JUNE 23, 2016 // 5
PHOTO BY NANCY MCCARTHY
Head pieces worn by the handmaidens in “The Apple Tree” are collected in the sewing room at
Judith Light’s house. Light used some of her own wardrobe for costumes in previous plays, as
well as in the Coaster Theatre’s summer plays, “Let’s Murder Marsha” and “9 to 5: The Musical.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO BY GEORGE
VETTER/CANNON-BEACH.NET
PHOTO BY NANCY MCCARTHY
Working on a tight budget, Coaster Theatre costume designer
Judith Light often heads to Goodwill to ind clothes. On a re-
cent visit, she found this blazer, worn by actor Jean Rice, who
plays Violet Newstead, in “9 to 5: The Musical” at the theater
this summer.
Continued from Pg. 4
the look (of the play)
might be,” Hull recalled.
“It was nice to have this
teamwork. I could see the
light bulbs going on in her
head.
“It’s set on the whole
‘Dynasty’ thing — dresses
that Joan Collins would
wear and the hair style of
Linda Evans,” said Hull.
Collins wore big shoulder
pads and Evans favored
“big” hair in the television
In “Let’s Murder Marsha,” in
contrast to her rich boss-
es, the maid Bianca, played
by Ann Bronson, center, is
dressed like Alice from “The
Brady Bunch,” a deliberate
costume choice.
‘SHE REALLY FOCUSES ON MAKING
YOU LOOK GOOD UP THERE.’
soap opera.
“I had a very spe-
cific thing for Bianca
(the maid); I wanted her
dressed like Alice from
‘The Brady Bunch.’ Judith
went right with it,” Hull
said. “It’s a treat to work
with her; she’s a pro.”
Lisa Fergus, director
of the 1970s office romp
“9 to 5,” called Light’s
costumes “fabulous.”
“I just put complete
trust in Judith to create the
costumes needed to repre-
sent the era. She lived in
it, I didn’t,” Fergus said.
As an actor, Fergus also
wore several of Light’s
costumes in the leading
role of “The Apple Tree,”
produced earlier this year.
“She really focuses on
making you look good up
there,” Fergus said. “If
you’re uncomfortable or
don’t feel right, she makes
adjustments.”
Light’s small sewing
room in her Cannon Beach
house is filled with me-
mentos from recent plays:
hairpieces for the medieval
handmaidens in “The Ap-
ple Tree,” a beaded collar
piece from a gown worn
in “The Four Poster” and a
rich orange brocade kimo-
no Light made for herself
“just because I wanted
to” that acted as a prop in
“Once Upon a Mattress.”
She learned to love her
craft from her mother,
whom she called a “great
seamstress.”
“She taught me a lot
about fabrics and sewing,”
she said.
Spools of thread in
rainbow colors sit next to
Light’s sewing machine,
which has pieced together
costumes for many years.
Light has tried sewing
“everyday” clothes for
herself, “but they never
seem to come out the way
I want to,” she said.
The costumes, Light
added, help actors “under-
stand the character they’re
supposed to play. I’m
creating for the character,
not for the actors.”
When they wear their
costumes, “I can see the
changes in them,” she
said.
Cindy Karr, who plays
Doralee, the voluptuous
Dolly Parton character in
“9 to 5,” usually wears
work pants while doing
her day job at the Coast-
er, gathering or making
props for the plays, selling
tickets in the box office or
baking her popular cookies
on performance nights.
But when she dons the
dresses with the plunging
necklines that Light has
gathered for “9 to 5,” Karr
said she feels “so femi-
nine.”
“The minute I put them
on, I feel girlie,” Karr
said.
Traditional blues
band plays The Birk
BIRKENFELD — Ventura,
California-based band
Crooked Eye Tommy will
bring its blues and roots
music to The Birk at 3
p.m. Sunday, June 26 for a
concert. Admission is $8 at
the door.
The Birk is located at
11139 Oregon Highway
202, about 40 miles east of
Astoria and 18 miles south
of Clatskanie.
Forged in the blood
of brothers Tommy and
Paddy Marsh, Crooked Eye
Tommy casts a spell on the
listener with the joy and
melancholy of a lifetime
of playing music together.
Searing guitar work and
passionate vocal lines call
audiences in.
The band is fronted by
Tommy Marsh on guitar
and vocals. The rest of the
band is made up by Tom-
my’s brother, Paddy Marsh,
on guitar and vocals; Glade
Rasmussen on bass; Tony
Cicero on drums; and Jim-
my Calire on Hammond B3
organ, piano and sax.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
California-based blues band
Crooked Eye Tommy, fronted
by Tommy Marsh, will per-
form June 26 at The Birk.
Crooked Eye Tom-
my released the album
“Butterflies & Snakes” in
August 2015 and went on
to win Best Blues Band at
the 2015 Ventura County
Music Awards. The band
has also competed several
years in The Blues Founda-
tion’s International Blues
Challenge in Memphis,
Tennessee.