Do you want to build a snowman? Welcome to the chilly North! The costumes for this musical are inspired by 19th Century Norway; we have combined costumes that you will be familiar with from the movie along with some traditional clothing ideas, and can’t wait to see what you come up with.  Links to individual costume requirements are found by clicking on the Costume tab and scrolling down to your character.

If you would like to see some of my inspiration, including images of traditional clothing, then check out my pinterest page.

I  have included some online links to help you purchase these items. These are so that you have a good idea of what I mean for the colour/costume item, but don’t forget to check out thrift stores too.  They very often have the clothing you’re looking for, especially if the colours we are asking you to find are not this season’s colours!

Remember to look in other sections of the thrift store – you might be able to find the exact shade of blue for Han’s shirt or vest in the women’s section, and it might even fit you better.

Same goes for skirts. A women’s knee length skirt could be the perfect calf-length/long skirt on a girl. You  may have to pin it at the waist, or add some elastic, so please do some out of the box searching!

Salvation Army in Milton is a great resource, as is the Value Village on Dundas at Winston Churchill.

Some parents have told us that the links are not always as visible when they’re using a mobile device, so please double check everything on your desktop.

If you’re a female playing a male character, you will probably be required to wear a wig, unless you are wearing a hat throughout the show. This will be mentioned in the notes for your specific character, so please look for that.

Also, if there are no specific notes for footwear for your costume then you are expected to wear the black jazz shoes or black ballet shoes you have been wearing for rehearsals.

Remember no Logos on any clothing please.

After just finishing a musical set in the present day, I’m excited to costume a show set in the magical world of Agrabah. We imagine the costumes for this show to be bright and colourful, so have fun putting together your outfits.

There are a lot of characters who are wearing harem pants as part of their costumes. We have found that the kids sizes run small, so check out the sizing guide when ordering, and maybe order one or two sizes larger just to be safe. I have provided links to kids and adult sizes on the relevant costume pages.

We have included online links to help you purchase these items, but don’t forget that thrift stores often have the clothing you’re looking for, especially if the colours we are asking you to find are not this season’s colours! Salvation Army in Milton is a great resource, as is the Value Village on Dundas at Winston Churchill.

As I mentioned, we have included links to costumes. Some parents have told us that the links are not always as visible when they’re using a mobile device, so please double check everything on your desktop.

If you’re a female playing a male character, you may be required to wear a wig. This will be mentioned in the notes for your specific character, so please look for that. Also, make sure your footwear is something a boy/man is likely to wear (no wedges/heels please!)

Remember no Logos on any clothing please.

Since this show is centred around current day teenagers, you can easily source the costume pieces from everyday stores. There is a lot of leeway left in the costume descriptions on purpose and you are encouraged to develop a unique look for your character (including accessories) while sticking within the basic description/rules we have given you.

We have separated the cliques by costume and colour, to make the show more visually interesting. It is therefore of the highest importance that you stick to the styles and colour grouping assigned to your clique. If you choose clothing that is not correct, you will be asked to replace it with something more suitable.

You only need to provide the costume items that are listed under your character’s name, any other pieces required for your character will be provided by MYTP, as shared costume pieces, which may have a small rental fee. (For example, for Simba, Nala, Scar, lions etc  – MYTP will be providing sashes and headpieces).

Links to individual costume requirements are found by clicking on the Costume tab and scrolling down to your character.

For this play, a lot of the character transformation will take place on stage, by the introduction of costume pieces that will be placed on stage and used for the scenes they are required in.  You only need to provide the costume items that are listed under your character’s name, everything else will be provided by MYTP.

General Note:
Although in this play you are required to provide a kid’s clothing outfit, we would still like you to treat this as a costume, and either buy something new that you don’t wear at home until after the show, or choose something from your wardrobe that is clean, tidy and looks new. We would like the clothes to have that “first day of school” look about them, as opposed to just pulling out a t-shirt and shorts that still fit you from last year!

After having a break in the Spring, I’m so excited to be working on my 11th show with MYTP.
There are some great online stores for chinese clothing. Some of them have a LONG order time (like 2 months), and shipping charges may be high so you might want to combine your order with other cast members. You would be better off looking at amazon.com or asian stores first.

Here are a few online stores though – they are good even just for inspiration:

http://www.goodorient.com
https://www.chinasprout.com/shop/culture/chinese-clothing/kids/pajamas
http://www.chineseclothingonline.com/

Chinese slippers look like these. You should be able to find them in chinese stores (in Chinatown), and online at amazon.com

These are the perfect pants for plays such as Oliver, Into the Woods,  Beauty and The Beast and Mary Poppins, but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on when you were born) these have not been available in the shops since I was a New Romantic (shh, don’t tell anyone and I promise not to share my photos!)

Luckily for you, they are actually quite easy to make from an existing pair of pants, so here are the steps to follow.  I recommend corduroy or wool (not denim, it wasn’t invented until 1853).

Sewing Method

Here are a few tutorials on how to convert pants into knickerbockers, if you can sew.

http://www.sempstress.org/2009/i-need-knickers-and-i-need-them-now/

http://amie-scott.com/2015/03/11/1751/

Non Sewing Method

If you don’t sew, or don’t want to cut the pants up, you can “convert” a pair of pants by tying a piece of elastic just below the knee (you can use hair elastics) and puffing the pants out a bit around the knee so the elastic doesn’t show.  Tuck the rest of the pants (below the elastic) into long socks.

It’s been a while since I posted in this blog because it was difficult to find time to write anything, in the midst of costuming 150 kids in 4 casts for Into The Woods, and 2 casts for The Jungle Book Jr.

I finished Jungle Book on a Friday, and started costumes for our alumni/adult production of Hairspray.  I had one month to costume 36 cast members, with most characters having at least one costume change, and some of them having really fast costume changes Onstage!  Big thanks go out to Theatre Ancaster, who helped provide us with some of the more tricky costumes.

I’m looking forward to costuming BIG, and really excited (as in jumping up and down, happy dancing etc) for our next production in the Spring;  Willie Wonka.   This is one of my favourite shows of all time, and I’m a huge Roald Dahl fan, so I’m thinking of going back to the original book for my costume inspiration.  If you are interested in seeing how my costume plots evolve, check out my Pinterest page, as I add my ideas there first.

Since the Toronto One of A Kind I have been working on making dresses for a large (for me) wholesale order, and on the following list:

10 pairs of goose (geese) feet (that’s 20 feet if you’re counting!)
5 pairs of frilly bloomers for goslings (with the help of this tutorial, thanks Miss Chris)
5 mop caps for goslings
3 full stretch velour cat-suits (it was supposed to be only 2, but let’s just say that I’ve never worked with velour before and the sizing was not quite right for one of them!)
2 zoot suits for 2 Hep Cats
1 cravat/ascot for a spiffy (and sneaky) butler
1 poodle skirt with a twist
various costume sizing adjustments.

The dress rehearsal is this afternoon, show goes on tonight….2 months of hard work for less than 2 hours of performance…but I’ll be doing it again next year!