Broadway costume design sketches Article
  • Elements of theatrical production
    • The performer
    • Space and time
    • The piece and its performance
  • Aspects of theatrical production
    • Types of production
    • Systems of production
      • The permanent company
    • Means of artistic control
    • Aims and functions

Nov 20, 2020 - Explore Alexis's board 'Nolan Miller Dynasty sketches' on Pinterest. See more ideas about sketches, nolan, costume design. Costume Designer Carrie Robbins details the process of costume design from the phone call to the sketch to the construction of the costume; relates the story.

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  • Stunning original signed fashion/theatre/movie sketch by costume designer Ladislaus Czettel. Very collectible, this sketch is originally from the late 1930s to the early 1940s. Framed and in good vintage condition. Please note, the wooden frame has a little crack on one of the corners (see image.
  • KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN 'Molina' Costume sketch by FLORENCE KLOTZ $400.00. SHOW BOAT - 'Frank' Tony Award winning costume sketch by FLORENCE KLOTZ $225.00. Sweeney Todd Costume Sketch By Jennifer Caprio $350.00. TUCK EVERLASTING - 'Man in the Yellow Suit' Costume sketch by Gregg Barnes $800.00.
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Ballet Costume. Design Sketches Images

Brander Matthews Professor of Dramatic Literature, Columbia University, 1977–85. President, American Society for Theatre Research, 1973–79. Author of Shakespeare at the Globe; Dynamics of Drama; and...

Theatrical production, the planning, rehearsal, and presentation of a work. Such a work is presented to an audience at a particular time and place by live performers, who use either themselves or inanimate figures, such as puppets, as the medium of presentation. A theatrical production can be either dramatic or nondramatic, depending upon the activity presented.

A History of Theatre Quiz
Shakespeare claimed that all the world’s a stage, but there are no questions about him in this quiz. Figure out how much you know about other parts of theatrical history.

While dramatic productions frequently conform to a written text, it is not the use of such a text but rather the fictional mimetic (from Greek mimēsis, “imitation,” “representation”) nature of the performer’s behaviour that makes a work dramatic. For example, a person walking a tightrope is performing an acrobatic act, whereas a person who pretends to be an acrobat walking a tightrope is performing a dramatic act. Both performers are engaged in theatrical presentation, but only the latter is involved in the creation of dramatic illusion. Though a dramatic performance may include dancing, singing, juggling, acrobatics, or other nondramatic elements, it is concerned mainly with the representation of actual or imagined life.

In nondramatic theatrical productions there is no imitation of “another existence” but simply the entertainment or excitation of the audience by the performer. Whether acrobatic or musical, gestural or vocal, such activity is theatrical because it is presented by a live performer to an audience, but it remains nondramatic so long as it has a purely presentational quality rather than a representational one.

In any single theatrical production, one or another type of activity may so prevail that there is little difficulty in determining the aesthetic nature of the final work. A play by the 19th-century Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, with its depiction of middle-class behaviour, minimizes nondramatic activity; the recital of a song by the 19th-century Romantic composer Franz Schubert, by contrast, with its emphasis upon musical values, may ignore dramatic elements and, to a considerable extent, even the act of presentation itself. Between these two extremes, however, there are many types of theatrical production in which the aesthetic nature of the form is less simple. Opera, for example, employs both drama and music in shifting patterns of emphasis.

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In Europe and the United States several forms arose in the 20th century that combine dramatic and nondramatic material. Vaudeville, or music hall, for instance, employs a succession of various acts, such as fictional sketches, musical and dance numbers, and feats of dexterity, of which some are representational and others are not. In the musical theatre, song and dance serve both to further the narrative and to provide a break from purely dramatic presentation. This variety also characterizes much Asian theatre, in which dramatic moments are elaborated in dance exhibitions. In light of these examples, the definition of what constitutes theatrical production must remain elastic.

For a general discussion of theatre as an art form, as well as a specific treatment of the crafts of acting and directing, seetheatre, directing, and acting. The aesthetic dimension of a dramatic production is discussed under stage design. Drama as a literary genre is treated under dramatic literature. Drama or dramatic literature is also treated in numerous other articles, including those on the literature or theatre of a specific country or region, of which the following are examples: Western theatre; African literature; American literature; English literature; French literature; German literature; Greek literature; Japanese literature; and Oceanic literature. Other articles that pertain to theatrical production include circus and puppetry.

Elements of theatrical production

According to the British director Peter Brook, theatre occurs whenever someone crosses neutral space and is watched by another person. This definition of theatre raises some problems, such as the difficulty of determining neutral space, but it is useful in its firm commitment to demystifying theatrical production. In former times the idea of the actor as motivated by a desire to create astonishment and wonder was sometimes seen as the basis of all theatre. Certainly there are types of theatrical performance that entail ritual and magic, but theatre is far more frequently rooted in attempts to structure emotion and experience.

Generally speaking, all theatrical productions have certain elements in common: the performer or performers, their acting in space (usually some sort of stage) and time (some limited duration of performance), and a producing process and organization. These elements are treated in separate sections below.

Theatre Costume Design Sketches

The performer

Skills and attributes

The work of the actor falls into five main areas: (1) the exhibition of particular physical, including vocal, skills; (2) the exhibition of mimetic skills, in which physical states and activities are simulated; (3) the imaginative exploration of fictitious situations; (4) the exhibition of patterns of human behaviour that are not natural to the actor; and (5) interaction, while engaging in these activities, with other actor-characters and with members of the audience.

At certain times in the history of Western theatre, the highest degree of physical skill has been associated with nondramatic performance. In Asian theatre, however, such distinctions do not apply. Chinese opera and Japanese drama require an actor to play one type of role for his entire professional life. The actor must play this role in a manner strictly determined by tradition, reproducing specific patterns of movement and speech that can be mastered only by first gaining control of complex physical skills. Later, if especially gifted, an actor may bring to a role certain refinements of the tradition, which may be handed down to a succeeding generation.

Western drama, however, does not usually provide the actor with quite so defined a repertoire of movements and utterances. It is true that actors in the Italian commedia dell’arte of the 16th to the 18th centuries specialized in one role and transmitted to their successors a body of situations, speeches, and lazzi (stage sketches, or routines). Nevertheless, they seem to have had more leeway than their Asian counterparts in exercising invention and personal expression. Great rhetorical skill has been demanded of the Western actor, for the intricate metrical patterns of Greek, Latin, French, English, and Spanish drama have been part of the glory of their respective theatres.

Naturalistic theatre, which flowered in the late 19th century, made rhetoric obsolete, requiring the actor to hide virtuoso performing skills by creating the illusion of everyday behaviour. This meant that more weight was given to the actor’s depictions of psychological attributes. The magnetism of a performance derived no longer from stylized behaviour but from intense personal revelation. This requires a marked ability to focus energies, to concentrate intently either upon the audience directly or upon a fellow actor and, thereby, indirectly upon the audience. All good actors can project a concentrated force, or “presence,” which has become increasingly important to the actor as set patterns of playing have disappeared. Presence is not a fixed, definable quality but rather a process of continuous growth and change that takes place before the eyes of the audience.

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I recently interviewed Tom Pye, costume designer for the upcoming HBO miniseries Gentleman Jack. After we finished our delightful chat about this story of the 1830s landowner, diarist, and lesbian Anne Lister, he followed up with a little more info and sent sketches of his costume designs.

Costume Design Sketches

Tom Pye tells us to watch for this lovely costume detail:

Design

Vintage Costume Design Sketches

“In the 1830s and earlier, corset busks were often highly decorated and given as love tokens. I had one hand-carved with images of Shibden Hall, a heart (hearts are something associated with Anne; we also had a heart broach made based on one she’s depicted wearing in two portraits), the Lister coat of arms and the family motto in Latin. The busk can just be seen being inserted into the corset in the opening credits, the broach she wears at key moments throughout the series.”

Costume sketch template

And here are some of his wonderful designs for costumes we’ll see in the series:

Anne Lister, “Gentleman Jack,” courtesy of Tom Pye

This pelisse style was popular through the 1820s, and with its severe lines, seems appropriate for Anne Lister, especially in her standard black.

Animation Costume Design Sketches

Love this suit! This is probably the outfit seen on Anne in the preview video.

Anne Lister, “Spenser,” courtesy of Tom Pye

Another fitted, military-influenced style that nods back to the 1820s, with lots of historical references.

Anne gets to dress up too! What gorgeous pale damask and gold-embroidered trim.

Costume Design Sketches For Beginners

Ann Walker, “Wedding,” courtesy of Tom Pye

Lister’s main love interest, Ann Walker, wears a more traditional 1830s gown in green tones. But for whose wedding?

Eliza Priestly, “Rescue Dress,” courtesy of Tom Pye

This is the ‘fashionable nosy neighbor,’ Mrs. Priestley, who Tom Pye discusses in our interview. She should have some fun costumes!

Wicked Costume Design Sketches

Gentleman Jack premiers on HBO on April 22, 2019! Watch via cable, Amazon, Roku, or online at HBO.com.