Costumes for the School Play, 2011

Reagan Elementary "We Are Monsters" cast with writer Denver Casado.

Each year for the past three years, I have been lucky enough to be the costume manager for glam girl Imara’s school musical productions. Some people think I am crazy (50+ costumes, 2 ½ weeks) but I LOVE IT! My only complaint is that I wish I had more time! I always have ideas and sketches of what I want to do, but 2 ½ weeks is a short amount of time, and especially so when I work a 40+ hour week… . Needless to say, my ideas get cut short, but the outcome always seems to work. When the students love it, that is what matters. Those kids don’t have a filter and the truth always comes out, so when they are happy, I am happy!

This year they performed in the California debut of “We Are Monsters”, directed by Pete Van Der Paardt, and written in part by an alumnus of our school district, Denver Casado. He actually had two musicals debut this fall and both were just wonderful!

The premise of “We Are Monsters” is as follows:

Two gargoyles are emceeing the annual Monster Cabaret, where the monsters are free to just be themselves and perform to their heart’s content, without fear or judgment from humans. Four humans, however, sneak into the monster world to uncover the hidden lair of monsters and reveal it to the world! The human dress in poor disguises (which is hilarious) and the comedy ensues! The monster world is filled with werewolves, vampires, gargoyles, and one slime monster. Not to give too much away, in case you have the pleasure of seeing it, it ends happily, and is filled with a ton of comedy (that gains real laughter from adults) amazing music and songs. If you have the chance to see it or have the chance to produce it at your school, I highly recommend it!

Well, here is a quick glimpse of some of the costumes from the show – most of these are after the performance, so makeup is a bit messy, but you will get the idea.  I cannot wait for next year’s show!