Evaluation
Evaluation from Students
Students from THE 130 and 330 offered their feedback on Barbecue. Students felt that velvet was a good fabric choice for Barbara's tracksuit and allowed for light to bounce off of it, but black was too dark. Since we didn’t know we were filming thru Zoom, I didn’t know we were using black background and would have picked a different color for the tracksuit. The black really blended in and made both Barbaras' look like floating heads. Lighting had a hard time trying to figure out the white balance for White Marie’s booth. This led to the pink jumpsuit blending into her skin. I would have picked out a more magenta romper if I had known. They felt that the cheetah print was eye-catching and made it clear the actors were the same characters. The cheetah was the only print that seemed to deviate from my original palette while everything else was in line,
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Overall, they felt the visuals were consistent and helped carry the story along. For the quick turnaround we had with a shorten tech process, they felt that everyone looked a part of the world and the costumes carried the show well.
MFA Feedback
Reviewing the show in MFA Portfolio gave some more critical feedback considering that they knew the concept behind the show. Having the lighting designers Ashley Parra and Henry Tran along with the scenic designer John Stark to discuss their process helped everyone get a more well-rounded view of the process. Ashley and Henry had a quick turn around and the lighting was completely different than they originally planned. The MFA class felt there was missed impact when switching between families. Even with the prior knowledge they had of the show, the story was lost amidst all the elements. Many felt the story left them with more questions than answers and I wonder if there were ways for the story could have told differently with the use of various transitions to make the story more understandable. John and Tyrone worked really hard on storyboarding the show in a short amount of time and I think it did the production justice. By the end of the show, the awards ceremony seemed so short that it didn’t deliver that conclusion most had hoped for. People wished they could have seen the full Oscar outfits as that would have been a produced a larger image. It was tricky with the switch to a remote performance because the visuals were cut down when we had to transition to Zoom.
Personal Evaluation
The designs changed from the start of the process since the show pivoted so many times. Switching from in person, to site-specific, to filming on stage, and then a Zoom performance meant the designers had to look at this show from so many viewpoints. I completely redid my renderings in February of 2021 because after re-reading the script my thoughts on the play had changed from when I read the script 8 months prior. I realized that it would be easier for the audience to connect the characters if they were wearing the same outfits and play into the idea that O’Hara initially envisioned. When looking at both batches of renderings, I prefer the first set. There was more time and thought put into the first set. I took more time to mix colors ahead of time and had a set schedule for how I was going to tackle the project. With the second set, it was more of a race to get them done and i believe that shows. Seeing it all come together, I’m glad this idea came to fruition. While the base costume was the same for both families, there were little differences in jewelry and hair that made each character unique. These small changes didn't occur until fittings started and I was able to talk more with the actors and gain their insight on the characters.
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In the shop, I felt about a week behind in the process due to the many shifts the show had. The week of in-person fittings was 2 weeks before tech and filming. I felt that there would have had enough time to build dresses, but it wouldn’t have been without working the weekend too. While I had a lot of things organized and ready to go I did not always communicate what my intentions were with the rest of the team. It's was a lot easier to have a plan set out ahead of time and sharing that plan with my cohorts would have helped create a shared focus and goal. Mockups were made for both Maries’ denim jackets, Black Barbara’s green top, White Lillie Anne’s Oscar dress, Black Marie’s Oscar jumpsuit, and the top half of White Barbara’s Oscar dress. None of these builds were completed and alternatives were found due to the switch to a remote performance and inability to conduct in-person fittings. The denim jackets were bought instead of built, Lillie Anne’s Oscar dress came from the performer’s closet, Marie’s dress came from the performer’s closet, and a dress was pulled from stock for White Barbara’s ensemble.
The cast and crew had the opportunity to speak with Robert O’Hara. The most touching moment for me was when he spoke about his aunt Tina that died from a crack addiction. He put her into the script, along with many other family members. The whole script reflects on his personal experiences and doesn’t give the audience many answers, O’Hara says that he is “making a bus for the audience to get on,” not knowing the destination. He subsequently challenged the cast to “[not] be afraid to be soft,” and, “have the audacity.” Listening to him speak about his life and intentions within the script breathed a new life into the story for me.
I learned more about continuity between scenes and trying to make sure costumes stayed consistent. Tyrone pointed out a few necklaces that were no longer center and how they lost their impact. I appreciated that note and will keep that in mind with future productions. Considering this was my first time being a part of Zoom production, I'm very happy with how everything turned out and felt the costumes spoke to each character and worked together with scenic, lighting, and sound to make a great show.
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