WEST VALLEY CITY — Since the Hale Centre Theatre has a state-of-the-art revolving hydraulic stage, perhaps it should come as no surprise that it's making a 180-degree turn with costumes, props and scenery for its next show.
Theater companies usually design costumes to fit the cast, but the HCT staff was faced with finding performers who could fit into costumes that had already been sewn for its five-week run of "The Scarlet Pimpernel," scheduled May 11-June 18.
The theater will be working with nearly $5 million in costumes and scenery from the original Broadway production's first national tour. When the Broadway tour closed several months ago, the University of Cincinnati purchased all of that company's goods — more than 200 costumes (some gowns are valued at nearly $40,000), scenery and props, including the replica of a working guillotine, a copy of a period "jail wagon" and some 50-60 elaborate hats, wigs, boots and shoes and accessories.
According to director Bruce Bredeson, one of the biggest challenges in forming his double-cast ensemble was finding 34 men — each of whom had to fit in his counterpart's costume as well as sing the same vocal parts. "Normally, double-casting has its problems, but with the hand-me-down costumes, it was even more challenging," said Bredeson. (Each of his two casts has eight women and 17 men.)
One of the major benefits of leasing ready-made costumes is that "from the get-go, we had them all ready, just in case they had to be adjusted for the choreography," he said, adding that he and a group from the theater went to California to see a recent production of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by the Fullerton Light Opera Company, which had rented the costumes and scenery just prior to the Hale Centre Theatre. "That helped us get an image of what we were getting," said Bredeson.
One big difference is that all of the production's scenery and costumes were designed for a traditional "proscenium" theater — such as the Capitol Theatre, with the stage and audience separated by a proscenium arch. At HCT, the farthest seats are only eight rows back, and the octagonal-shaped stage is surrounded on all eight sides by the audience. It's not built or designed to have scenery dropped in from above. There is no "backstage" for mural-like scenic backdrops.
HCT's head costumer, Amy Frary, noted that because the costumes have already been in use for nearly a year and a half, there's been some wear and tear. "They can get away with some of that on a proscenium stage, but here the audience is much closer to the action," she said.
So her team has been busy doing some repair work on the costumes — and making some minor "modesty" alterations. "I think we're the fourth company to rent them," Frary said. "We'll spend about 1,000 hours in our shop just making alterations and repairs."
The rental contract stipulates that the Hales can make minor alterations — and they can be left in, as long as they're removable. "But we can't make any design changes," she said.
"It's been interesting for us to see, up close, how well these costumes were constructed. They used some unique construction techniques," Frary said.
What makes just one dress worth nearly $40,000? It's the Broadway caliber craftsmanship and expensive material. Frary estimated that it cost nearly $12,000 just to rent the costumes — not including the additional props and scenery.
It would have been impossible for HCT to construct this many costumes itself, Bredeson said. Most performers at Hale Centre Theatre shows have just two or three costume changes per show. For "The Scarlet Pimpernel," the major characters have to change costumes six or seven times during the performance, which is why renting a semitruck full of elaborate costumes was more economically feasible — even with Frary adding a few people to her regular staff. "Normally we have just three people working on costumes," Frary said. "We added five more for this production, including two ladies who just work on the wigs." "I think everyone will have to come to see this show three times — once to see the costumes, again to enjoy the scenery and a third time to see the show itself."
All of the costumes and accessories — wigs, hats, shoes, etc. — were shipped to the theater in 10 20-bushel containers, along with an inventory list for each box. After the show closes on June 18, Frary and her staff will sort things out again and repack everything in the right boxes.
Bredeson commented that the costumes did not come with sizing information attached, so Frary and her team have sized each one and will include that information for those who may rent them in the future.
Some performances are already sold out. Tickets range from $11 to $17.50. For reservations, call 984-9000 or purchase tickets online at www.halecentretheatre.com.
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com