Dressed for the Ball: Costuming Cinderella

In Walt Disney's version, all Cinderella needed was a new dress and glass slippers for the prince's ball. Her wardrobe was provided by her friends, the mice and bluebirds, who draped fabric around her as she sang. The scene at South Orange Middle School, where the winter musical is Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, includes mice and a handsome prince, but the dresses are provided by parents and donated by community members and number close to 100. And, as a number of seventh grade mice pointed out, even they need "cute suits" for their roles.

Costumes are a big part of the middle school play experience, and Barbara Canace becomes the volunteer wardrobe mistress each year, working stage magic with hand-me-downs and repurposed clothing. She casts a wide net, sending home wish lists of clothing with cast members and making numerous trips to Goodwill and other, similar stores. With two older daughters who acted their way through South Orange Middle School and Columbia High School, Canace is experienced in student theater. "The challenge," she says, "is keeping the accessories and costumes together between performances. So you don't start the next day asking, 'Where's my...?'"

On Thursday afternoon, cast members brought in what they had gathered thus far. Canace and a team of volunteers took kids one a time, examined what they had in their shopping bags, labeled the items, and checked them off on a master spreadsheet. The chart shows each child, his or her roles, costume changes and necessary extras, such as jewelry for the ball. Multiply 100 or so cast members by a couple of costumes and the amount of clothing soon becomes overwhelming.

"So you're the butcher," said a volunteer to a boy bearing a large shopping bag. "And at the Prince's ball? Is that right?" 

In another corner of the room, a volunteer considered mouse masks. "I could make them," she said. "What do we want to do about ears?"

At the same time, Canace was unlocking a storage area and wheeling out a clothes rack. A clutch of bright gowns attracted the attention of cast members. Nearly every character in the musical, which borrows heavily from the Disney animated version, attends the Prince's ball. While boys may already own the dress clothes they need, girls wear fancy dresses, knee-length or longer, in bright colors. White, of course, is reserved for Cinderella. Canace advises the girls to ask friends and family for old prom, bridesmaid or cotillion gowns, but the challenge remains to find and fit dresses for nearly 70 girls. Canace is already busy with what she calls "theater alterations," fitting clothes well enough to look the part and allow singing and dancing.

"We have a creative team," says Canace of her volunteer crew. "And we get help from the community. Last year the Strollers lent us petticoats, really opened their closet to us, and CHS did the same." Her hope is to develop a costume closet for SOMS, a large and organized collection of attire that can be used or shared with other schools in the district.

Returning from a day in Manhattan where she shopped for masks and browsed clothes racks, Canace reflects that helping behind the scenes of the annual musical allows her to see "kids I wouldn't know," and to "watch them build confidence and show their creativity." Having watched her children move from SOMS to CHS, Canace notes that, "If you move along with them, you can see them grow and develop. I enjoy watching them create something and work as a team. The cliques and barriers break down and the kids enjoy one another." 

Whether mice, doves, cats or the stepsisters, Canace ensures that SOMS students will be dressed for the ball.

Cinderella runs March 26-28 at South Orange Middle School. The production is directed by Elizabeth Harris, with music direction by Don Tighe and choreography by Brian Loeffler. General admission tickets will go on sale March 1 and can be purchased at Kitchen a la Mode and The Messy Artist in South Orange, and at Words and No. 165 in Maplewood.  For more information, call the SOMS main office at 973-378-2772.    

If anyone has gowns or other clothing to donate, please contact Barbara Canace at canacephillips@earthlink.net. Floor and tea length dresses in smaller and junior sizes are preferable. She is also seeking floor-length formal skirts and men's button solid dress or button collar shirts in muted colors (beige, grey, shades of brown and purple).