Lord Farquaad Wedding costume completion, dress rehearsal

It is done!  Lord Farquaad’s costumes are ready for the first performance, tonight.   He has to be dressed four times:  Ruling costume, Exercise costume, Ruling costume, Wedding costume.  Lots of steps to get everything pulled together for each one!  It takes two of us to pull it off for his two quick changes. 

Let’s hope we do not have another wardrobe malfunction as occurred last night in rehearsal:  During one of his maneuvers, the sweatpants on the little legs dropped down, unbeknownst to the actor.  “Awkward!”  Hilarious to the lurking audience of moms in the auditorium and to those of us in the wings!  Some safety pins have been added to the Exercise costume.

Some have asked how the hat was made.  I started with 4” thick green foam I had left over from another project.  I drew a 12” diameter circle on the top of the foam and cut out a cylinder using an electric knife.  On the underside, I drew an oval that roughly matches the shape of a head, and with the circumference of the hat band.  (Here is the math teacher in me coming out!)  I used the electric knife to taper the hat from the upper brim to the hat band oval.  Then I used the electric knife and some scissors to hack out a cavity for the head.   To smooth out lines and roughness in the sides of the hat, I covered it with batting.  The sewn hat cover, using stretch panne velvet on the sides, went on next.   After some elastic and pearl trim it is ready to go.    Here are a few visuals:

Another challenge we had was keeping the little boots facing straight ahead.  We had a band of elastic round the actor's leg (above the knee pad) and around the fake leg ankles.  But the shoes tended to turn in and/or out while he was on stage.  We solved the problem by cutting a long u-shaped wire out of a coat hanger and punching it through the front of the knee pad.  The long metal spikes then go through holes we punched in the heel of the boot and run along the inside sole of the boot.  The fake leg foot keeps the metal spikes in place inside the boot.  Problem solved!

I wish I had more to show you at this point, but I am the worst person to charge with taking pictures!  However, there are a couple:  Below are shots of Farquaad having his makeup applied and being fitted with a mic.  This is dress rehearsal, so a few touches like black socks instead of white are still being worked out.

This young man, tall but still in middle school, is already an impressive actor.  Backstage, he is professional, courteous, and enduring all hardships of makeup, wig, hot and, in ways, uncomfortable and restricting costume (he has to perform on his knees!) with the comment “It’s worth it to be on stage.”  Onstage, he takes on Lord Farquaad’s demanding personality and quirky mannerisms perfectly!  It has been a pleasure to work with him.  I’ll get his autograph now while I can!