This is the second in a three part series that I’m planning on the process of costuming The Drowsy Chaperone. I’ll update these links as I finish the posts. | Part 1 – The Plan and Process | Part 3 – The Women

We’ll start with the men in the show, because while they are less complicated, it actually highlights some of the difficulties in costuming for community theater.  Also a few quick caveats to start- if you’re familiar with the show, you may be surprised to not see the gangster/ pastry chefs on this list.  In our production, these were played by women and we changed the pronouns accordingly, so I’ll include them in the next post.  Also, Man in Chair is played by a non-binary actor, so I’ll refer to the person using they/them pronouns but the character of Man in Chair using he/him.

Man in Chair

Man in Chair is probably the easiest character to costume, since he only has one costume for the entire show, and it can be modern. I’d imagine most community theaters just take pieces from the actor’s personal wardrobe.  However, our actor’s wardrobe tends to swing a little more feminine and there was nothing they brought in that we loved.   I wanted something sort of cozy but old fashioned, not too formal but also not like sweatpants.  I didn’t want anything too loud either, our Man in Chair had originally showed me one of their personal cardigans which was an option but was going to be too loud and busy.  I’d seen some productions where Man in Chair is in a tie or a suit jacket and vest, and that felt way too formal.  He is in his apartment after all.  We landed on corduroys, an old Kinky Boots t-shirt, a cardigan, and moccasins.  Everything belonged to a member of the cast or production team, so this was the cheapest actor to costume.  I really think this costume, while simple, tells you about the setting and character of Man in Chair.

As we get into the time period men, things started to get a little interesting.  On the one hand, these should have been pretty easy to costume, as men’s suits are pretty timeless and most of the men in the show only have one costume.  Yes, there were specific shapes, styles and patterns that are different between modern and 20s attire, but most audience members don’t have that reference off the top of their head so modern suits could be generally appropriate.  However, the difficulty is in finding modern suits within budget.  Our basement had several suits, but many got thrown away during a recent cleanout.  I didn’t costume much pre-COVID, but it seems like with less formal events happening and less companies using “business formal” attire, there aren’t as many formal items in thrift stores, and it was very hard to find suits together.  There also isn’t as much online in men’s thrift (I used ThreadUp for a few women’s costumes) so it was hard to even find things there.  I also think because I thought this was going to be easy, it ended up being more difficult because I sort of left it until the end.  I also had a very specific idea in my head of what these characters would look like and it became a bit more difficult to find.  But we got there in the end.

Robert and George

Robert is the groom, and George is his best man.  For Robert, I wanted something classic, with neutral colors.  You never really learn who he is or what he does, but he clearly must be rich for Janet to want to give up a career on the stage to marry him.  In contrast, George is the harried organizer, and I had a vision for a matching vest and pant set with bright colors.  I did pretty well matching my vision to the actual pieces, we got lucky and found a gorgeous navy suit with black velvet lapel in our basement, as well as a silver jacket that fit the actor playing Robert.  We did the navy for act 1 and the silver for the wedding.  One of my favorite pieces in the entire plot is the tie I made Robert.  I found this PERFECT fabric with teal art deco details and he looks so good in his Act 1 costume.   For George, we were having a hard time finding what I wanted, I eventually landed on grey pants and a grey pinstripe suit jacket I found at Savers.  I wasn’t loving it, but it was going to work.  And then our director pulled the PERFECT multi-color plaid-ish suit out of his closet!  The actor playing George is mostly the same size as our director, and hey, even though they don’t quite have the same length legs, that lends to the disheveled look as George.  Paired with a blue sweater vest and a yellow bow tie, this was a perfect costume.  We ended up using the grey I had originally bought for Act 2.

Underling, Feldzing, and Aldopho

These are three supporting characters who each only have one outfit.  Underling is the butler.  I really wanted something with tuxedo tails, and I found a nice jacket on Amazon.  It’s definitely one of the more “costume-y” pieces, but it’s what worked within budget.  The silver/grey connected with the grey maid’s dresses I had as well.  Feldzieg is the producer.  I wanted something a little loud or out there for him.  This is another ensemble I’m not in love with, as nothing here really says “1920’s” but it is loud, with the blue pants, orange shirt, and plaid jacket.  Finally, Aldolpho the “Latin Lover.”  My friend and fellow costumer had this velvet black and purple cape which I knew from day 1 we would use for Aldolpho.  A frilly shirt , black pants, and cummerbund completed the look.  The wig was the director’s choice haha.

So those are the men!  In the next post I’ll talk about the women, who have a lot more costumes!