, mother’s little helper, medium behind the scenes
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Medium Musings
4 opinions for Don’t They Sweat?
Betty
Mar 16, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Sheila - the key is they have multiple outfits that are exactly alike. It is not uncommon for them to have 12 pairs of shoes that are exactly alike so if Scanlon steps in a mud puddle, not to worry, the wardrobe mistress will simply trot out another pair of shoes exactly like the first pair.
That’s how Dorothy’s red shoes (for example) from The Wizard of Oz end up on eBay - she had several.
In live theatre,(community theatre) we don’t have the luxury of having a budget big enough to have multiple costumes that are exactly alike, but say you have something that is supposed to rip, but you have to do 6 or 9 performances, you use velcro and perhaps whip stitch it together between shows (yep, we had a lady who stitched a jacket up again every night after the show so we could “rip” it again during the next show.)
If we have some type of prop that is a liquid, we try to choose something that won’t stain, so if by chance something is spilled on the costume, it can be washed before the next show.
Otherwise, you just hold your breath and hope the costume lasts for all the performances!
Another tip I heard, can’t remember where, to keep your face from sweating, use antipersperant on your face before applying your makeup. Seems like I heard that just before one of the awards shows like SAG or Oscar, where the ladies and men are always so glam on the red carpet, but maybe it’s 98 degrees out with the sun beating down - you never see sweat on their faces.
They also make these kind of collars that a person wears while the makeup is being applied that also serve to cover their face when a costume is being pulled over the head so it doesn’t come in contact with the face makeup. It helps protect the hair, too.
JCW
Mar 16, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Betty’s on the money - particularly where movies are concerned. In television, where budgets are tighter, they might just take all the above listed precautions and hope for the best..
Betty, regarding the Ruby slippers - fascinating book on the subject; The Ruby Slippers of Oz written by Rhys Thomas, which documents not only the discovery of the slippers by Kent Warner prior to the 1970 MGM auction, but also the evolution of the movie memorabilia collecting biz.
Filled with intrigue, mystery and gossip, it’s a fun read. For the record, there exist four DOCUMENTED pairs of slippers, one pair of which - valued at well over 1 million - was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum where they were being displayed on loan. In addition, Debbie Reynolds owns a “test” pair, known as the Arabian shoes. Designed by Adrian, Garland did test photos wearing them, but ultimately they were not chosen for the film.
Somehow, I just think you’re the kind of gal who appreciates this kind of information!
Betty
Mar 19, 2007 at 2:57 pm
JCW thanks! I am really interested in that info!
Just another tidbit of info - I believe it was the movie Jezebel with Bette Davis - the movie is in black/white, and the dress she descends the staircase in is supposed to be red velvet, but it is actually brown velvet because it photographs better!
Also as far as rehearsals go with costumes, it’s always wise to rehearse in them to make sure you have not wardrobe malfunctions. For live theater, it’s also important for changing time from one scene to another to practice with the actual costume to make sure you have enough time to make the change or what has to be done - layering or whatever - so the change can be pulled off in the right time. Props - same thing to make sure it works, you know where it is, etc. You may change on the run behind the stage or set - clothes and elbows flying everywhere - the dressing rooms are not a pretty site! When we did “Evita” there were some people that changed something like 14 times!
When we did “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” last summer, we had knives, forks, & spoons and they kept bending, so between scenes Cogsworth ran back stage, cut some coat hangers into straight pieces and duct taped them to the back of the knives, forks, and spoons to keep them from bending! If you’d like to see pics, go to http://www.whartonplazatheater.org
It’s also important to rehearse with costumes for lighting purposes - making sure you get the right effect with the light. When we did “Nine the Musical” we had pink gloves in one scene which actually just looked white under the bright stage lights - if we’d had enough extra money, we would have replaced them with hot pink, but alas, after spending $200 for all the different colors of gloves we needed, we couldn’t spend any more.
Often times you will have a tech rehearsal and then a dress rehearsal which incorporates both tech and costumes and props.
Last but not least, duct tape is an invaluable resource! Years ago on another website, one of the girls wrote a dissertation on the many uses of duct tape!
Betty
Mar 19, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Oops, but have ended up in the spam filter again!
Just thought of another point for rehearsing in costume - to make sure the appropriate under garments are in place so when the bright stage lights are blaring down, nothing shows that is not suppoed to show, if you know what I mean!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: