Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: The King and I

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biggertigger
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Posted: 8/29/07 at 7:55pm

I know that we rented ours from a costumer shop. They had the "diaper" type that used velcro and snaps to do them. As Gaafa mentioned it wrapped around the waist (think of a dress that has a longer front) and take the front and pull threw the legs and attach in the back wasteline.

I have been searching the web for a good pattern. I remember a few years ago one of the pattern suppliers had them specific for King and I. But I'll keep looking.

The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.

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drose
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Posted: 8/30/07 at 12:58am

Thank you so much! I really love the help and cooperation I've found here. It's such a change from the air of competition and territoriality I've been dealing with for the last two years. I have some inquiries into several of the local theatres around here, and I'll be sure to let you all know how it pans out. You guys are tops!

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DramaMamaStill
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Posted: 8/31/07 at 10:40am

Drose... while I did not yet find a good pattern for the pants there is something to remember about early clothing.

Cloth has always been labor intensive to produce (I am a weaver) and most early clothing used fabric straight off the loom, adding triangle gussets to increase width where needed. This translates into long narrow pieces of fabric used whole in many cases

The pants appear to be a continual length of silk fabric wrapped aroung the waist once (possibly twice) and then pulled up through the legs and tucked or belted... It would be very cost prohibitive to used silk (you could wrap silk fabric several times without bulk being added) but if you tried the idea of it on a person and then figured out a pant that could replicate it using the very generic pant pattern above you would get a pretty good look without worrying about southern exposure

if you made the straight wide bloomer style pants and pulled the threads on the inside you could get an interesting look... it would not be too complicated and you probably could even put an elastic waistband in them.

I do not like using velcro because of it's distinctive un period sound when ripped apart and I have not found it terribly reliable... just a personal preference (I am old fashioned too)

just some thoughts

Life is Mysterious don't take it too serious

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drose
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Posted: 8/31/07 at 1:36pm

Thanks for your time. I have to agree with you about velcro, especially the sound it makes when ripped apart. its instant contemporary sound recognition...the perfect way to destroy the illusion of late 1800 Siam. We're going to start playing around with some general wrapping ideas here this week: using different lengths and types of fabrics. I'll let y'all know how it works out. Thanks! -d.

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drose
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Posted: 9/04/07 at 11:38am

Just a quick update: I think the wrapping technique using a rectangular piece of cloth is going to be our best bet for the look I want. We've been playing with holding the short side centered in front, securing its two loose ends behind the back (right now we are tying the ends together, but we will use some thing more permenant for the show). Then we pull the other end between the legs, UNDER the secured waist at the back, and let the extra hang down over the actors rear end. We have plenty of coverage so long as the short side of the fabric goes all the way around the waist and overlaps by a few inches. When the its short of that, we get some interesting southern exposure. Still playing a bit with the draping in front, but thats a matter of center tension on the fabric you pull thru at the back waist. Ok. Hope this wasn't too hopelessly garbled. If I come up with ideal measurements of the fabric, I'll let y'all know! Thanks! (by-the-way, biggertigger, I did order the costume book...and it will probably answer all my questions, making this whole post completely moot! Good times!)

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biggertigger
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Posted: 9/04/07 at 11:20pm

drose,

I am glad we could help here. My costume designer has thousands of costume books and this is one she highly recommends for those that have little experience with creating costumes for a show.

One thing I would like to point out, this is theater and though velcro has that annoying sound, most audience will not see or hear the velcor. It really is useful for quick changes. The use of safety pins or other fastners can take longer than what is needed for quick changes.

No need to build the complete Eiffle Tower just for a scene in Paris.

The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.

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bambi4c
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Posted: 9/05/07 at 12:41pm

New here - I work with an all volunteer Theater group. We seat about 200 in our building but for small theater we pride ourselves on "big" productions. We just finished King and I at the end of August.

We cheated a bit with the thai pants and i think we were very successful.

I know because I altered a lot of them.

We made simple skirts, yes skirts for pants - elastic waistbands and to the knee length. Then we had long strips of same fabric about 6-8 inches wide and attached inside the waist band on the front and the back (between the legs) looked great - we had numerous kids wearing them as well as the king and they put them on just like pants.

We also canibalized old satin prom dresses. Removed sleeves trimmed down to straight skirts, added the cross body sashes of silky fabric strips and sequin trims etc. We did some matching of colors or trim "mother" to "children" They did look pretty good.

It was quite spectacular in look for pretty cheap.

I also read about t he velcro and we use it often as it does help with adjusting sizes as well as the quick change issues.

Good luck with it, drose - Great show

B4C

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drose
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Posted: 9/05/07 at 6:51pm

That's a great idea, B4C, I'll try it out ASAP. Thanks! -d.

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Mr. Lowell
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Posted: 10/12/07 at 12:01am

Production Update:

We hit the half-way point in our pre-production schedule today. And our production of "The King and I" opens one month from tonight! (On November 8th).

We have four big racks of costumes ready so far, most of the platforms are complete, and we are finishing more and more props on a daily basis. Tomorrow my lighting cue reports to knock out some of the basic hang and rough focus.

If you care to, you can follow along with the process on our Production Blog at this address:

http://gdsking.blogspot.com

Regards, Dana

Mr. Lowell,
Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director,
for the Linda Sloan Theatre,
in the Davison Center for the Arts,
at Greensboro Day School

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tristanrobin
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Posted: 10/12/07 at 8:35am

Your 2-litre Pepsi bottle bottom rosettes are ingenious! Bravo!

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Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup

Topic: The King and I( Topic Closed)
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Author	Message
biggertigger Celebrity Joined: 4/16/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 188	Posted: 8/29/07 at 7:55pm
	I know that we rented ours from a costumer shop. They had the "diaper" type that used velcro and snaps to do them. As Gaafa mentioned it wrapped around the waist (think of a dress that has a longer front) and take the front and pull threw the legs and attach in the back wasteline. I have been searching the web for a good pattern. I remember a few years ago one of the pattern suppliers had them specific for King and I. But I'll keep looking.
	The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.
	IP Logged

drose Celebrity Joined: 8/23/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 162	Posted: 8/30/07 at 12:58am
	Thank you so much! I really love the help and cooperation I've found here. It's such a change from the air of competition and territoriality I've been dealing with for the last two years. I have some inquiries into several of the local theatres around here, and I'll be sure to let you all know how it pans out. You guys are tops!
	IP Logged

DramaMamaStill Lead Joined: 2/07/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 31	Posted: 8/31/07 at 10:40am
	Drose... while I did not yet find a good pattern for the pants there is something to remember about early clothing. Cloth has always been labor intensive to produce (I am a weaver) and most early clothing used fabric straight off the loom, adding triangle gussets to increase width where needed. This translates into long narrow pieces of fabric used whole in many cases The pants appear to be a continual length of silk fabric wrapped aroung the waist once (possibly twice) and then pulled up through the legs and tucked or belted... It would be very cost prohibitive to used silk (you could wrap silk fabric several times without bulk being added) but if you tried the idea of it on a person and then figured out a pant that could replicate it using the very generic pant pattern above you would get a pretty good look without worrying about southern exposure if you made the straight wide bloomer style pants and pulled the threads on the inside you could get an interesting look... it would not be too complicated and you probably could even put an elastic waistband in them. I do not like using velcro because of it's distinctive un period sound when ripped apart and I have not found it terribly reliable... just a personal preference (I am old fashioned too) just some thoughts
	Life is Mysterious don't take it too serious
	IP Logged

drose Celebrity Joined: 8/23/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 162	Posted: 8/31/07 at 1:36pm
	Thanks for your time. I have to agree with you about velcro, especially the sound it makes when ripped apart. its instant contemporary sound recognition...the perfect way to destroy the illusion of late 1800 Siam. We're going to start playing around with some general wrapping ideas here this week: using different lengths and types of fabrics. I'll let y'all know how it works out. Thanks! -d.
	IP Logged

drose Celebrity Joined: 8/23/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 162	Posted: 9/04/07 at 11:38am
	Just a quick update: I think the wrapping technique using a rectangular piece of cloth is going to be our best bet for the look I want. We've been playing with holding the short side centered in front, securing its two loose ends behind the back (right now we are tying the ends together, but we will use some thing more permenant for the show). Then we pull the other end between the legs, UNDER the secured waist at the back, and let the extra hang down over the actors rear end. We have plenty of coverage so long as the short side of the fabric goes all the way around the waist and overlaps by a few inches. When the its short of that, we get some interesting southern exposure. Still playing a bit with the draping in front, but thats a matter of center tension on the fabric you pull thru at the back waist. Ok. Hope this wasn't too hopelessly garbled. If I come up with ideal measurements of the fabric, I'll let y'all know! Thanks! (by-the-way, biggertigger, I did order the costume book...and it will probably answer all my questions, making this whole post completely moot! Good times!)
	IP Logged

biggertigger Celebrity Joined: 4/16/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 188	Posted: 9/04/07 at 11:20pm
	drose, I am glad we could help here. My costume designer has thousands of costume books and this is one she highly recommends for those that have little experience with creating costumes for a show. One thing I would like to point out, this is theater and though velcro has that annoying sound, most audience will not see or hear the velcor. It really is useful for quick changes. The use of safety pins or other fastners can take longer than what is needed for quick changes. No need to build the complete Eiffle Tower just for a scene in Paris.
	The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.
	IP Logged

bambi4c Walk-On Joined: 9/05/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 9/05/07 at 12:41pm
	New here - I work with an all volunteer Theater group. We seat about 200 in our building but for small theater we pride ourselves on "big" productions. We just finished King and I at the end of August. We cheated a bit with the thai pants and i think we were very successful. I know because I altered a lot of them. We made simple skirts, yes skirts for pants - elastic waistbands and to the knee length. Then we had long strips of same fabric about 6-8 inches wide and attached inside the waist band on the front and the back (between the legs) looked great - we had numerous kids wearing them as well as the king and they put them on just like pants. We also canibalized old satin prom dresses. Removed sleeves trimmed down to straight skirts, added the cross body sashes of silky fabric strips and sequin trims etc. We did some matching of colors or trim "mother" to "children" They did look pretty good. It was quite spectacular in look for pretty cheap. I also read about t he velcro and we use it often as it does help with adjusting sizes as well as the quick change issues. Good luck with it, drose - Great show
	B4C
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drose Celebrity Joined: 8/23/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 162	Posted: 9/05/07 at 6:51pm
	That's a great idea, B4C, I'll try it out ASAP. Thanks! -d.
	IP Logged

Mr. Lowell Celebrity Joined: 1/30/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 269	Posted: 10/12/07 at 12:01am
	Production Update: We hit the half-way point in our pre-production schedule today. And our production of "The King and I" opens one month from tonight! (On November 8th). We have four big racks of costumes ready so far, most of the platforms are complete, and we are finishing more and more props on a daily basis. Tomorrow my lighting cue reports to knock out some of the basic hang and rough focus. If you care to, you can follow along with the process on our Production Blog at this address: http://gdsking.blogspot.com Regards, Dana
	Mr. Lowell, Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director, for the Linda Sloan Theatre, in the Davison Center for the Arts, at Greensboro Day School
	IP Logged

tristanrobin Celebrity Joined: 4/25/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 704	Posted: 10/12/07 at 8:35am
	Your 2-litre Pepsi bottle bottom rosettes are ingenious! Bravo!
	IP Logged