The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Presented by Albany Civic Theater
Working with directors Rebecca Douglas & Timothy John Kelly II, Albany Civic Theater made a favorite Christmas pastime come to life in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I worked closely with both directors, the makeup and hair designers, and the set designer in order to create this stunning production. The design concept we utilized is that the Pevensie children are escaping a war to join a war. Taking this concept into consideration, the costuming ended up being based on historical 1940s English dress with added fantastical elements on top. Aslan’s army was more familiar to the Pevensie children: 1940s mixed with high fantasy animal elements, such fur trims, stoles, coats, ears, tails, topped with special FX makeup to tie their facial features into the ensemble. On the other hand, the Witch’s army was more high fantasy based, and veered more towards being unfamiliar and fantastical to the Pevensies. This, along with color palette, helped to define the Witch’s subjects from Aslan’s subjects. Costumes were primarily pulled for this project as Albany Civic has a large store of vintage garb near to the desired time period, as well as a large collection of real fur coats, stoles, hats, and other such accessories that were donated by a deceased patron of the theater.
We also received the donation of two full suits for both Aslan and King Peter from The Natty Dresser tailoring shop in Albany’s downtown district. Thank you again, always, to The Natty Dresser. Photos of the production have been provided by Dianne Nelson, who also put in work on the Witch’s gown. By far my favorite pieces to craft for the production were the Witch’s accessories, including the crown, necklaces, and shoulder pauldrons.
At the end of Albany Civic Theater’s 2018-2019 season, I was awarded best costumes for the year in their annual award ceremony. Awards are decided by vote via board members of the theater as well as popular community vote. I am honored to have been a part of this show and I look forward to volunteering for Albany Civic in the future.
Special thanks to Rebecca Douglas and Mercedes Patterson; I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.