Thursday, May 3, 2012

I HAVE A CONFESSION!!!.......I hate pink....

Well, hate is a strong word. Allow me to rephrase: I dislike the colour pink. So, you can imagine my fear when I found myself designing costumes for a high school performance of LEGALLY BLONDE! For those of you who don't know what Legally Blonde is about (and believe me, I CERTAINLY DID NOT!!!!) I suggest you google it :) But, back to the point: Dear god, pink simply infected my life. And I don't mean affected, or effected. It IN-fected my life. Like some strange fluffy cotton candy disease that plagued my room and wardrobe and marker selection!! ....pink......Pink.....PINK! Since the beginning of January, pink has been the definition of my life. The very air I breathe is pink...and...scented!!

But, after all this hard work, pink, sweat, and pink, and more pink (did I say pink?) the costumes bring out the true essence of the characters. And now, I accept my life as the pink pompom it is. As a costume designer for any form of play, the most challenging thing is not really getting the credit that you are entitled to. For a while I struggled with my inner ego, wishing people realized how much work I did put into the thing that, for a time, had suffocated my perfect black and burgundy. As the days rolled on and rehearsals seemed to draw into the night, I realized that I was just happy to be a part of this, and to explore my creative boundaries.

Just yesterday, I was at rehearsal and something quite peculiar happened. A man approached the lead actress and began questioning her, jotting down things every so often on a spiral bound note book. I vainly wanted him to question me too, sure it was for a promotion flyer or pamphlet. But, of course, that never happened. And, I was okay with that.

Today, after just getting home from rehearsal, I saw the newspaper lying on my front porch (as it usually is) and wondered if I was going crazy. You see, I don't think I've ever seen any news paper sport so much pink on the front page, so clearly the pink was now also giving me head trauma. As I picked up the paper I felt my heart race. There was our two lead actors, snapped mid song, promoting the musical of Legally Blonde.

Now you see, most people would see the actors and read the article and go "Wow! That's great! I'll go get tickets!" Me? I looked at that picture and thought, "Holy crap! What a great pink power suit! I can't believe I got that at Value Village for $12!" And that, my dear readers, is what becoming a costume designer is all about. When it's for a high school performance, there is no money, no fame, no flowers. It's simply all good fuzzy feelings, great buys, perhaps your name at the back of the program, and a whole lot of pink.

And now, after all this, you must have guessed that pink isn't so bad now, right?

..........YOU ARE WRONG! But have a great night anyway ;P

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