2008 Woodie Awards
'Little Women' set, costume design adds to play-turned-musical
Chloe Thompson
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: News
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Based on the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott, a cast of 18 will take the stage to portray the life of the March family in the midst of the Civil War.
"It's a story that is, of course, very familiar to everybody," Director and Chair of the URI Theatre Department Paula McGlasson said. "We're tackling it as if it's a play with music instead of what you would typically think of a musical."
Though the plotline may seem basic, elaboration can be found in the set and costume design by Cheryl DeWardener and David Howard, respectively.
Senior and lead role Amanda Ruggerio described Howard as "a magician," referring to his costuming skills.
"He can read me like a book," Ruggerio, who plays Jo March, said. "He knows when I like something and he knows when I can't breathe, which is really important-I can't stress that enough."
She added, "As soon as you have a costume on, you understand your character that much better, it makes all of your analysis that much clearer."
Though the period-authentic costumes are conservative compared to current wardrobe, Howard said he took special care in creating personality pieces for the characters.
"The play can't lie, it tells you exactly what it needs to be," Howard, who is an associate theatre professor at URI, said. "We take what the play says and what history tells us and map out the mood of the character."
Howard said some difficulty would lie in structuring costumes for the players to be able to dance and sing, but this is something he anticipates when designing his pieces.
"They can't be doing a tango in a big hoop skirt," Howard said with a laugh.
In the play, Jo is seen as a "tomboy," according to Ruggerio, and Howard said her shorter skirt-still only ankle length-reflects this aspect of her personality.
Howard said the main women in the play; Jo, Amy, played by sophomore Micah Tougas, and Beth, played by senior Stephanie Sherman are all reflected by certain color schemes.
"Jo tends to be into reds and blues, and Meg is into power pastel tones," Howard said. "Amy pretty much always has blue on her and it runs the range from a simple girly blue to a shockingly bright blue."