Costume Department
Style-matter of period
In the room below the Experimental Theater in Murphy Hall, six sewing machines whirr away, stitching yards of shiny satin, colored corduroy, or unbleached* muslin. When they're done, KU actors and actresses don the finished products to wear in the plays at Murphy.
"We have a lot of rags left," he said. None are discarded, however—everything is cleaned and stored in mothballs in the Costume Department's storeroom. There they stay until they can be used again, perhaps several years later. Many costumes are remade into completely different ones, even the rags.
After each play is over, the outfits end up where they started —in the Costume Department.
CHEZ HAEHL, head of the Costume Department, is not only in charge of designing new costumes for all the productions in the main theater, but also for taking care of the used costumes.
Entering the storeroom, one is overwhelmed at the sight of costumes—heaped in corners, hanging from the ceiling, bulging from boxes, over-flowing the cabinets. . . .
IN THE WORKROOM itself stands a rack of brightly colored costumes from "School for Scandal," destined to be shoved there out of the way until room can be made in the storeroom.
"We're already out of space," said Haehl. "We have about 8000 costumes in the wardrobe, everything from Egyptian to the 20's and 30's including oriental, Greek, Middle Ages, Elizabethan, . .."
And that's just the start. There are plumes, military uniforms, helmets, derbies, aprons, hoops,
angel wings, flapper dresses cancan skirts, a dismembered dragon, pilgrim clothes, top hats, umbrellas, masks, walking sticks—in addition to the basic items of a costume wardrobe.
Haehl has the help of his assistant, Mrs. Sneegas, full-time seamstress, and six part-time seamstresses. The eight of them make all the costumes for productions at KU, but sometimes items come from an unexpected outside source.
And shoe buckles. "Shoes are always a problem—they're difficult to construct," said Haehl. Actors sometimes wear ballet shoes on stage, but often Haehl must restyle contemporary shoes with buckles, bows, and built-up heels. "Shoe make-up is a God-send!" he said.
Recently a woman donated a whole rack of well-tailored men's suits from a generation ago, 16 in all, plus two coats and a World War I army uniform. "These are very difficult to get your hands on," Haehl said.
"People donate old clothes," Haehl said. "We get a lot of our stuff at the Thrift Shop. They have older clothes, like dresses and coats from the 30's."
HOW DOES ONE find anything in this overcrowded room "Basically I know where most things are." Haehl explained. "Costumes are stored by the period, not by the show."
DESIGNING COSTUMES is not as simple as it seems. It entails hours of shopping for the right material, then matching the material with linings, buttons and trims. In deciding which materials to buy for new costumes, Haehl does not use price as the first
Seniors desire college
consideration. "I buy what the material will do on stage," he explained, "how it will move."
No sooner does Haehl finish costumes for one play, than work must be started for the next. The amount of time spent depends upon the complexity of the designs and the number of actors.
A strong desire for higher education is making a new wave among high school seniors in Michigan.
State University and all the state's community colleges.
Seventy-three out of every 100 Michigan high school seniors want to go on for some kind of additional education after graduation from high school, according to the results of a survey made last fall by project MEMO," More Education More Opportunity." Project MEMO is a cooperative program sponsored by Michigan
Eighty-nine per cent of those who want to go to college have chosen a college in Michigan. One in four hopes to attend a public community junior college, two out of three want to attend a public senior college or university and eight per cent prefer a private college or university.
Daily Kansan Friday, April 21, 1967
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