Met with the costume designer in her half-hour free before she left for Vegas where she is costuming another show. We met at a Starbucks near Penn Station – which was packed. We had no time to spare. I’ve never met her. We were like: “Hi! How are you! Okay … so … costumes!” We sat down (found seats, amazing) – and DIDN’T order. Nobody had a heart attack about this. We then looked over costume sketches, and photographs, and discussed – hair, shoes, glasses, and jewelry. Accessories, basically. I love it because I’ve never met this woman, but it doesn’t matter. We speak the same language. The language of theatre. I showed her some photographs that struck ME as the way I wanted to go (I had been nervous she would take the character another way – clothes are so important – and I had put my two cents in with the director at the beginning of rehearsal) – so I’m like: “And here … see where the skirt falls on her calves? That’s sort of what I’m thinking … and definitely sensibile shoes – maybe like this?” Showing photographs – just pieces of people – a shoe here, a scarf there, a skirt there … She showed me her sketches (we were amazingly in sync – yay!) – and then – right in the middle of the throng of Starbucks patrons – she took my measurements.
Why does this make me laugh …
It just does. The absurdity of it, and how we just started to do what we needed to do, regardless of how … uhm … bizarre it must have seemed, to have one woman measure another woman’s inseam in the middle of a midtown Starbucks.
But I’m telling you: it was half an hour and it was so productive I felt like the energy we generated could sustain the power on the island of Manhattan for a good 20 minutes.
Love work. And I love people who are IN my line of work, every aspect of it – people who are serious and committed to their part of the puzzle.
It’s the best business in the world.
I’m fascinated that you can actually do this for a living. And survive. And thrive. And be happy. I suspect my daughter Marigrace is going that way–she has already been in two high school musicals–and she just started 6th grade. (of course, you never know with kids. she’s also in love with horses…)
Uhm, the “for a living” part ain’t quite the case!! :)
Yet.
We have high hopes for you!
I love the “We speak the same language.” I think I might have to do a post about that.
We speak the same language
Sometimes you run across someone and you just click. You may or may not be friends. You may or may not wind up being friends. But you speak the same language.