Remember Emily?

Emily had the female lead in "Man of La Mancha." Emily has a remarkable voice, and was the perfect singer/actress for the rôle of Aldonza.

But she proved to be impossible to costume. She started by telling me what she thought her costume should look like, including wanting to be wearing something virginally blue after the rape scene.

The director was not really informed about the ins and outs of costuming. He loves the show, and had always wanted an opportunity to direct it.

Take a close look at the picture. Aldonza is wearing really good boots, which she supplied. That is my petticoat, actually a long white one that I had shortened and dyed with tea. It also had several extra strips attached with velcro that she could rip off and use for bandages. The dark ragged skirt is mine. The rest of the costume is hers. I found her an overskirt and a bodice that worked for me, but she didn't like it. So I was back to the drawing board. The following rehearsal, I brought some different pieces for her to try on. Several skirts and two or three bodices.

She showed up with the shiny spandex job pictured, and the giraffe-print skirt. She insisted on wearing them. The director told me he was going to let her. I don't know if she had been crass enough to threaten to leave the show, or if he just thought she might. He told me he was going to "follow the path of least resistance." I called him a wuss, and the show went on. I cringed to see my name in the credits as costumer. No adjustment was made, as in a footnote mentioning that Miss Emily had costumed herself.

People had to think I had done that. But, as I was the only one who cared about such things, the show went on.

At Strike, she asked me if she could have the petticoat and the ragged skirt, as they had "worked quite well" for her. I think she even offered me money. Needless to say, I gave her the ragged skirt and told her that she could not have the petticoat at any price.

Yesterday evening, I was told by someone who knows Emily that, when she saw the pictures, she realized that she shouldn't have worn the shiny spandex and giraffe print. I told the person who shared that information that if the incident taught Emily that she should trust the costumer and not try to micro-manage everything, then it was all worth it.

But it will be a cold day in hell before I work for that director again. A director is supposed to trust his tech people and back them up. If an actor refuses to wear a costume, the proper reaction from the director is this: "Come Opening Night, that costume is going on stage. Whether or not you are the one wearing it is a matter of indifference to me."

Cliff, when you have learned to say that, you may ask me to costume for you again. Not before.

I will, however, audition for you. If you cast me, expect some grief about costumes. Just to see if you can manage to say the magic words.