Tales from the Arabian Nights - Kimbell Art Museum 1985

As I have mentioned before, HIP POCKET THEATRE had no "Winter Quarters" in Fort Worth in the 1980's. Summers were spent in season out at the Oak Acres Amphitheatre, but Winters were wherever they would let us perform. A lucky break came when MICHAEL MEZZATESTA, the Curator of the Kimbell Art Museum took an interest in the theatre and saw the publicity benefit of having us do a show that reflected the theme of the current traveling exhibit there; THE IMPRESARIO was performed along with an exhibit on BERNINI who also wrote that play, FABLES OF LA FONTAINE, THE BEGGERS OPERA, etc. followed.

In the Winter of 1985 my first show at the Kimbell was TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, a free adaptation of the stories. The unique aspect was the introduction of Shadow Puppetry within the production to support both the scenic elements and the more fantastic elements of each tale.

Above is my design for the set for TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. The "auditorium" at the Kimbell was actually only a long narrow lecture hall, intended for slide and film presentations and not really suited to theatrical performances ( although it did boast pretty impressive acoustics).

We were provided with the platforms for an elevated stage by the museum ( seen laid out at the right of the Groundplan at bottom) and the background was a stark white wall that rose up some 40 feet behind the stage. It proved to be a very blank canvas on which to mount as colorful a show as this.

The basic set was of Moorish influence in Gold, Red, White & Blue, and was centered on a round white Shadow Screen behind which the mystical Puppets and Sets were "projected". Curtained side entrances and platforms with steps provided some needed "levels" for the actors to play. The entire stage floor was covered in borrowed Oriental Carpets of various sizes.

BABES IN TOYLAND Disaster...

These are two of the costumes we designed and built for a local theatrical production of BABES IN TOYLAND. We built over 30 individual costumes for this show, both Characters like the DRAGON and TEDDY BEAR as well as standard stage costumes for the human characters.

This commisuion came from a young man ( who shall remain nameless here) whom we had worked with as a high schooler in the TROTTER BROTHERS PRODUCTIONS. Now in college, he fancied himself a Producer and lined up local business funding to mount this adaption of the classic children's musical for chistmas. as he laid the whole thing out it looked like a solid production.

We accepted the job for 1/3 of our fee up front...this barely covered the cost of materials, but we stood to make a tidy profit once the show was presented and the remaining 2/3 was delivered by a set date.

A word to the wise:  DON"T EVER DO THIS! We were gambling and we lost!


The "Producer" eventually over-sold the show and it Flopped...We never saw another dime! This is the only time I have ever been involved in a lawsuit to regain payment for work I have done, but all we managed to get back were the costumes we had created. We did recoup some of our investment by selling these to the Costume Rental Store we had done business with previously, but we took an enormous  loss on the whole venture and, sadly this led to our little company having to fold after only a few years...

Live and Learn.....I left Wichita not long after this and returned to Fort Worth and the HIP POCKET THEATRE, so all was not lost....

More Character Costumes

The PANTHER Sketch was done for an area high school, although we eventaully did'nt get that contract and so it was never produced. You can see how I was tinkering with the ears to get just the right look.

The REINDEER was done for a local Clown who used it for Christmas parties. This costume was rigged with twirling antlers and a light-up nose, operated  by switches in the gloves. It was quite the sensation and the client was very pleased with our work.

BIRDS!

These were two of the most outlandish Character Costumes we were commisioned to make.

The PARROT was done for a local boutique called fittingly enough "Parrot-Fi-Nalia". Again the tips of the wings conceiled fingered gloves. We almost went blind with all the wild colored fur and feathers on this one. It was seen in TV commercials and outdoor events for years around Wichita.

The PEACOCK was actually commissioned by the local NBC affiliate TV station and was used for their promotions and parades.  The tail was a wire frame with colored velour panals trimed in white maribou. This was not a favorite design of mine...I think I could have given it a bit more personality, but as I recall we had to deliver this costume in a hurry and we pretty much just went with itas it was.

OWL Costume Character

I've been trying to remember just who this OWL costume character was made for and why? I know it had something to do with literacy...either the Public Library or the Public Schools.

The design had to use their own graphic character as it's basis ( hence the rather odd winking eye).

I remember that I incorporated fingered gloves into the tips of the OWL'S wings so that the wearer could hold things and gesture, but that is about all I can recall of this job.

 He does look nifty though. We were becoming quite adept in our use of fake fur. The boots for all these costumes were made with heavy crepe rubber soles and hard foam uppers. Lots of Contact Cement and fumes as I remember, but they really held up over time.

Sports Mascots 2

Another commision was this Horse or Colt head. Again less expensive to make than a full costume. This one included a belt with tail and "Hoove" gloves, so it cost a bit more.
The only part of this costume that i didn't like was the plastic mane and tail material, but the client loved it...and the client is always right!

I just extended the original Lion pattern and added the upper and lower snout. The harness and big sleigh bells really added a nice touch. As with the Brave costume shown earlier, it was a very lively mascot!

(I think I prefer my "Comma" eyes to the more traditional 'Cartoon" look...they seem to convey the earnest emotion that a mascot needed to project).

Sports Mascots

It wasn't long before the area high schools started asking for mascot costumes. The first couldn't negotiate our price for a full outfit, so we settled on just the head and a vest which a male cheerleader would wear over his uniform. I re-purposed the GIANT head patterns from JACK & THE BEANSTALK here. I was very happy with the headdress which consisted of individually wired foam "feathers" covered with fur. It really was a very lively mascot head which you see me modeling in the workshop. I decided that the lower 'lip" in the original design wasn't needed once I got the head assembled, so I dropped it. I also incorporated a more "Cartoon Character" eye design for this head.

Of course this type of ethnic mascot is completely unacceptable in todays politically correct world, so we wouldn't get a commision like this now and probably wouldn't accept it at that!