The Jungle Book - Finished

Well....the lights have dimmed, the cast has gone home, and the show is over.  Remember my post, HERE about how I was up to my ears in costumes for the play I was directing?  This weekend, we ran two shows...one for the actors' fellow students at school....and one for their families and friends.  Both shows were an absolute success.  I couldn't have been blessed with a more creative and hardworking cast.

  Even though I made all of the costumes, the kids helped to build the set. They did such a creative job on this, with such a small budget.  I provided sketches and outlines of what was to be done, as well as all of the materials, and they set to work in groups creating flowers, trees, bushes, stone archways and village huts.  Unfortunately, with all of the madness and craziness of the past 48 hours, I was only able to sneak in this one shot of the set just minutes before they went on stage.  If I can find some other pictures, or maybe even a video (that would be nice, wouldn't it) from some of the parents, I will post those later.

I am so proud of my crazy cast.  They spent hours, during school, after school, and at home, over the past two months practicing their lines, memorizing when to speak, and how to move on stage.  In all reality...acting like wild animals probably wasn't too hard for them! 

Here's a slightly more serious image of the cast.  There were, rightfully so, a lot of proud parents in the audience.

Let me introduce you to the cast members. (Stage names, only, of course.)  In the back row, we have our elephants (who also played the part of leaf cutter ants, wolves and monkeys...they were quite versatile.)  In the front, we have Tabaque (The Jackel), Toucan, Baloo (The Bear), Bagheera (The Panther), Shere Kahn (The Tiger), Kaa (The Boa Constrictor...whose costume is not in the picture, because it's ten feet long!)

Here you have the wolf pack, from left to right: Big Gray Wolf, Ashanti (Father Wolf), Yellow Wolf, Little Gray Brother Wolf, Red Wolf, Brown Wolf, Akela (in black, Head of Wolves), Raksha (Mother Wolf), and White Wolf.  They were my favorite to watch...I wish you could have seen how they moved on stage...but you can kind of get the sense of their movement from the way they are standing in the picture. 

These sassy ladies were our monkeys.  They don't have names, except the one on the right was our monkey queen, Louise.  They were quite feisty and impish...very funny.

Last but not least, certainly, we have our villagers.  Their costumes were my favorite to make.  I absolutely love the sari material.  We didn't have enough boys in the play...so ALL of the villagers are girls.  Thankfully, four of them were, um, "man" enough to play male roles.  From left to right, we have: Raja, Shantae, Nubia, Mowgli's Mother, Mowgli (the star of the show), Mowgli's Father, Bhagwan (Village Leader), and Niger.

One of the first questions asked at the end of the play was, "So, what's in store for next year?"  I couldn't help but laugh at that.  Give me a few months to recover from this year's play and I might be able to think about next year! 

Even though I enjoyed the cast and loved the creativity of making the costumes and the set, directing this puppy was hard work, and took up a lot of extra time at home during the evenings and on weekends.  At times...many times, actually...it was like herding cats.  I am glad to finally be able to rest, spend time with my family, and maybe get a little historical clothing sewing done.  I've still yet to take pictures of me in my "Marianne" Pelisse, nor have I begun my quintessential "white" Regency Gown. (Fezziwig's Ball is coming up in a month!  I must have something to wear for this!)   I'm also thinking about making my daughter Jane a cap to go with her Regency dress.  You see...I never stop...but at least I enjoy what I do.