Beauty and the Beast 2020/2021 - Tuacahn Center

Beauty and the Beast, 2020/2021

Tuacahn Center for the Arts

In 2020, I had the opportunity to return to Utah and join the team that was building Tuacahn's newest version of Beauty and the Beast. With the world shut down, this was a excellent chance for Tuacahn to bring in a small team of artists to live and work in a bubble, and make some serious headway on all of the new items for this show. I was thrilled to get my hands on some really unique pieces and tried my hand at first-hand work in a professional setting, including carefully cutting pieces out of a couple of antique quilts, backed by feed bags of the times.

I had the unique opportunity, given the slower deadlines of this particular contract, to learn new techniques and hone new skills. I was introduced to new methods of fabric manipulation, as part of a bodice for a townsperson. I was also lucky enough to work on both Babette's human and object looks. Both looks called for pattern matching, but on Babette's object look, I was given the opportunity to pattern match and cut each piece as a first hand, which made me even more proud to see it onstage! Ultimately, the object dress design called for an apron but underneath, the pattern matching is dang near perfect! Finally, I utilized that new skill building nine bodices for our "Napkin" dancers, from scratch, including laying the trim so that each bodice had a nice, symmetrical look.

This was truly a growing experience for me. From learning new skills to building rapport enough to tackle some of the big players: Belle, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts. Beauty and the Beast is always a delight to work on.