Beauty and the Beast 

Beauty and the Beast

Music by Alan Menken

Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice

Book by Lynn Woolverton

Directed by Heidi Pennertz for Litchfield Community Theater 2019

Beauty and the Beast was one of the first costume design projects I worked on after graduating from college and was the largest cast I had worked with up to that point with around 50 cast members. The productions I had designed as a student were much less well-known, so it was exciting to take on a project as familiar and beloved as Beauty and the Beast. During the design process, director Heidi Pennertz and I worked to find a balance between the look audiences were likely expecting based on the animated film, and the more historically inspired vision she had for the production. For example, the design I ultimately settled on for Belle’s dance with Beast keeps the iconic yellow shade, but adopts a silhouette and embellishments more reminiscent of the 1700s. While some pieces needed to be borrowed from other theaters, I constructed many myself, including technically complex costumes like the Wardrobe. With functioning drawers and a PVC skeleton I designed and assembled to make it possible to dance in, the Wardrobe was the most challenging build of the show and also my favorite to work on.